Bat House Forum

[William Bagwell]

Since schedule 40 steel pipe as bat house poles has been mentioned several times
recently I decided to gather this information from several sources and
leave out all the stuff that does not concern us. Most tables found on
the web are huge and include all sorts of unneeded information. First
three columns are from Wikipedia and the last is from a steel supply web
site and multiplying weight per foot by 20. (And yes I should have used 21...)

Code: Select all

Nominal        Actual   Wall      Weight
Pipe           OD     thickness    of a 20'
Size                             stick

1"             1.315   0.133    33.6
1 1/4"         1.660   0.140   44.5
1 1/2"         1.900   0.145   54.4
2"             2.375   0.154   73
2 1/2"         2.875   0.203   115.8
3"             3.500   0.216   151.6
3 1/2"         4.000   0.226   182.2

[list=]Nominal Actual Wall Weight
Pipe OD thickness of a 20'
Size stick

1" 1.315 0.133 33.6
1 1/4" 1.660 0.140 44.5
1 1/2" 1.900 0.145 54.4
2" 2.375 0.154 73
2 1/2" 2.875 0.203 115.8
3" 3.500 0.216 151.6
3 1/2" 4.000 0.226 182.2[/list]

Again I'm not an engineer but I think that 1" is way too small for all but
the tiniest of bat houses. (Would be fine for say a blue bird house only
5' off the ground) Also feel that at the opposite end (2 1/2" to 3 1/2")
it would be safe to look at thinner wall steel tubing to save weight and money.

BTW since I'm editing this post anyway: Does anyone know how to make a table line up correctly? This forum does strange things to white space so the only way I could even get close was to post the table as code.

William

[Markcuda]

Wow, the weight jump from a 2.1/2 to a 3 inch pipe.
Good info.

[Dave Miller]

One thing you might want to check is if the pipe is UV-resistant. At the refuge we put in almost a mile of temporary PVC (not schedule 40) on top of the ground and a year later we found out that it was not UV-resistant. By the 3rd year it completely broke down (brittle & cracked into a million pieces). Very disappointing.

[Markcuda]

Dave, do you think we are talking PVC pipe here?

[cloudman75]

This table may be of interest to some so I am posting a link. It shows the weight per linear ft of various sizes of schedule 40 steel pipe. Just multiply the weight per ft by the actual length of pipe for your particular situation. Remember that these sizes are inside dimensions of the opening.
I am of the opinion that for a 25 lb house at 16 to 17 ft in the air mounting height would require only a one inch pipe minimum size of galvanized std. schedule 40 steel pipe in many areas of the country. Not talking about tubing, or schedule 20 pipe, but schedule 40 galvanized. I base this opinion largely on ham radio experience supporting antenna wind loads at greater heights.
I also thought Edsels were beautiful and that Lyndon Johnson did not have a chance to be elected president over Barry Goldwater. I know I lost many with that statement as you were not born yet.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ansi- ... d_305.html

Frank

[cloudman75]

William,
Have you seen this plastic bat house before? I ran across it on the net. It re-enforces your thoughts on schedule 40 pipe sizes as it calls for a 2 inch or larger
OD schedule 40 pipe for the house with a claimed weight of 18 lbs. The house looks interesting but a little pricey. People these days get quite a shock when they price steel pipe, I know I did. That's why I went to a hollow wood pole on the last one. The alternate pole suggested is a 4x4 treated a lot less money.


http://www.maberrybat.com/index.php?mod ... id=3&pid=3

Frank

[Dave Miller]

Dave, do you think we are talking PVC pipe here?

Oh yes, duh, I did not see the word "steel" in the original post. I've been working on my sprinkler pipes and have PVC on my brain I guess.

[William Bagwell]

Frank,
Sure have. Him and a few others are who inspired me to go the route I did with the roto-molded houses. Will be probably be years before I break even but I'm still having fun trying

Dave,
Will edit my post to include the word 'steel' in a more useful place than the one time I did use it. The other thread had mentioned steel several times so when I moved my reply to a new thread it left a few things hanging.

William