Direct answer
A pole mount puts a modest array on a mast — useful for a pump, a shed, or a yard with one clear sky view. It is still a structure in the wind. Embedment, footing, and hinge details belong to a designer. We will not invent depths, pipe schedules, or a “standard rural pole.”
If someone offers a hinged pole as a weekend DIY job with a YouTube link, that is not an installation. Licensed electrical work still applies. Planning still applies if the mast is tall enough or close enough to a boundary.
When a pole is the honest small design
- A stock-water pump on a property outside Dubbo or Roma, where the shed roof is shaded by a silo.
- A granny-flat or cabin with no usable north plane.
- A single clear northern shot in a treed yard where a full ground mount would clear too much vegetation.
Poles are usually small. They are not a way to hide a commercial array from a planner. If you need tens of kilowatts, you are back on the ground or the roof.
Wind and footing
A mast is a lever. Coastal southerlies, afternoon north-westerlies in Perth, and cyclone-region winds are different loads. Terrain category and height change the story. The designer of record signs that. We will not publish an embedment table copied from a 2013 brochure.
Ask what wind region was assumed and whether an engineer is in the scope. If the quote says “standard extra $X” with no assumption, ask for the assumption.
Electrical
Cable down the mast, isolation, and the run back to the switchboard are part of the job. So is earthing. Pair this page with inverters if a small off-grid or pump inverter is in the story — and do not let a brochure blur off-grid and grid-connect rules.
Heritage
The 2013 “Pole Mounting System” catalogue page is rewritten here as a buyer note, not a kit list. Classic product URLs 301 to the hub or this guide.
Related: ground mount, packages, clamps and rails.
Pumps, sheds, and one clear sky view
A stock-water pump outside Dubbo, a cabin with no north plane, and a treed yard with one opening are the honest pole jobs. Tens of kilowatts are not. Those belong on the ground or the roof.
A hinged mast is still a structure. Coastal southerlies and cyclone-region winds are different loads. Ask for the wind-region assumption. We will not publish an embedment table.
Electrical isolation at the mast and the run to the switchboard are licensed work. Off-grid pump stories and grid-connect stories must not be blurred on a brochure. See inverters.
Siblings: ground, packages. Parent: hub. Diligence: installers.
Australian site notes
A mast is a lever. Small arrays for pumps and one clear sky view are the honest jobs. Tens of kilowatts are not. Ask for the wind-region assumption. Do not blur off-grid pump stories with grid-connect rules.
Put the method in words on the quote. Then use the installer checklist and the mounting hub. We will not invent a load rating, a hook spacing, or a ballast density for your street. Last reviewed 25 September 2026, general information only.
Quote language you can copy
Small arrays, designed footings, licensed electrical. A hinged mast is still a structure in the wind. Do not blur off-grid pump stories with grid-connect rules.
Then return to the hub and put the method in the installer table. General information only — not a span table.
Foundation and wind design are engineering matters. Last reviewed 25 September 2026.