I live Arlington, Virginia, US, and the frost line is two feet deep. I was able to obtain an old (no longer usable) fire hydrant from the local contractors that are replacing them in my neighborhood. The fire hydrant weighs about 150 lbs. I want to sink the 6 x 6 post in Quikcrete (multiple bags) and then trim it so the hydrants sit on top of it level with my patio. I have 3 dogs and thought they would like having their own fire hydrant to pee on.
How deep do I need to sink a 6 x 6 post to support a 150 lb fire hydrant that will sit on top of it?
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Even the worst of soils can support 1000 lbs/sf and there is no requirement to set something ornamental like this below frost line if you are willing to straighten it out once a decade or so. Think about how most people do pedestal birdbaths in your area.
Now let's think of a scenario where we might want to do things a little better. If you think someone is going to tie something to it that will induce a lateral load like the corner of a taut shade awning or your kids are going to use it to attach one end of a slackline or zipline to it.. Or maybe you want to prevent the neighborhood punks from uprooting it with their truck and absconding with it. It these cases you'll want to go down a few feet like you are describing. I'd say installing it like you'd do a typical fencepost in your area would handle the awning scenario. You'll probably have to go down 3-4 feet to stop a truck.
Paul
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Your hole needs to be 2.5-3 feet deep. Fire hydrants usually have a 2-3 foot water sleeve right below them. Did you get that? If so just bury that, with or with out concrete. Otherwise you are going to have to just set it in the concrete or find a bracket that will fit.
DMoore
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I'm doing something similar, however I would say go to home depot and buy 3 pieces of rebar and put them in a triangle so that your fire hydrant slips over those rebar. a circle set over a triangle is very strong. you could embed the rebar in just one bag of cement in a hole it would be fine.
