Customer Reviews

Heath Outdoor Products 15 Foot Telescoping Galvanized Steel Purple Martin House Pole

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this pole and installed it for my Purple Martin house. Martin houses are heavy (even heavier with birds and nests in them) and probably require the strength of steel rather than wood or PVC. Installation requires digging a 12 " hole, 30" to 36" deep, a bag of cement and some gravel. Of course, this means you must have the tools necessary for digging and mixing the cement (Post hole digger, mixing pan, hoe, and a shovel) and the permission of the property owner.

This flag pole is not as sturdy as the original pole that came with my bird house. I suggest raising this pole only up to about 12 feet or so. I say this because I initially raised the pole to about 15 feet and it was easily bent by winds of 25-35mph. Summary: If you plan on putting anything on top of this pole, do not try to get maximum height out of this one.

The 'Easy Locking' system is probably the greatest misnomer on any product.Additionally like so many other consumers my pole had no markings indicating which end was which. You are expected to force and twist a curved bolt like piece of metal between the two poles in a small gap with little clearance.This requires two people at least and usually can only be done with the pole assembled and on the ground.This in turn makes it IMPOSSIBLE to actually telescope the pole without taking the whole system down to the ground.The pole seems sturdy enough but the locking system makes this less than useless for regular cleaning and maintaining a purple martin house.

I've purchased several MP15's for Purple Martin houses since 1996. The last one bought I could not get the pins to lock and hold. I had to drill holes in each pole and secure them in place with a nut & bolt. I'm glad this problem was discovered before nesting had began. Other than that, the poles are easy to telescope, and hold up very well in high winds.

We recently went through a F1 Tornado, and the pole was still standing with bird house. I lost many sections of fences during this storm (snapped 4x4 posts), so this pole is heavy duty in my opinion. Pole is only mounted in clay to the depth of the ground sheath (not 3ft like many others), and not mounted in concrete. No bending of pole experienced like some other users. As far as I'm concerned, this pole is awesome.

This item came with clear and accurate installation instructions. Instructions indicate there are paint markings on the poles, but there were not making it a bit difficult when guessing how high to raise each pole. The pole is very sturdy and mounted relatively easy to a large handmade wooden 14 apartment purple martin house. Martins moved in within 2 days! It requires 2 people to raise the poles to maximum height using the lock system on each of the telescopes.

As a weather watcher, I depend on the most accurate ways to get weather data. I have been wanting to find a way to get my weather station higher. I found this 15 Ft telescoping pole at our local Lowes. This thing is pretty nice. Before I used to have to haul out the latter for battery changes, and maintenence. This pole being 15 Ft along with the 5.5 Ft the station already has, puts it at 20.5 Ft. Now the thing is, this pole is extreamly strong. We have already experienced some powerfull wind gusts. This pole doesn't even wobble, and the key lock system is well thought out. You might have to mark the maximum extend with a sharpy, or else you might end up pulling it out. Easy to install and easy to maintain. I wish I had done it years ago. Highly recommended for most uses.

When I clicked on the purple martin house to purchase it from Amazon a picture of the telescoping pole came up. It was suggested that this pole would be a great combination with the martin house I was buying. When it was time to put everything together we realized that the opening for the pole was triangle shape and the pole was round. My husband figured out a way to make it work. He wasn't pleased with the way the poles were to be connected. He thought that it had a poor design. The martin house and the pole have only been up for a few weeks but they have both withstood some heavy winds. Only time will tell if this will hold up due to the fact that this isn't the proper pole for our martin house.

The design of this 3 piece pole system for mounting purple martin houses is well suited to the purpose for which it is intended. That said, for what one gets the price is a bit high. Nevertheless, it saved me the time and effort of designing a mounting system myself and for that I was willing to shell out the $60. The real rub came from the poles arriving damaged such that the interlocking ends of 2 of the 3 poles required a couple hours of shop time to reshape the male and female components of the poles before they could be assembled. This product is not a particularly easy one to return so if you order it, it would be worth confirming the absence of damage upon delivery. The 12 pairs of purple martins that have checked into what my son has named "The Lake House Hotel" don't seem to mind the modified design of the accomodations.

The first pole I received didn't work as designed. The locking device or key would bend due to extrusions in pipe it rotates in not having enough clearance. I called the manufacture of the martin pole to advise them of the problem I was having and was promptly shipped a replacement pole. This pole works a little better but the locking devise still needs some work. A tender handed person still will have a problem rotating the key to lock the pole once extended. I have to recommend pliers to be used to keep from hurting your hand when locking. Larger diameter of key and longer extension where hand contacts would help. A lubricant applied at the contact points helps too.