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Tower training


By Old F, Section Mechanical
Posted on Sat May 28th, 2005 at 06:01:13 PM MST
A safer way

Tower training
A safer way

Here is a cheap and safe way to learn how to handle a guyed  tower.
If you haven't put one up be for.

You start with  two  ten foot lengths of ¾ inch PVC conduit and a roll of nylon string.
And with what ever you have on hand  for stakes.

The conduit will be your training tower and the string your guys .
The object is to get the training tower standing straight .

Now the conduit will have a lot more flex to it than pipe but this is a good thing.
By working with more flex now you will be well on your way to handle what may come up on the real thing.  

Once you have it standing lower it and raise it a few times then put some weight on top  and see how things change.  Play and experiment  and get a handle on things.  

The first tower is all ways the hardest  so start with some thing that won't hurt any thing or most importantly any one when it falls.

The materials are cheap and the knowledge that is safely gained priceless.
Have fun play safe  

Old F

Tower training | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 editorial)

Re: Tower training (3.00 / 0) (#1)
by nothing to lose (nothingtolose175 at yahoo.com) on Sat May 28th, 2005 at 02:45:20 PM MST
(User Info)

Well you know how some of us like me are.
I like that idea, I may try that before rasing a real tower 30 or 40 feet high.

But what the heck, if I use 3-4" sewer pipe for a training tower and hemp rope or 1/4" cable for guys, I could use a tread mill motor and small blades for the test weight too :)
.
nothing to lose

Spelin and tpying are my strong points, not electronics.



Re: Tower training (3.00 / 0) (#2)
by BeenzMeenzWind (Grotbagseatssnails@lineone.net) on Sun May 29th, 2005 at 04:24:43 AM MST
(User Info)

That makes me wonder about something?

What if you put up a 40mm steel tube, like the stuff they use for handrails cos it's pretty cheap. It needs to be the height that the tower will end up, I suppose.
Put a length of PVC sewer pipe over the bottom bit, up to the guy height. Run your guylines up inside the PVC pipe and pull them through holes drilled in the steel tube at the right height for the guys. The bottom of the guys would be anchored to eyes set into the tower base.

I suppose you'd need to oval the holes and have smooth edges so as not to damage the cable. Or maybe some kind of turnbuckle to help with the fairly steep angle. I've seen cables with these sorts of angles before in rigging, so should be do-able.

Then tension the guys until the steel tube is perfectly straight. Drop on the top section of PVC pipe so it's level with the top of the steel tube and fill the sewer pipe with concrete. If you made the 'crete with fairly fine gravel and put plenty of PVA in it it should fill from the bottom pretty well with a bit of mallet tapping.

Once the concrete goes off you should be able to bolt on a reasonably big turbine. The tensioned guys and steel tube should act as pretty good rebar for the bottom of the tower, where the forces would be strongest in a heavy wind. The top bit wouldn't be as strong, as it's only got the steel tube for re-enforcement but should still be OK. And the plastic pipe would protect the concrete from the weather.

I drew a diagram to show what I mean, but it won't post for some reason. Think my browser is acting silly.

Maybe someone has done this before? Just seemed like a simple way to get a fairly strong tower with a minimum of work. Any comments?
'....If I even knew that I know nothing, that'd be something. But I don't!'
[ Parent ]



Re: Tower training (3.00 / 0) (#3)
by JW on Sun May 29th, 2005 at 05:05:53 PM MST
(User Info)

Hi Old F,

 I like the concept. Make a small model of the lifting scenario and explot that thru all lifting possibilites. Neat idea.

 JW



Re: Tower training (3.00 / 0) (#4)
by ADMIN (info74 at otherpower.com) on Mon Jun 6th, 2005 at 08:54:49 AM MST
(User Info)

To make things more realistic, get the biggest fan you can find and set it to blow at you while erecting your training tower. Find someone to throw snowballs at you, or set up your garden hose so it's spraying all over you while you are working, and get 3-4 people to stand around and offer unwanted advice.

Then, as soon as your training turbine is up, the fan will quit working!

Just trying to make the training tower experience more realistic for everyone!
;~)
ADMIN



Re: Tower training (3.00 / 0) (#5)
by TomW on Mon Jun 6th, 2005 at 09:02:51 AM MST
(User Info)

OH HAHA HMM HOW PROPHETIC!

T

"Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned."--Mark Twain
[ Parent ]



Re: Tower training (3.00 / 0) (#6)
by Old F on Mon Jun 6th, 2005 at 02:52:00 PM MST
(User Info) http://www.oldf.homestead.com

Now you done it. You spoiled the surprise.
  To truly appreciate  Murphy's law one has to  see it first hand   :  ) LOL

Old F


[ Parent ]



Tower training | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 editorial)
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