If the ground anchor is to be sited outside, suggest that the countersunk holes, after fitting the bolts are topped up with the resin as this will give extra anti- rust protection for the bolt heads and bearings. This will also prevent rain water collecting in the countersunk cavities.
This could be an option if the anchor is fitted with the Injection Resin kit, for instance, as that usually has plenty of spare resin. It would probably not be easy to get a neat finish, and it might be arguable one of the main reasons to try filling the recesses would be to make it look neater so it might be tricky to achieve a really nice result in practice. Something a bit more runny, such as fibreglass resin, could be easier to dribble in to get to the right level if you want a flush surface. Interesting idea, though. Thanks for the suggestion.
It's designed to be a permanent-fit ground anchor. You can preserve the anchor if you cut out a volume of concrete below, such as with a 'Kango' or similar impact drill, and then try to break the concrete away from the anchor. That makes a big hole in the floor and it is not easy to get the concrete off the bottom of the anchor, even when you've excavated the whole thing out of the floor.
The ball bearings are hammered-in and are extremely tight. They are not intended to come out. Indeed, it is virtually imposible to get them out, so much so that it is often quicker to grind through the base plate of the anchor, across all 4 corners, to separate it from the bolts. That is also very time-consuming and it destroys the anchor in the process. If you want to remove the anchor and get back to a flat floor surface, you can do that by making repeated cuts with a grinder, e.g. after cutting the majority of the base plate away from the corners where the bolts are, with the disc angled at 45 degrees from vertical. You can gradually work your way in to a cut that goes through the shank of each of the bolts to release more of the metalwork. Then, you can finish off by grinding the short peg of the bolt that still protrudes above the floor. As you may guess, this is not a quick process! (We can supply a replacement base plate on its own, if you want to move the anchor somewhere else. We can supply fitting kits separately, too, so you could move from a concrete floor position to a brick wall, for instance.)
Yes, anti-drill and anti-undo. It is actually remarkably difficult to drill-out the heads of these bolts even without the ball bearings in position. I've done it and it can take e.g. 10 minutes, per bolt, with a mains-powered drill and sharp drill bits. However, we don't want a thief to be tempted to have a go so we use the ball bearings as they basically stop you getting anywhere with drilling-out the bolt heads. It would be very difficult to undo the bolts when the anchor has been fitted with resin, as they are bonded in position and we put a chamfer on the tip of each bolt to key it into the resin further. But, we don't want a thief to be tempted so the ball bearings stop you getting an Allen key in there at all. (The anti-undo aspect _is_ very important when the anchor is fitted with shield anchors (i.e. expanding bolts) as they don't have the advantage of the bolts being bonded in position. Again, stopping a thief before he even starts is the best policy.)
The Torc anchor uses M10 socket countersunk fixing bolts. The hex socket (i.e. Allen key) size on these is 6mm AF, and the ball bearings we use are 1/4", so 6.35mm diameter. Hence, they need a good clout or two with e.g. a 4lb club hammer to get them in, permanently.
No, I'm afraid the only way to get a worthwhile fixing of a ground anchor on any kind of brick floor or on block paving or on paving slabs is to lift several of those bricks/blocks/slab(s), dig down into the soil below and then fit the ground anchor as you fill the hole with fresh concrete. Bricks/blocks/slabs are not suitable as they are, themselves, not fixed to anything. They are pretty much just sitting on the soil etc below so anything fitted to them can be compromised by lifting them away. A paving slab may be large and fairly heavy, but it is easy for a thief to use a sledgehammer to crack it in half and thus free any kind of anchor that is fitted to it. Any anchor needs to be fitted to a good solid substrate, and if there isn't one, then pouring fresh concrete allows you to make one. (Apologies for such a slow reply.)
If the ground anchor is to be sited outside, suggest that the countersunk holes, after fitting the bolts are topped up with the resin as this will give extra anti- rust protection for the bolt heads and bearings. This will also prevent rain water collecting in the countersunk cavities.
This could be an option if the anchor is fitted with the Injection Resin kit, for instance, as that usually has plenty of spare resin. It would probably not be easy to get a neat finish, and it might be arguable one of the main reasons to try filling the recesses would be to make it look neater so it might be tricky to achieve a really nice result in practice. Something a bit more runny, such as fibreglass resin, could be easier to dribble in to get to the right level if you want a flush surface. Interesting idea, though. Thanks for the suggestion.
How to remove the ball bearings later, should one need to unscrew the bolts 🔩 for a damage free dismount? Or is it impossible?
It's designed to be a permanent-fit ground anchor. You can preserve the anchor if you cut out a volume of concrete below, such as with a 'Kango' or similar impact drill, and then try to break the concrete away from the anchor. That makes a big hole in the floor and it is not easy to get the concrete off the bottom of the anchor, even when you've excavated the whole thing out of the floor.
how can you remove the ball bearing from the head of the bolt if needed ?
The ball bearings are hammered-in and are extremely tight. They are not intended to come out. Indeed, it is virtually imposible to get them out, so much so that it is often quicker to grind through the base plate of the anchor, across all 4 corners, to separate it from the bolts. That is also very time-consuming and it destroys the anchor in the process. If you want to remove the anchor and get back to a flat floor surface, you can do that by making repeated cuts with a grinder, e.g. after cutting the majority of the base plate away from the corners where the bolts are, with the disc angled at 45 degrees from vertical. You can gradually work your way in to a cut that goes through the shank of each of the bolts to release more of the metalwork. Then, you can finish off by grinding the short peg of the bolt that still protrudes above the floor. As you may guess, this is not a quick process! (We can supply a replacement base plate on its own, if you want to move the anchor somewhere else. We can supply fitting kits separately, too, so you could move from a concrete floor position to a brick wall, for instance.)
So, the ball bearings are an anti drill feature?
Yes, anti-drill and anti-undo.
It is actually remarkably difficult to drill-out the heads of these bolts even without the ball bearings in position. I've done it and it can take e.g. 10 minutes, per bolt, with a mains-powered drill and sharp drill bits. However, we don't want a thief to be tempted to have a go so we use the ball bearings as they basically stop you getting anywhere with drilling-out the bolt heads.
It would be very difficult to undo the bolts when the anchor has been fitted with resin, as they are bonded in position and we put a chamfer on the tip of each bolt to key it into the resin further. But, we don't want a thief to be tempted so the ball bearings stop you getting an Allen key in there at all. (The anti-undo aspect _is_ very important when the anchor is fitted with shield anchors (i.e. expanding bolts) as they don't have the advantage of the bolts being bonded in position. Again, stopping a thief before he even starts is the best policy.)
Hi, what is the diameter of the ball bearings, relative to the size of the bolts?
The Torc anchor uses M10 socket countersunk fixing bolts. The hex socket (i.e. Allen key) size on these is 6mm AF, and the ball bearings we use are 1/4", so 6.35mm diameter. Hence, they need a good clout or two with e.g. a 4lb club hammer to get them in, permanently.
I've got quite an old house with a brick floor, almost like cobbles. I assume this set up wouldn't work well for me?
No, I'm afraid the only way to get a worthwhile fixing of a ground anchor on any kind of brick floor or on block paving or on paving slabs is to lift several of those bricks/blocks/slab(s), dig down into the soil below and then fit the ground anchor as you fill the hole with fresh concrete. Bricks/blocks/slabs are not suitable as they are, themselves, not fixed to anything. They are pretty much just sitting on the soil etc below so anything fitted to them can be compromised by lifting them away. A paving slab may be large and fairly heavy, but it is easy for a thief to use a sledgehammer to crack it in half and thus free any kind of anchor that is fitted to it. Any anchor needs to be fitted to a good solid substrate, and if there isn't one, then pouring fresh concrete allows you to make one. (Apologies for such a slow reply.)