WAY OT Building a cross

The church I go to is on the south corner of my farm. My field has a large hill behind the church. A couple of weeks ago, one of the ladies my age said her Dad always said there needed to be a cross on top of that big hill overlooking the church. It's been bugging me every since. Looking thru my excess parts inventory for something to make it out of. I think the old 60' 8" dia auger is the best candidate. It needs to be big enough that it will stand out from a 1/4 mile away. The top of the hill is sandy and barely raises anything, so I'm not worried about loosing crop land, I'm thinking just plant it and farm around it. I'm trying to figure out how to use the auger for the cross. It's an old Koyker that is about 10' sections. I'm thinking 3 sections high with 2 section for the cross bar. Do you think I can just weld the cross bar to the upright and be good enough or will I have to reinforce and brace the weld joints? I thought about using the frame of the auger because it would be easier to work with, but I think it would be too small to be seen from a distance. The photos are of the church and the hill behind it to the left, next 2 are from my house looking at the hill, the old auger for a donor, and a better look from the church. OK, I'm cheap, looking to do this without spending very much cash, just use what's lying around. OR would I be better off to scrap the auger and buy a couple of poles and use them? It's plenty windy around here, so it needs to be strong enough to stand up to 40-50 mph winds once in a while. Any thoughts?? Chris

My thoughts are utility poles. There are a lot of them around here and would stand the wind better than the metal auger.

Whatever you do and however you make it, make sure you have the blessing of your whole congregation. (I know, that's probably impossible) If you don't and it's ugly (in their eyes), or it falls down, it will be 100% your fault.

Welding should hold fine. I would cut the flanges off the cross pieces and cope them to fit to the upright and weld them on. I would build it to use the top 4 sections for the main and the bottom 2 for the cross. Plant the top short section into the ground and cement it and give it some paint and your good. Should hold up to most any wind that way.

Utility poles are generally pulled or cut because they are approaching the end of their useful life. For all the work you put in, you might not get a lot of service out of them.

I think that Jon has it correct. I would just make sure and use the bottom section for one of the cross bars. The most wear on an old auger is in the bottom section.

When you get the cross pieces in place I would take the "new" bottom section off and fill it with concrete. This would reinforce the section so when you set the the base in concrete it would be stiffer to handle any winds you get.

Also there used to be an outfit that was installing sets of three crosses around the country. IF you could find out if they still do it they may install a set of three there for free.

My thought is to ask that lady for a contribution......There might not be as much pressure on needing a cross on that particular hill after that!...............My own view....I think churches are the place for the Cross or the one we have to carry ourselves daily!
just MY opinion, I do wish you well with whatever you decide....the tubing from the auger will be strong if it is still solid and not rotted, take a bit of time and cut a half circle out of the side tubes and fit them around the main upright tube and weld it up solid. for extra strength you might want to fill the main tube with concrete to above ground level and then cap the top of it to keep out moisture....or galvanise the whole thing....not real cheap but permanent................Sam

I'd be most worried that the arms will sag.

The human eye is very good a picking up slight irregularities like that. If it's not just right, it could turn out to be a real eyesore.

I remember the steeple of a church in town that got blown down - when they rebuilt it, it was off a few degrees. It used to drive everybody nuts till they finally ripped it down and rebuilt it again.

You might need to mount the arms to plates a little wedge shaped that angle them upwards just enough so they sag to level.

Maybe not, but I think the only way to be sure is to experiment.

Good luck with it.

I'd use a "guy wire" from the top to the tip of each cross piece. You might see it while you are working ground but you will be the only one. It will keep those side pieces square.

JD, I think I was typing as you were posting! LOL .........Sam

An 8" auger is probably made on a 2" pipe? they are made to be supported by the equipment they are set in. It may want to bow or twist. The auger flights will give some support but you might want to run flatbar across the outer edges of the flights and weld it to each flight. this may cost you a few bucks for the flatbar but it'll stiffen it up. I'd try 1" x 1/4" flatbar.

I think he's thinking of the tube not the flights.

super99,

That is a really neat idea!!
I see no reason why some bracing could not be added to all 4 inner corners of the cross... if using bracing with a curve bent into it - it could look really cool and actually add a nice touch to the look of the cross.

I agree that I'd probably get a general consensus from your church family... even though it is on your land.

But in seeking their approval, you may indeed find that someone might donate money toward the cross and possibly labor to help you put it up.

Here is a cross photo-shopped in, if you want one to show them what you envision... though this might be too large - not knowing your proportions.

(We used this photo-shopping tool to decide where we wanted to place the outhouse that my husband built... I just copied it in to several locations - so we could "see" it before he moved it into place with the tractor.)

I would be a little concerned about lightning, especially after what happened to the "touchdown Jesus" a few years back.
Zach
here...

Lot of good advice posted below. Make note of them all, and here is some more.
The "old Rugged Cross" was not all the square.
It will be in the rule area, not town.
Lightning will hit it.
Keep a large rocked area around the base.
bury some (deadmen) welded to it to keep it from turning. Or would you want it to turn?????
Check with all the locals for the good, bad, and Ugly then do what you want. lol Work with that person with Photo shop. Take a close up shot straight on of the auger for them to work with. Do keep us posted.

I would think the tubing from the augers would be too flimsy and not hold up. You have to consider the worst winds and weather imaginable, especially up on a hill in an open field. Hate to go to all the work of getting it up only to have it come crashing down in the first wind storm. Commercial signs use heavy wall pipe with thick base plates bolted to concrete pilings. Unfortunately, they don't make little blue pills for keeping crosses up.

Why not make it out of concrete? Precast concrete is made into things like that all the time. You would likely need help in the design part, getting the specs and all that and a crane rental (same with a metal one made from the auger), other than that its all just normal construction worker labor which should be readily available in your congregation.

Thanks, Sweetfeet, That is quite a bit larger than I had in mind, but I like the looks of it. I'll bet I could see it from my house! Chris