Light Poles

Call the University of South Carolina or Clemson and see who they used.

Get the best equipment and ask for volunteers for the installation.

Save a lot of time and money and won't have to worry about "liability" if the towers aren't tall enough or the candlepower is not adequate.

Save a few thousand now and those errors can cost tens of thousands in increased insurance costs.

Talk to local electrical outfits--many are willing to make the deal happen at cost or less just to be involved in community endeavor

Don't go the telephone pole rout if you can help it because within 3 years the poles warp and misalign the lights. Use them as a last option if you can.

First thing to do is buy a big bag of Depends for the advisory group as you will need a change after you see the total costs.

While lights are nice there is a cost analysis that has to be done that factors in usage, energy costs, maintenance, insurance, and other factors. While deals can be found on poles, in the end they will be a small portion of the total costs.

Many times a facilities sharing agreement with the city will allow you to piggyback and/or co-share operational costs.

averner3

It depends on how big the field is and what footcandles you want. We were able to get 7 free poles from our local power company. We did have to pay about $1,000 for them to be trucked to the high school. Our wood poles are 75' long which means the lights will only be 60'-65' above ground.

The typical lighting configuration on a regulation 330'-400'-330' field is 8 poles. 2-80'(above ground) poles and 6-70' poles. The 2 80' poles are located along 1st and 3rd. The others are 4 in the outfield and 2 in foul territory down the foul lines in the outfield.

This will get you 50 fc in the infield and 30 fc in the outfield which is the minimum you probably want.

Our existing field is a little smaller so we are using only 6 of the wood poles. We priced out the MUSCO Light-Structure Green lighting system. MUSCO told us the lights would cost about $52,000 for 1500 watt metal halide fixtures on 6 poles. That price does not include electrical service installation, poles, or pole installation. If a contractor were to install everything your total cost would be in the $80,000 - $100,000 range. An 8 pole configuration will run between $120,000 - $140,000. Costs can vary depending on your local market.

I have more info you need it. Send me a PM and I'll send you more.

Missouri BB dad, how many fixtures in your guote? Musco quoted us $83,000.00 three yrs. ago for a 315-350-315 field. Six poles(2-60,2-70,2-80) with 52(1500 watt) fixtures. If you are going to use wooden poles, I'd check on used ones. They are probably dry, and more stable, but be aware that really long wooden poles are pricey.

SoutherNo1

Musco's quote to us was for 6 fixtures. I don't recall how many lamps were in the quote. We already have the poles so they were not in the quote. Just fixtures and cabinets for each pole.

You may also want to check GE lighting, and Cooper lighting. We got our cost down to about half of Musco through those two. Both were able to steer us to local installers. I think the pole guys said their rule of thumb for burying wooden poles was "10% + 2feet" in the ground.

As a follow up does anyone know how long poles should be for baseball?Probably a little shorter for softball.Also how far to put in ground and how much concrete?We have lights donated now working on getting poles.Thanks to all who responded...

See my posts above. Musco calculated it for us. For pole depth as an example, a 60' pole would be buried 10%+2', or 6'+2'= 8'. You would be left 52' above ground. 52' would be ok for softball, but not baseball.