How to Set a Utility Pole

You can install utility poles on your property.

If you are building a home or other structure far from the road, the least expensive option to run wires from the power company's electrical grid to the building is by installing them overhead on utility poles. Most power companies will sell you the poles and wire and will do the installation, but it can be less expensive to do some of the work yourself. With the right equipment, setting your own utility poles is a straightforward project.

Things You'll Need

• Utility pole
• Spray paint
• Tractor mounted auger drill
• Front end loader
• 3/8-inch log chain
• Shovel
• Two-by-four board
• Measuring tape

Instructions

1. Locate the spot for the utility pole to be set and mark it by spraying an X at the exact center of where the hole will be made.

2. Determine the size and depth of the hole needed for your pole. The hole diameter should be a minimum of eight inches larger than the pole's diameter, so an eight-inch pole requires a 16-inch hole. The depth of the hole should be equal to 10 percent of the pole's height, plus two feet. A pole 20 feet tall requires a hole four feet deep.

3. Back a tractor with an appropriately-sized auger drill mounted on its three-point hitch to the location. Suspend the auger just above the center mark.

4. Engage the power take off on the tractor and slowly lower the auger into the soil. It may be necessary to ease the tractor forward slightly as the auger bores deeper to keep the hole perfectly vertical.

5. Measure the hole's depth to ensure its depth is correct. Dig deeper or add back dirt as needed.

6. Determine how high you can reasonably reach with the front-end loader on your tractor.

7. Measure the pole from the bottom end and attach a 3/8-inch log chain to the pole a foot lower than the reach of the loader. If your loader will reach 14 feet, hook the chain at 13 feet.

8. Hook the chain to the bucket of the loader and begin raising the pole slowly while one or more people hold the bottom end of the pole down, causing the pole to tilt from horizontal to vertical as the bucket lifts it.

9. Move the now-vertical pole to the hole slowly while the people hold the bottom end, ensuring the pole remains vertical.

10. Lower the pole into the hole, as centered as possible.

11. Shovel a foot of loose dirt into the bottom of the hole, and then use a 2-by-4 board to tamp and pack the loose dirt just added.

12. Add another layer of loose dirt and tamp it solid. Continue this procedure, while keeping the pole perfectly straight, until the hole is filled with packed dirt.

13. Heap any extra dirt around the bottom of the pole in case the fill dirt settles.

Tips & Warnings

• If there's the slightest chance of underground utilities being buried near where you are installing the pole, have the utility company come out and mark their wires or pipes.

References

• University of Houston: Hurricane Wind Forces on Utility Poles and Foundation Support in Various Soils

Resources

• Post Hole Calgary: Post Hole