"I Love Lucy" wrote in message
ink.net...
What I have are six wrought iron candle stakes that I am going to use in
the yard near the front or side sidewalk where they will be very visible
for either tealights or little potted plants. I'm afraid somebody will
steal them (neighbor got some of his garden stuff stolen a couple weeks
ago).

I've been kicking around what to do for some time now while I worked to
clean them up, prime them and paint with rustoleum. I thought at first to
anchor them in concrete in a brick? Anchor them in concrete in a cutoff
pepsi bottle as a form? Etc. Then bury or "plant" them.

Now I have decided the easiest thing would be to cut the top off a pepsi
bottle part way, leaving about 6-8 inches (not sure about exact amount),
and drill? a hole in the bottom, stick the stake end through the hole,
clip it with something that can be removed but not while it's underground,
under the bottle, and bury that. Those bottoms are tough and I can't cut
into the bottom with my exacto knife.

What I need is some kind of clip that will grip underneath so if somebody
tries to pull them up, they will meet with resistance from the weight of
the dirt that will be filling the pepsi bottle. If I don't clip them, the
stake will just pull out of the hole in the bottle and dirt.

With the latter method, I don't have to ruin my stakes by anchoring them
in concrete or something permanent. It will be a nuisance if I want to
move them or bring them in for the winter, but if it's not one thing, it's
another.

Maybe somebody has a better idea with pvc pipe or something I wouldn't
think of. Somebody suggested on another forum that I link them all
together with chains and bury all that, but that would be really difficult
for me, first the securing part of the chains and secondly burying all
that mess.

Read through all this stuff and I have this thought which might help or not.
While I know that you painted the poles and all, perhaps you could drill a
hole through the bottom of it, maybe up an inch or two from the bottom.
Then just put a large nail or a spike through that hole. Then you could
slide anything big and round (like those weights) down the pole and it will
be caught by that spike.

I am thinking that repainting the hole would be in order, but either way,
with either the hole or a clamp, the metal will become exposed from the
rubbing of metal to metal (or metal to paint). Maybe if you can get a spike
to fit in the hole snugly, you can paint the whole thing after it is
assembled, perhaps by dipping a few times. I suspect the weights are rubber
or plastic coated, which will mitigate paint wear from those.

Also, and I bet you thought this, having something heavy on the bottom
securely connected makes it much more stable when hanging heavy things from
the top of the poles.

Hoping this might help,
Tomes