A bird feeder apparatus may have a retaining mechanism including a surface fastener coupled to a surface, a lower leveling bracket coupled to the surface fastener, and an upper leveling bracket coupled to the lower leveling bracket and the surface fastener. A stationary pole may be coupled to the retaining mechanism. The stationary pole may have one or more slots. A moving pole may be coupled to the stationary pole. The moving pole may be capable of movement, such as telescopic movement, with respect to the stationary pole. The moving pole may have a handle coupled to the moving pole and extending through the one or more slots.

Apparatuses and methods for setting posts of columns in to the ground are provided. Expandable metals in response to hydrolysis that tend to fill in spaces and cavities, even over time, which is a useful feature when setting columns into the ground. A hydrolyzing fluid can be supplied, as necessary, to cause the hydrolysis of the expanding metal, or supplied by ground water. Upon hydrolysis, the expanding metal expands around the column to adhere and grip the column securely, while the metal may also expand outwardly to increase cross-sectional bulk lending to a more overall stabilization of a set column. The expandable metal may be provided as a solid sleeve drivable into the ground with a post, as an auger that can be used to turn a column into the ground or, as a rod that can be driven through the interior of a column into the ground.

A ground mounting system for supporting a post includes a sleeve configured to receive the post therein, a plate secured to the sleeve and defining at least one slot therethrough, an auger positioned to extend from the plate to secure the plate to the ground, and at least one stake receivable within the at least one slot to facilitate securement of the plate to the ground.

A foundation system for supporting a structure may include a main post, a racking post, and a barb assembly. The main post may include an upper section and a lower section below the upper section. The racking post may be telescopically connected to the upper section of the main post. The barb assembly may be connected to the lower section of the main post. The barb assembly may be configured to move from an unexpanded state to an expanded state, thereby forming a wedge shape at a lower section of the main post.

An anchor head mounted to or incorporated into the shaft of conventional tie down stakes and earth anchors. The anchor head eliminates the need to manually drive the earth anchor into the ground and allows the anchor to be placed and removed using conventional powered drill/drivers and hex sockets or wrenches. The anchor head has a hexagonal top section and a hexagonal bottom sectional separated by an integral, central annular shoulder. The top and bottom sections are each configured to have six equilateral side walls and dimensioned to receive two different sizes of wrench or hex socket. The bottom section of the anchor head has a threaded axial bore for receiving the threaded end of the anchor shaft. The bottom section also has a lateral “swage” bore through which a punch is inserted to swage or deform the threads of the shaft to permanently secure the anchor head to the shaft.

A fence post for an animal enclosure is disclosed. The fence post comprises; a first member, a second member, a collar; and a fastener. The first member and second member are substantially the same length. The second member has a cross-bore at a proximal end thereof, the collar defines an aperture, and the first member is fixedly attachable to the collar. The second member is configured to be partially received within the collar for alignment of the cross-bore and the aperture, and the second member is fixable relative to the collar by means of the fastener arranged to at least partially pass through said cross-bore and said aperture.

A method for producing a screw foundation for securing elements in the ground, provides a cylindrical tube as an initial form and a conical front portion tapering to an insertion tip is then molded on to the cylindrical tube using a non-cutting process, the front portion being provided at least in some regions with a thread-like contour for screwing into the ground. An inner contour for a screwing tool is formed integrally in a rear end of the tube by flow forming, and the front portion and the thread-like contour are formed exclusively by flow forming.

A sign post mounting apparatus having a stake coupled to a carrier. The carrier has a sidewall with a plurality of sections, each section is adjacent to two other sections. A first pair of the plurality of sidewall sections are seamlessly coupled to each other and are formed from a seamless sheet; a second pair of the plurality of sidewall sections are seamlessly coupled to each other and formed from a seamless sheet; the first pair of sidewall sections are coupled to the second pair of sidewall sections along a first seam and along a second seam.

A fence post, fence pole, pole or other vertical member that can be set into soil simply by screwing it in. The invention can use a flat spaces on the post, an eye for a T-bar, a shaft for a powered auger, or any other way of gripping the post to screw it into the ground. The base of the post includes a tapered, threaded portion shaped like a large sheet metal screw.

An embedded pole installation method including applying a rotational force to a leading pole and an intermediate pole. The leading pole comprises a first helical plate disposed on a first portion of the leading pole. The intermediate pole is coupled to a second portion of the leading pole and comprises a second helical plate disposed on a first portion of the intermediate pole. The diameter of the intermediate pole is greater than a diameter of the leading pole. Applying the rotational force embeds the first helical plate and the second helical plate into a foundation such that a second portion of the intermediate pole does not penetrate the foundation. The method further includes coupling a utility pole to the second portion of the intermediate pole.