Moving a big dish?

[PALL MALL]

I've been eying this really nice BUD thats about a mile down the road from me. I dont want to get it then damage it bringing it home. What do you guys suggest for moving it? Should I disassemble it? Hopefully there will still be a good day this year so I can get something done, im getting lake effect snow right now.

The weathers so bad its effecting my fox affiliate. On certain commercials and shows ive noticed staticy lines running through the picture. They must still get analog feeds. Maybe my old analog reciever will be usefull in the future.

 

[dfergie]

How big is it? if you have a pickup or have access to it might be as simple as setting it on the bed... I bought a 8' mesh dish from a neighbor and moved that way...

 

[gabshere]

i usually transport a dish whole if small enough

i also take a compass reading of which way the dish it pointed write it on the pole
mark the pole again for True South. and when i reset the pole its easy to align the dish back up to previous satellite.

 

[dfergie]

What George said will help you, if need be take pictures before dismantling anything so you get it back where it goes...

 

[PALL MALL]

I thinks its 8' and its one of the mesh ones. I do have a pickup. Im just not sure how strong the dish is, I dont want it to bend in the middle.

Someone else offered me a big dish thats all disassemble, but they said that two of the mesh panels are bent. would it be possible to fix them?

 

[Cadsulfide]

It's stronger than it looks, two guys should be able to handle it. Just be careful not to punch holes in the mesh, or drive 100mph on the way home. As for the pre-disaasembled model, you can straighten the panels.

 

[dfergie]

Shouldn't have to worry about bending it, the mesh panels could probably be straightened out also if not too bad...lay old blankets or tarps to keep from scratching your truck and try to pick a low traffic time if not in the country...

 

[Anole]

I remember a couple of years back, one of the fellows found a BUD he liked.
When he posted some high resolution photos, the guys pointed out which actual bolts he needed to remove to break the dish into 2, 4, or maybe 6 pieces.

Get up a few pictures.
I'm sure someone will recognize the dish you've found, and give specific disassembly or moving instructions.
You aren't alone. - :up

 

[Diamond Jim]

I am going to move my 8ft solid when the new house is finished. A friend of mine who used to be an installer is going to help me. He said all we have to do is loosen the two locking bolts on the pole, lift it off, set in the bed of the truck, secure it good and head for it's new home. Hope it's as easy as he makes it sound.

 

[Greg Mueller]

I got a 12' from down the road which was made from 4 petals. I took off each petal, but the bolts were all rusty and most of them broke. That's ok with me cause I always replace things like that with stainless. Stainless bolts aren't to expensive if you get them from some place like McMaster. Plus if you need to take it apart for some reason you won't have to deal with rusty bolts again.

McMaster-Carr
McMaster-Carr

 

[PALL MALL]

I didnt want to bother them around the holidays. Im gonna wait till saturday, before I ask about taking the pictures. I might just try to take it down then. So When I get the dish setup at my house I should have it in the same position it was when I took it down? I think the actuator needs to come off so it will fit in the truck, so ill mark where that is too. I havent got to close to the dish yet but I cannot see any rust from about 20 feet away. It looks to be maintained beautifully. They never gave me a price, I think they just want it out of there yard.

There are unused BUD's all over the place that no one wants. I might just have a dish farm in a few years. It seems like no one in my area knows about fta and there are BUD's and primestar dishes everywhere. Hopefully I can acquire them before they get thrown away or cut up for scrap metal.

 

[primestar31]

I didnt want to bother them around the holidays. Im gonna wait till saturday, before I ask about taking the pictures. I might just try to take it down then. So When I get the dish setup at my house I should have it in the same position it was when I took it down? I think the actuator needs to come off so it will fit in the truck, so ill mark where that is too. I havent got to close to the dish yet but I cannot see any rust from about 20 feet away. It looks to be maintained beautifully. They never gave me a price, I think they just want it out of there yard.

There are unused BUD's all over the place that no one wants. I might just have a dish farm in a few years. It seems like no one in my area knows about fta and there are BUD's and primestar dishes everywhere. Hopefully I can acquire them before they get thrown away or cut up for scrap metal.

Rent a cube van from U-Haul, and with a couple guys to help, take it whole by lifting the dish and mount off the pole. Yes, the best way to remount it, is to point it at the same sat it was pointed at when you took it down. Less work that way, especially if it wasn't located too far away from your present house.

As for primestar dishes, do everything in your power to get the larger round 1 meter dishes, if there's some located around you! These are prime high-gain dishes for playing with! They are rarer than the various elliptical primestars, and better in my opinion.

If you are married, you might want to consider getting a gift for your wife, once she complains about "all the junky old sat dishes you keep bringing home".

 

[turbosat]

Be careful taking the actuator loose, because when you undo the bolts on the motor-end , and the positioner-arm end, that dish is gonna fall/flop on ya! I usually take the arm loose from the dish first, holding the dish with one hand, or leaning into it, to keep it from falling right back into the positioner-arm (it'll work perfectly for punching a giant hole in the mesh otherwise)
Once loose you can let the dish come all the way down to the pole, where you can start removing the bolts. Just remember there aren't a lot of bolts holding it to the mount, I have several that only had 4 bolts holding the dish/ring to the mount itself, pull those out and the dish may flop right off onto you, or the ground. *speaking from experience here lol*
Motor won't move once you take it off, and when you set your pole, and put the dish back on it, the dish should be pretty close to where it was when you removed it. If it's close to your home, shouldn't have to do much to re-align the tracking.

 

[Anole]

If you are married, you might want to consider getting a gift for your wife, once she complains about "all the junky old sat dishes you keep bringing home".

Two suggestions to this
- read up on how easy it is to scrub 'n paint the dishes so they look great
- buy her a big flat-panel television (which you will undoubtedly enjoy as well) -