Mark, I put a Bend-Pak unit up in my garage a year or so ago and here is
the lesson I walked away with...
Throw away the instructions! If I did it again, I would completely mount
and bolt down one post then assemble the top cross piece and second upright
to mark the holes, then disassemble, drill the holes and reassemble.
My unit had a margin of error of about 1/8th of an inch between posts that
are almost 9' apart. I built a template and carefully measured everything.
I was JUST inside the margin of error. Lots of extra work and I don't know
what I would have done if it was wrong. Note, with my model (asymmetrical-
2 post) the posts are on weird angles to each other so it's hard to get
right.
If you weren't in CA (or if you were doing this when I will be in AZ for 5
months starting in April) I'd swing by to help. (seriously.) So anyone in
NJ who wants a lift, take note. I can even bring the fork-lift and/or
gantry crane with me to make it MUCH easier to install.
One other tip, stop by a machine shop tool place. Ask them for the mortar
for bolts in concrete. They have this stuff that is stronger than
concrete. You can drill out bigger holes (which gives you more flexibility
when assembling) then pour this stuff in the holes and get a much stronger
attachment then drilling and just using a concrete anchor. I can't
remember the name, It's something like "Rock Hard."
Inch
http://megageek.com
"Did you exchange, a walk-on part in the war,
for a lead role in a cage?" R Waters.
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