Outdoor pole in Canada?!?!

Ok, I've heard of people doing this, but has anyone from a cooler climate ie. not California or Florida done this? I have a student who is interested in putting up a pole in her backyard, but she doesn't want to spend $800 for a stage and I don't blame her. I mentioned that I'd heard of people cementing a pole into the ground for a permanent outdoor pole, and searching around here I found an idea by Poledancefan to fill a bucket with cement and a PVC sleeve so that if you ever wanted to move it you would be able to dig up the bucket. Any thoughts or ideas on how to proceed??? Anyone from somewhere where the ground freezes done this before? If it was the semi-permanent bucket idea would you HAVE to dig it up in the winter months???

Before I got my stage pole (which I got on craigslist for $350, so there are bargains to be had)... I thought about cementing a pipe in the ground and then having a pole that you would drop in and out of that pipe that you could lock on static or spin. Similar to the way my stage pole attaches to the base. It would have a cap that I could cover it with when not using so it wouldn't get rain in it... and be low enough that I wouldn't hit it with the lawn mower. But in my mind it got kind of confusing, and if you added up everything I was thinking... it did get somewhat costly and labor intensive, and then I got the stage pole and I'm happy with that. Not really sure how freezing would play into it... but I've had thing cemented in the ground (like basketball nets) and it's never been an issue here in NJ.

Thank you for your input. A used stage would sure be a simpler alternative. ☺

Allyson Kendall, how long does it take to remove the pole from the stage? Would it be annoying or even feasible to take it on and off when you use it (so it doesn't get ruined from the elements)?

Seconds. It doesnt even screw in. You actually just drop it in the slot. The rest of the stage (the base) takes a bit to set up, but to actually just put the pole in is super easy.

Thank you!! This sounds great.

I live in California and have a stage pole that I leave set up most of the time. I do bring the pole inside a screened porch when the weather looks damp. Once the pole has been removed, the stage gets covered with a tarp and I have had no problems. To add more protection, I put a plastic container over where the pole slips into the stage. It's a bit hokie, but it works!!! There is something wonderful about poling outside!

Dustbunny, I think it really depends on what part of Canada we're talking! Living in BC, the temperatures (at least, southern BC) are fairly mild, so we don't get so many cracks in the road or the earth expanding or contracting. An outdoor pole wouldn't be that bad here, though the rain may pose a bit of an issue... when we eventually get it! Fingers crossed! However, out East is a different story. I don't know about Ontario or further, but I know that in the praries like Manitoba, things move around a lot because they get some pretty extreme temperature differences! Anywhere between 40C and -40C and that's not including windchill. They're basically re-paving their roads every year, because they become such a destroyed mess from the snow and ice, and from the earth moving in the temperature changes. I would also be cautious of things like extreme heat in the summer, where the pole may be exposed to the sun all day, and turn out being too hot to touch. Or, in the cold, I doubt that it would warm up easily or well if there's snow on the ground or a major wind going on. And then, of course, rain making things slippery! There's lots to think about for a permanent outdoor pole. ;)

I live in Quebec. I tried to do a homemade pole with pipe but it was too complicated, too expensive and too hot in summer and to cold in fall or spring. So I brought a used xstage lite for 600$ with a 40 mm Chrome AND a 48 mm silicone pole (so I can pole in cold weather with clothes and went it is too hot in summer )