Pier Selection

I want the Losmandy G11 mount on a permanent pier in the observatory, and considered a variety of ways to build the pier for this:

• All-Concrete Pier
  • Sonotube sunk 1.5 metres below grade and continuing another 1.5 metres above. G11 adaptor fastened to top of concrete with J-bolts.
  • Advantages:
    • Cheapest option.
    • Can’t rust.
  • Disadvantages:
    • Very long sonotube, or multiple tubes needed – complex to pour.
    • Not pretty. Concrete will be uneven.
    • Concrete will degrade to dust, need to paint.
    • Hard to remove for later decommissioning & sale of property.
• 

  Image from google, source unknown

  Steel Pier Mounted in Concrete
  • Custom-manufactured by welding steel tube, or purchased commercial product.
  • Some commercial options
    • Astro Pier
      • Specific design for G11: 6″
      • No prices on website, but $750 quoted elsewhere
    • Skyshed Pier
      • $700 to $800
      • Variety of diameters for various weight classes
      • Has several adjustment points for leveling and rough polar-aligning. I like the design.
    • Pier-tech
      • Mentioned in a few articles with good comments, but didn’t find a lot of detail or reviews

After reading reviews and considering various options, I settled on a manufactured steel pier bolted to a concrete footing, and chose the SkyShed Pier as the one I was interested in pursuing. I liked its design features, the fact that it is manufactured locally in Canada, and the price.