Shade Sail Post - 48mm Medium Duty Galvanised Steel

Our medium duty shade sail post, made to order in our own Sheffield workshop from 48mm tubular steel. This is the one most gardens need: right for a domestic sail over a patio, a seating area or a play area, with sensible spans. Supplied as a single post, so order one for every sail corner that is not coming off a wall.

For a larger sail, a longer span, an exposed site, or a line you intend to pull tighter, step up to the 60mm heavy duty shade sail post. The thicker tube deflects less and is far less prone to taking a permanent bend. It has to be concreted in, where this 48mm post can also be used with a lift-out ground socket.

Specification

• Duty: medium duty. The heavy duty version is 60mm
• Tube: 48mm heavy wall tubular steel
• Length: 3 metres, or 3.4 metres made to order
• Top fitting: rigging eye at the top of the post, for shackling the sail corner to
• Standard finish: hot dip galvanised, good for around 25 years in the weather
• Optional finish: powdercoated over the galvanising in black, Anthracite Grey RAL 7016 or white. Other RAL colours on request
• Cap: plain flat cap as standard, acorn finial available on request
• Fixing: concreted directly into the ground, or into our 48mm ground socket if you want to lift the post out

Pole design: which one do you want?

• Single eyebolt. A rigging eye at the top of the post, and nothing else. This is the one to choose where the sail corner makes off at the top of the post and stays there: shackled straight to the eye, or through a turnbuckle so you can adjust it. It is the usual choice and the simplest arrangement.
• Eyebolt and tie off cleat. The same rigging eye at the top, with a cleat fitted lower down the post. Run the line over a pulley at the eye and down to the cleat, and that corner can be let down and re-hung from standing height without anybody going near the top of the post. Worth having on any corner you expect to drop regularly.

That second point matters more than it sounds. A shade sail is not meant to be left up all year: it wants to come down ahead of high winds and over winter, and a corner you can drop in a minute is a corner you will actually drop.

Setting the post

Part of the length goes into the ground, so order on the height you want above ground and allow for the rest. Posts are normally set leaning away from the sail by around 5 to 10 degrees rather than plumb, because the sail pulls the top inwards.

Keep the sail lightly tensioned. A shade sail wants just enough tension to take the slack out and stop it flapping, and no more. Pulling a sail drum tight is what bends posts and tears fabric at the corners. If water is pooling, increase the fall across the sail rather than the tension, and if it is flapping hard in wind, take it down.

Footing size, concrete mix and cure time depend on your sail area, post height, exposure and ground, so those decisions are yours or your groundworker's. Our shade sail post guide goes through what to think about, and we are happy to talk it through before you order.

Made to order

These posts are made to order rather than held in stock, typically two to three weeks. Because each one is made for the order it cannot be returned as an unwanted item, so please check the length and finish before ordering. See our returns information.

Delivery

Posts are long and heavy and do not go by normal parcel courier. Collection from Sheffield is welcome and saves the carriage. Details on our delivery information page.

Also worth a look: the 48mm ground socket if you want to be able to lift the posts out, and the shade sail wall bracket for corners coming off the building.