Shade Sail Post - 60mm Heavy Duty Galvanised Steel

The heavy duty version of our shade sail post, made to order in our own Sheffield workshop from 60mm tubular steel instead of 48mm. The extra diameter and wall thickness is what you want on a longer span, a bigger sail, or a line you intend to pull tighter: a thicker post deflects less, flexes less in gusts and is far less prone to taking a permanent bend. Supplied as a single post, so order one for every sail corner that is not coming off a wall.

If your sail is modest and the spans are short, the 48mm medium duty shade sail post is the sensible choice and costs less. Step up to 60mm when the sail is large, the span is long, the site is exposed, or you simply want the post you will never think about again.

Specification

• Duty: heavy duty. The medium duty version is 48mm
• Tube: 60mm 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. The acorn finial is an option on the 48mm post only
• Fixing: concreted directly into the ground, with at least 600mm of the post below ground. No ground socket is available for this size

Concreted in, not socketed

This post is designed to be concreted straight into the ground. We do not supply a ground socket to take it, and that is deliberate rather than an omission. A socket is a convenience fitting: it lets you lift a post out, and it does that by introducing a joint at exactly the point where the bending load is highest. On the medium duty 48mm post carrying a modest sail that is a reasonable trade. On a heavy duty post chosen precisely because the loads are higher, it works against the reason you bought it.

So if you want to be able to lift your posts out of the ground, the 48mm medium duty post with a ground socket is the combination to order. If you want the stiffest post we make, concrete this one in and leave it there.

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

We would suggest setting this post at least 600mm into the ground, and deeper on a tall post, a large sail or an exposed garden. On a 3 metre post that leaves around 2.4 metres above ground, so order on the height you want above ground and allow for the rest. That 600mm is a sensible starting point rather than a specification: the footing you actually need depends on your sail area, post height, exposure and ground, and that decision rests with you or your groundworker.

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 heavier post is not an invitation to pull harder. 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 tears fabric at the corners and loads footings. 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.

A bigger post does not reduce the footing it needs; if anything it means you are carrying more load, so the hole matters more rather than less. 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 shade sail itself, the shade sail wall bracket for corners coming off the building, and tension turnbuckles for adjusting the lines.