Installing My New Harbor Freight Telescoping Flag Pole

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This flag pole is set up to fly one flag or two.

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Hello! I'm Mr. Ed

Blog Created: 5-19-2023

Last Updated: 7-22-2023 // 8-7-2023 / 1-29-2024

My old flag pole served me well for many years during July 4th parties to display the old cars with.

Greetings ~😃

For well over 30-years, I have had a flag pole in our front yard. I will not live in a house without a flag pole. 30-Years ago, At the house we lived in before moving here, I bought a flag pole and installed it. We had a grass strip between our driveway and the house next door and I thought it a fine place for a flag pole since I owned that grass strip. Ten years passed and the flag waved and waved and I replaced it every year when it began getting battered and frayed.

When we moved here almost 20-years ago, I dug out the pole and brought it with me and planted it in this yard the day after moving into the house. So we continued flying the flag. I keep several new flags on hand in a garage cabinet and never run out of them. I buy them on sale when I see them.

Well, 20-years has passed and my old flagpole, rusty and battered itself, finally took a crap on me. Watching TV one evening a short while back, I happened to look out the front window and the flag was gone from the pole. I found it laying in the yard with the rope still attached. As it turned out, the pully at the very top of the pole had rusted off and the flag and rope let go and fell to the ground. It couldn't be fixed and it was getting so rusty it would not have been worth fixing even if I could have. So, time for a new pole. The old one cost me $119.95 at an Akron, Ohio flag shop. So how much would a new one cost after all these years?

I have been shopping at my favorite place in the world, Harbor Freight since they first opened a store 25-miles from me. Now they have a much closer one...lucky me! I went online and checked on the Harbor Freight website and, sure enough, they have flag poles. And this one needs no rope. It is telescopic. It's in five sections and you raise each section and lock it in place simply by twisting it tight. So what do they cost? I was shocked to find the price was a paltry $69.99. Whoa! Needless to say, I broke the sound barrier driving there. But that was after I read the customer reviews. 95% of them were good. The bad ones seem to all be about the telescoping action. Some said that they had problems with the pole section coming down. I'll talk about that later on in this blog.

So, anywho, I went and bought the pole. I opened the box and was pleased to see that an American 3x5 ft. flag was included. It wasn't 30-years ago for twice the money. There's also the ground sleeve that the pole slides into once it's put in the ground.

I watched a customer video on the Harbor Freight website that I thought was a really good idea. When I mounted the old pole after moving here, A friend and I dug the hole in the front yard and filled it with cement and I dropped the pole in. So now I figured I would have to dig that cement ball out of the ground. To mount the new pole, a fellow in the video shows how you can put the pole's sleeve in the center of a Harbor Freight bucket and then fill it with cement. This way, you simply dig the hole 54" deep and the size of the bucket and drop it in and BAM!, you've got your base for the pole.

Another problem for me is that, over the years, I planted two small bushes at the pole and they have surrounded it all the way around. Looks good when you don't have to work on the pole. So I have to butcher the bushes and cut them back so I can get in there.

So, I'm going to let the following photos tell the rest of the story...

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Unpacking the new flag pole & checking it out ~

The box that the pole came in was easy to handle. It's about four feet long so it even fit in our tiny Nissan four door. Once home I opened it up and was more than a little impressed that it seems to be powder coated and made from some sort of aluminum.

It has hangers for two flags so you can fly the American flag and another such as a POW flag or your state flag, etc.

Yes! A 3x5 foot American flag is included with the set.

I also like the flag clips. On my old pole, the clips were small plastic hooks. After several decades of weather through winters, blizzards, storms, bright sun and all the rest, they actually thinned down to not hold a grip anymore. I had to start using zip ties to hold the flag on. On this new pole, the clips are aluminum and have the cutout that closes on the flag's grommet. Much, much better situation.

I also like the fact that the flag can't tangle or bunch up. On the old pole, the in high winds, the flag would blow upward and bunch up around the ball at the top. It would be hours before it finally settled back in place and looked like hell up there all wrapped around the topper. This pole has clear heavy plastic sleeves that swivel around the pole so, no matter which direction the wind is blowing the flag, it will move around the pole.

I also like the ball topper on the top of the pole. It's larger than my old one and screws onto a threaded bolt. So you can remove it to ad a Halo Light or anything else you may desire.

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Preparing the bucket ~

For the bucket, all you need is cement and a bucket. And it helps to have water. I bought a Harbor Freight bucket so that hundreds of years from now, when someone digs this thing up, they will know where Igot the bucket.

It's nice that the bucket has a round raised center in the bottom. It shows you where to put the pole sleeve so that it's perfectly centered.

I set the sleeve in the bucket and it stands there perfectly.

You really need two buckets. The second one is to mix the cement in.

It's time to get that stuff mixed up.

Okay, the cement is mixed and poured around the sleeve.

The cement is now left to set up. I will leave it set in the garage for 48-hours to dry. I made sure it was level and straight by using my "level".

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Testing the cement ~

On the third morning, I ran out there...well I walked out there and the cement had hardened just fine. So I stuck the flag pole in the sleeve and it was good and solid. This would make a very good weighted base for the pole. It looks like the guy on the video knew what he was talking about.

Then I raised the pole to it's full height. It was slightly taller than the peak of my two story garage.

The old flag pole has to come out. First I need a way to get past the bushes so I can work on removing the old pole.

The old pole is rusty and a real sorry sight.

I can do this one of two ways. One: I can dig the bushes out, which will kill them and I will have to buy new ones. Or two: I can butcher them with my hedge trimmer and they will have to grow back in the next two years.

I opped to cut them. These bushed had been here as long as the pole has.

Replacing the old pole with the new ~

Getting the old flag pole out of the ground, and putting in the new one was an event I couldn't believe. I knew the old pole was in a big ball of cement in the ground. How easy, or hard would it be to get it out? Will I have to dig up that big ball of cement? Is this going to be a big production?

I grabbed hold of the old pole and began wiggling it around and I heard cracking noises down in the ground. This meant one of a few things. Either there was a fault down there and I have disturbed it and my entire house and front yard was about to cave in or, The Devil was pissed and my minutes were numbered or, a more logical explanation, the rust on the old pole was cracking down there and breaking away from the ball of cement.

So, there is no large crack in the ground and I don't see and guy with horns so I'm going with the rust. I gave the pole a good yank and it came right out.

Okay! Now I have a hole in the ground. I had to work fast before that Devil guy crawls out.

This won't be fun but I have to dig that hole a lot bigger and deeper to get that bucket of cement in there.

As I stood there looking at this hole in the ground, I wondered...would the new pole just simply slide down into it? No way! I can't be that lucky. It was sort of like playing the lottery. My numbers never come up.

HOLY CRAP!

I took the new flag pole and put it at the opening of the hole and just simply pushed it down in and it fit perfectly. The hole is around three and a half feet deep and it goes right through the old cement ball.

The pole seems to be really solid too. This can not be. Could it be that the pole is finished? Could my numbers have finally come up.

I wiggled it around, I prodded it, it's solid. I can't believe it.

The next step is to raise the sections and then see if the pole sways around .

I put the flag on it and raised each section until it was all the way up.

Not too shabby!

As it turns out, the pole is solid with all five extensions raised. The flag blows in the wind and there's no movement of the pole. So it looks like this job was not the hardship I thought it was going to be. It was simply pull the old one out and put the new one in.

But, this poses a dilemma. What am I going to do with a five gallon bucket of cement with a flag pole sleeve stuck in it?

Well, I can use it for a boat anker. But I don't own a boat. Plus you'd never be able to pull it up.

I can't use it as a paper weight. It would crush my desk. And talk about overkill.

Well, I guess I will just put it in the shed and maybe someday use it for a sign post base or something.

A shout out to the guy in the video...you had a great idea and, if you have to dig a hole for your new flag pole, you can always do the bucket idea. Or better yet, I happen to have a bucket of cement right here and I'll let it go really cheap. However, the mailing cost will probably be a little over $10,000. Let me know.

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Afterward ~

So, the new flag pole is in place. I did not have to disturb my floodlight post from the old pole so that was good. It will now be lighting the new pole.

I put this light fixture in around 15 -18 years ago. It still works flawlessly.

A TIP: Even though this light fixture is for exterior use and comes with a weather proof sealed washer in it, I still have always wrapped a short strip of electrical tape around the base of the bulb to keep the water out. It works fine. These floodlight bulbs last a long, long time. In the past 15 or so years, I have replaced the bulb only twice. And that's no bull.

I used a douple outlet box. This way I have an extra outlet in the yard if I need it.

So my flag is flying high once again.

After dark the light eliminates the flag pretty well.

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In ending this blog, let me say...

The new flag pole has only been up for a couple of days at this writing. It's already been through rain. I will continue to add comments in the coming days, months and, perhaps, years as to how it's holding up.

As far as a personal rating, I really like the pole and am happy that I bought it. I have been buying my tools and supplies from Harbor Freight for many, many years. I have never had problems with their items. So buying this pole was a no-brainer.

I also like the telescoping feature as there is no rope to mess with any longer. The rope on the old pole worked fine and after more than 20-years was still in good shape. However, it was the rope and pully that finally made the old pole fail. So I am hoping the telescoping feature will be long lasting on this pole.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, the one thing that was a problem for some customers was that they experienced a drop in the pole. Some of the sections would loosen and the section would lower. I believe they are simply not locking the section tightly enough. I have had experience with my pole saws which have the very same twisting action. If I don't get it tight enough, the section will fail and the pole will come loose. This is probably the same with this flag pole. So when you turn the section to lock it, just make sure that it is good and tight. It should then stay in place.

So, I do recommend buying the Harbor Freight Telescoping Flag Pole Kit. Even if you have to end up using the cement bucket, it's an easy install and shouldn't take too long. The pole seems to be of good quality. I bought the two-year coverage on it as I want to make sure that I can get a replacement if anything happens to this one. It's cheap for the coverage and, since this will be out in the weather, I felt it was a good idea to have it.

So, thanks for stopping by today. I hope this blog helps you decided on if you want to purchase this pole or not. And I hope that it helps you get through the install. For me, it was very easy. However, with most, you'll have to dig the hole and get it in there level and cement it in. I think the bucket idea is a great one. So, good luck and fly that flag high ~

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Here's a few more ideas that this pole can be used for ~

These are all Harbor Freight customer's ideas.

Raising a Starlink to the Heavens ~

Great for RVs.

Raise it when your parked. Lower it when in transit.

Christmas Lights ~

The pole can be decorated for the holidays.

No ladders involved. Just attach your lights and then raise the pole.

Light up party central.

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Well, it appears that the customer reviews were correct. And never let it be said that, when I'm wrong, I won't admit it. (Unless I can blame it on someone else).

So here's my story and I'm stickin' to it...

The customer reviews were mostly good. But many probably putt he review on as soon as they installed the pole...like I did!

I installed the pole back on May 28. So it's been up for roughly two weeks since I'm writing this on June 5. In the last two weeks, one or two sections of the pole have dropped overnight. I have to go out in the morning and put it back up. And since I have no plans to do that in the winter when there will be three feet of snow around it, and I have no plans of returning the pole, I had to come up with a way of keeping it in place.

I figure that the sections loosen up as the pole sways in the wind. This causes the connects to loosen and the section drops. I had to find a way to lock the sections in place, but be able to lower it when I have to change the flag.

So, here is what I did...

The largest section of the pole is 2-inches thick. I had to find a pin that was over two-inches. Cotter pins would work but I had none that long. So I found a jar of these in the garage.

I don't remember what these are called, but they are steel and are strong enough for the job. I first used the grinder to cut the bent part off so I have a straight long pin with a hook at one end.

The flag pole has five section. I cut four pins as the bottom section will not need one.

Then I grabbed my trusty Harbor Freight metal drilling bits, my electric drill, an extension cord and some tiny zip ties, tossed them all on my dolly and took it plus my electrical cord real out front and got started.

I lowered all sections of the pole and, starting with the top one, I drilled a hole through each section just about the connector ring.

I drilled the hole through each section at the same point. Then I ran a pin through it.

The pins work great, but I do not want these things falling out in the wind.

So I wrapped a zip tie around each pin and pulled them tight with a pair of pliers. They should stay in place just fine.

So the pole is back up and the flag is flying high once again.

So, we'll see what happens. I think this will work. It took me about an hour to get done, no biggie! I'll post another update when I see how it's working out. Talk later! Bye!

It's five days later and the pole did drop a section again. However, it came to rest on the pin. So, it looks like it is going to work fine.

The flag pole is aluminum and the pin is steel. So it should have no problem holding the pole sections in place.

Okay! It's been over a month and the flagpole has worked perfectly. The pins have worked. It has not dropped at all. We have had two really windy days during the last month, around 40-MPH winds one day and about 65-MPH winds the other day and the pole came through it all just fine. The pins did the trick.

Well, we had a high wind for three solid days. It registered around 65 to 70 MPH. So I thought it would be a good idea to lower the flagpole until the wind subsided. I dropped it all the way down for several days.

Then, after the high winds were over, I went out to raise the pole. I got two sections up and imagine my surprise when I went to raise the third section and it came out in my hands. That's right! The third section simply came out and would not go back together. I was a little angry, to say the least. So, I took the pole back to Harbor Freight to exchange it. I had bought the two year replacement warranty when I bought the original pole. At the store, there was no problem. They took the old pole and gave me a new one, no questions asked. So now I have the second pole in the yard. We'll see how that goes.

I think that the freezing rain we had gotten may have froze in the section and broken the seal. when the pole had been down, we got freezing rain for all three days. So now I plan in the future to lower the pole in high winds, remove the flag and raise the pole again right away. The wind shouldn't damage the raised pole. However, it would damage the flag and possibly the flag blowing so hard might intern damage the pole.

I did find out from the lady at the Harbor Freight store that the warranty for $10.00 isn't really needed. If the pole is damaged by wind and weather, they will exchange it anyway. So, needless to say, I did not opt to get the warranty this time.

High winds at @70-MPH.

New replacement pole is in place. We'll see how this one works.

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CLICK ON THE BUCKET TO GO TO THE HARBOR FREIGHT WEBSITE ~

CLICK ON THE FLAGS TO SEE THE PAGE FOR THE FLAG POLE ~

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CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINKS FOR MORE OF MY FLAG BLOGS ~

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CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINKS FOR MORE OF MY DIY BLOGS ~

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