Economical Bollards

[Eric H]

I need to install 5 Bollards at the entrance and exit at a wash so that I can close the property at night. My fence guy quoted $1500 to install 6" galvanized fence posts. I'm trying to find a way to get the price down and have them look better than fence posts. As an added bonus - if they could be easily replaceable that would help...I have a bad habit of hitting things when I plow Some customer took out the origional posts with their car a few years ago

 

[MEP001]

That's a tall order, especially the replaceable part.

I've rented an automatic concrete coring drill, IIRC it was about $100 a day. The only work was setting the pipe in the hole, which was just big enough to dig out with a garden spade to about a foot deep and flared out, filled with concrete and dropped in a 5" ID steel pipe.

If you need them to be replaceable, have someone weld a flange and just anchor them down with 3/4" stainless wedge anchors. Each one will hold 4000 lbs and shear strength is 15,000.

 

[Greg Pack]

I have some bollards with a welded steel plate on the bottom. If you hit it, it would likely just pull the anchor bolts out.

 

[pgrzes]

Find a local well driller. You could drill and install a slightly larger diameter casing into the ground then put bollards in. Most well drillers have loads of cutoffs and the casings are way heavier then fence posts.

 

[Car_Wash_Guy]

They use some kind of folding w/ a hinge pin for removal here on our bike paths to allow maintanance and emergency vehicles to enter. I'll stop and take a pic and if you think it'll work, I can find out who makes them.

 

[MEP001]

I have some bollards with a welded steel plate on the bottom. If you hit it, it would likely just pull the anchor bolts out.

That's why I would use a flange with 8 holes and 3/4" wedge anchors. Good wedge anchors won't pull out of concrete without breaking, and with a flange there would always be three bolts holding against whatever hits it.

 

[mjwalsh]

I need to install 5 Bollards at the entrance and exit at a wash so that I can close the property at night. My fence guy quoted $1500 to install 6" galvanized fence posts. I'm trying to find a way to get the price down and have them look better than fence posts. As an added bonus - if they could be easily replaceable that would help...I have a bad habit of hitting things when I plow Some customer took out the origional posts with their car a few years ago

Eric,

Depending on the specific placement ... there are times when it can be wise to have a 6" pipe filled with concrete dug deep enough so it is as close to being indestructable as possible. We have one like that by our stainless steel siding covered utility shed we have in the rear of our car wash.

We used to be able to go to the local scrap yards & sometimes come up with great deals on used stainless pipe & other items. No more not with the new generation of scrap yard owners & their insurance carrier comrades with their "new much more restrictive rules".

 

[Sparkleclean]

I used 10' long 6" wide electrical conduit. The real thick stuff they bury. It was about $100 per 10' piece and easy to cut with a sawzall. I buried it about 18" leaving 3 1/2' above ground and filled it with concrete. I think i even drilled a couple 1/2" holes in the buried end and inserted nuts and bolts through them to give it some resistance to being "pulled out". Then i bought the bollard covers for that size pipe from kleenrite for less then $40 each for the size i needed. Totaled less then $100 each pole to do it myself. That right there would save you $1000. Plus if you want them to look taller then 3 1/2' you can just leave the bollard covers longer. As long as the height would make contact with the bumpers of vehicles it will do its job. Its not removable, but i dont like the flimsiness of the removable ones.

 

[OurTown]

I used 10' long 6" wide electrical conduit. The real thick stuff they bury. It was about $100 per 10' piece

I assume you are talking about "rigid conduit"? Where did you get it for that price? It looks more like $500/stick normal price. We would also like to find an economical way to add bollards to our wash. They would be put in asphalt around our vac islands.

 

[Roz]

How about using empty 55 gal barrels, filling with cement and insert a rod through the hole so you can attach a chain. Your chemical supply company would probably give them to you for free or they are available for $5-$20 on Craigslist.You can get barrel covers to advertise your place or your products (from the distributor) to make them look nice and appealing. I use them all over my car wash to help direct traffic flow and my customers like the new look. I fill mine with water so I can move them with a hand dolly, cement would be heavier to move.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Check out ULINE
They have fixed and removable bollards starting at $70 and up based on size