Construction question

[Fubar62172]

Question
I have a gate with a telephone pole on each side and I want to put a telephone pole horizontally across the two
My plan is to make a saddle for the top of each pole for it to sit on…. So picture a pc about 20 inches long acting as a cap with a half circle piece welded to the top so the top pole can lay in it
My question is how thick of material would you make the cap part out of? For the half circle part I’m planning on using 1/4” material but I’m having a difficult time getting the cap pc that thick
Thanks

[GWIZ]

Welcome to the site.

That is a bad question because it is up to the amount of abuse over the years.

At a guess and I'm cheap I would consider 1/4" full circle straps 2" wide 2 per side, total four.

as for full width 20" like you want anything 1/8" or thicker, but then the question how long will in last from rusting.

Not enough info for a safe answer.

[Shade Tree Welder]

For that big of a cap, I'd say 1/8" or 11 gauge steel will out last you.

In NM I don't think rust is really a problem. Blast it and paint it well before install.

[MetalWolf]

Originally Posted by Fubar62172

Question
I have a gate with a telephone pole on each side and I want to put a telephone pole horizontally across the two
My plan is to make a saddle for the top of each pole for it to sit on…. So picture a pc about 20 inches long acting as a cap with a half circle piece welded to the top so the top pole can lay in it
My question is how thick of material would you make the cap part out of? For the half circle part I’m planning on using 1/4” material but I’m having a difficult time getting the cap pc that thick
Thanks

see if you can find a piece of pipe large enough to cut in half you can find this material in your local scrap yard cheap and there ya go you have your saddles and there is usually a lot of 1/4" wall pipe scrap in the steel salvage yards
It's what I would do myself if it were my project and I was in need of making saddles for that purpose