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Wendigolake
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# Posted: 2 May 2016 07:45pm
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I see these are now being offered as an alternative to concrete piles for deck construction. Screws into the ground and you bolt your post into the saddle. Can be used with 6x6 posts. Supports loads up to 5,000-lbs, 4,781-lbs of pull-off force, and 1,641-lbs of side thrust. Can be buried more than 42-in in the ground. Sounds good for deck structures. Just wondering if anyone had experience using them? Going to be building a 8'x20' deck this summer and it would be easier than doing the usual sonotube work.
www.lowes.ca/deck-adapters/pylex-commercial-66-foundation-screw_g2668713.html
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 2 May 2016 08:32pm
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How do you get them in the dirt? Do you need some sort of special hydraulic setup on a skidsteer or something? Can't imagine torquing them down by hand...
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Wendigolake
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# Posted: 2 May 2016 08:53pm
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Actually there is a video on YouTube. They seem to screw down fairly easily. The guy demonstrating it used a 2x4 in the saddle as a lever to turn the post and it screwed itself down into the ground. One guy did it by himself.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 2 May 2016 09:28pm - Edited by: bldginsp
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Sounds good in some soils, but not my rocky soil. I tried banging down a stupid ground rod, got to about 6 feet and it stopped dead. Had a hammer drill on the bloody thing and no go. These screw gadgets would be impossible for me, but in nice consistent topsoil, clay, sand etc. they probably cinch down nicely. Of course you have to be very careful about alignment, cause once it's in a foot or two you are not going to change its orientation.
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Don_P
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# Posted: 2 May 2016 10:42pm - Edited by: Don_P
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When I'm looking at an unfamiliar structural product I look for an engineering services report, usually an ESR# is on the box or something denoting code approval. this means that it has been through an independent third part review to some kind of standard. Short of that it could be something a kid dreamed up and built in his garage out of recycled soup cans... if I were a betting man I'd bet this is the latter.
I suspect they intended to mean pull-out force  just sayin...
What I want to know is how come you all get air miles for shopping at Lowes.
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bldginsp
Member
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# Posted: 2 May 2016 11:00pm
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If they're dumb enough to give them I'm dumb enough to take them
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Wilbour
Member
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# Posted: 3 May 2016 06:53am
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Screw that! 
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Wendigolake
Member
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# Posted: 3 May 2016 10:18am
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Don_P that's a good suggestion. I will see if they have an ESR# on the box and go from there.
bldginsp you have a good point on alignment. They say you can reverse it out of the ground but I suspect it would be not as easy as they say it would be. I also agree on soil types being a consideration. I might get one and try it before I get 10 of them for the project. My cottage is water access only and I usually am working alone. If I had help I would just rent a post hole auger and drill the holes.
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creeky
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# Posted: 3 May 2016 12:21pm - Edited by: creeky
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I've used these. They're great. You can put them in with the help of a 2x4.
edit: I used these ones.
I put 8 in with the post hole auger on my tractor. And leveled with the 2x4 as a lever. I did put 2 in by myself. It takes awhile. In my high clay content soil it helped if my girlfriend put some weight on 'em while I walked the 2x4 lever around.
I used six for a 10x14 building. Its been through 2 winters now. No problems at all. In fact the first winter helped settle the dirt around the posts.
For the building I used the adjustable ones. that way you don't have to get the post the exact right height. you can put the beams in and then level. But for my tractor shed, as I was putting wood posts in 'em, I used the non adjustable.
The tractor shed posts are dead solid after one winter also.
I wouldn't think there'd be any problem for a deck. esp a small one like you're describing.
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Wendigolake
Member
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# Posted: 3 May 2016 01:11pm
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Thanks Creeky, I appreciate the info!
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Littlecooner
Member
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# Posted: 3 May 2016 06:19pm
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Never used these, but I sure like the idea. Agree that your site needs to have sufficient soil depth before rock is encountered. I have placed a couple of mobile home anchor, which are the same basic principal, a few years ago in a lake bed to anchor some buoys and I had no problem installing them, just screwed them in the ground using some 2-3 foot long bar. I could see bolting a 6x6 sideways and using two people to screw them in, you could place them in some very compacted and hard dirt. Looks better than anything else for a deck.
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