Are Altman bases way more expensive

Ben Lawrence

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Mar 2, 2011
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Than they used to be. I see they are listed as 468$ each. Im pretty sure last time I bought a couple they were 150$ each, Are we getting to the point of having something fabricated woth plate steel and a pocket would be a more economical option?
 
Than they used to be. I see they are listed as 468$ each. Im pretty sure last time I bought a couple they were 150$ each, Are we getting to the point of having something fabricated woth plate steel and a pocket would be a more economical option?
The 50 lbs 2" threaded pipe bases? They were unobtanium for a long time (whatever foundry that cast them was either way behind or closed) so we made our own. I don't work in that shop now so I won't get into the details.
 
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I suspect that when Altman moved their shop from Yonkers to Denver in 2020, their supply chain changed a bit.

If you don't need to stack the bases, I've used some shop-fabricated units made from plate steel and 2" pipe (the 2" pipe is a socket for the 1-1/2" pipe, and a pair of bolts locks everything together) that were much nicer than any of the threaded bases I've used. IIRC, it was 3/8" plate, and there were gusset plates on the pipe socket as well.

If you need something less heavy-duty, it wouldn't be difficult to bolt a speedrail flange to a plate (or a truss base).
 
I don't have pictures, and the shop that had them has since closed down and I suspect the steel was recycled.

But, some ASCII art:
Code:
Side view

           | |
          /| |\
       /   | |   \
  ----------------------

Top view
 ----------------
|        |       |
|    ----O----   |
|      / | \     |
  ----------------

The "/" and "\" in the top view are each a pair of bolts threaded perpendicular into the pipe (you may need weld nuts depending on the size), one stacked above the other. You will also likely want to add feet of some type.

The square was sized to be able to fit cinder blocks in between the gusset plates (4 cinder blocks per base)
 
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Buddy of mine made some cool bases. Build a square out of 2"x2" square tube. Then put an "H" pattern in the middle. Plate the whole thing with steel. Weld in a 1.5" Iron Pipe coupler in the middle (this is braced by the "H" on two sides) then drill holes that match your 12"x12" box truss.

Its a steel base that can be used for 2" pipe or 12" truss.
 
Apparently I last bought Altman bases at the end of 2015. At the time, they were (retail) $135 each. I’d have a tough time paying the current rates.

As others have said, there are other options out there that could also incorporate truss base mounting into the same plate. If I needed to buy bases now, I’d be seriously looking at those, especially since one is stacking sand bags on them anyway.