[halimeda]

Hi!

When 2 very old trees were cut down in my yard, we found an old flagpole that had been hidden beside them. Based on the age/size of the trees and the year the house was built, I would guess this flapole is about 100 years old. I have no idea if it is still usable, or how I could go about putting a flag up on it. It is probably about 15-20 ft. tall and has a hook like hardware on the bottom and some sort of round hardware at the very top. Both of these are very rusted and would possibly need to be replaced? Any ideas/suggestions on how I would get started? Thank you!

Rachel

[american_flag_uk]

Hi there Rachel

Welcome

Wow cool find!
What is the flagpole made of? is it a wooden one, or a metal one?

To renovate this pole would require you to take it down 1st to get a better lookl at it, and also work on the top of the pole

100 years of rust is going to be very difficult to remove
You will most likely be needing a new truck assembly and finial for the top of the pole - should you decide the pole is sturdy enough to fly a flag from.

Various sizes of truck can be found here Flagpole Trucks Flag Pole Truck Pulley Topper
The finial is a ball/ deoration put on the top of flagpoles.

The thing you decribe at the bottom of the pole is a cleat, and this is used to wrap the halyard (rope) around to secure it.
That would probably just need a good wire brushing- as it has no moving parts.

What would be helpful would be some pictures of this flagpole, shpwing the top, and the cleat, and also the pole in full. Then I get a better idea of what you are describing and perhaps help some more

[halimeda]

Thankyou for the reply!

The flagpole has a metal base which goes up about 3 feet. Inserted into the base is wooden pole.We have the cleat, and the truck(which I would guess is too rusted to function), but have no finial. I will try to get some pictures up but it might take me a while.

[Robin Hickman]

Hello, Halimeda !

Welcome to the USA-Flag Site forums !

Well, it does seem that you may have a very old flagpole, indeed !

It should make for an interesting Spring/Summer restoration project. Other than what has already been covered here, I think my number one concern might be one of the "safety" variety.

Safety, as in after going to all the "trouble" of removing the old hardware, cleaning, sanding, and re-painting the pole, attaching the new hardware and the halyard, getting a nice 3x5' American Flag to fly and running it up the refurbished flagpole, only to have a gust of wind catch the Flag in just the right direction that the force of the wind finds the weakness of a hidden crack in the wood and "snaps" the pole and it lands on the house or someone in the yard ! YIKES !!!

Depending on how old the flagpole really is, what type of wood it's made out of, and what kind of shape it's in, might determine whether or not it is "salvagable". To determine that, you'll need the "services", or at least the honest opinion, of someone who has a lot of experience of working with "OUTDOOR" wood.

I don't know where you live, but chances are if you live near a coastal area, or an area of lakes where a LOT of people go sailing all the time, you'll probably be able to find someone locally who works on wooden masts. If it's a small "Father & Son" type of family business, talk to the Father!

Anyway, GOOD LUCK with your Flagpole "project" !!!

Robin Hickman

PS. I almost forgot! The single most important aspect about your flagpole just might be what type of wood it's made out of. IF it's really, really old, chances are that it might be made out of "old growth" timber. If that is the case, I'd think you'd have a MUCH better chance of having it be "solid" wood (a good thing!). Also, when you start cleaning up the base and the flagpole, keep your eyes "peeled" for a DATE of some kind that might give you an idea as to how old your pole really is !!!