Radar mast pole Spruce v aluminum

[jimbo2010]

I see these masts go upwards of 8' tall on a 2 3/8" aluminum pole, deck mounted on the sterns of sailboats.

For which they charge exorbitant amounts of money.

I was thinking about making one out of spruce hollow core birdsmouth.

It only needs to be 6' tall and can be supported to the stern pulpit at 24".

If it was made 3" diameter do you think it would be sufficient, for a 12" 2KW dome.

[Lurvio]

What is the weight of the radar the pole has to support?

3'' pole sounds plenty strong, but I wouldn't make it hollow (a hole for cables can be made).As I understand it, the bigger the boat, less stress the pole will have from boat movement. You want to make it stronger, laminate the pole from thin (1/2'' to 3/4'') boards.

Lurvio

[jimbo2010]

It is listed at 11 lbs

[Lurvio]

Yes, a spruce pole will be plenty strong for your use, just make sure it doesn't have big knots or cross grain.

L

[alan white]

Make it solid and save many hours of labor. You could also use fir or pine.

[jimbo2010]

Since I'll be using hollow core it will be 85% the strength of a solid post.

But since I'm at a a 3" rather than 2.5" it should be ok.

Also the wires go inside.

[Lurvio]

2.5'' would do the job just fine, might flex a fraction more though.

L