More Tower Photos added

[freejuice]

Hi Folks,

An update on the 4 inch 60 foot tower.

 I uploaded some more tower pictures and with it about 11 feet off the ground in at least one photo, but overall you can see the setup, If I dont get the posted here, just surf through my picture files. The latest additions are jpg 70-76.

I tried to raise it Saturday, however it was getting late, and My Ford Ranger did not have enough  truck to pull it up other than spinning the tires in the dirt, from loss of traction and the top of the tower only moved about 3 inches off the ground, however a friend had about a 5200 lb GMC 4wd and it hardly even slowed as it picked it up about 5 feet.

 I held off on picking it up any further. I just let it set there for about 15 mins to see how the stress points were doing...everything seemed fine.

However not to be defeated, I found a chain fall (Chain Hoist) with a 20 foot pull length...I chocked the wheels of my ford ranger real well, emergency brakes on, in first gear etc. and proceeded to use a 2 ton chain fall...it went up without a hitch (well at least to about 11 feet), nice and smooth before I stopped today because it was getting late, but I did snap some photos before I lowered it once again.

 I bought the chain fall at "Northern"...we have one i here in town, but the same chain fall is online on ebay for about 100 bucks.... for Chinese stuff its well made and works nicely.

 I trig-ed out the angle in which the theoretical  vertical height will be before the chain fall(chain hoist) craps out on the pull length....it at 83 degrees, just short of vertical. While it's not all the way up...I'm still happy because nothing broke and it appears to be possible....whew.

[fabricator]

Lookin good.

[hayfarmer]

looking good,you got the same red dirt we have here in virginia,where be you?

Do you have a close up picture of how you attach the guy wire to the gin pole for raising?thank you keep up the good work.

[freejuice]

I bee's in South Carolina )

I dont have a close up of the gin pole attachments, but the guys for each side of the gin pole are 1/2 shackles wich goes throug some trinagualr pieces of 1/2 plate which are welded on. The three guy wires from the tower to the gin pole is a 1/2 inch shackle and it likewise is welded to a piece of triangular 1/2 inch plate.

The cable wich pulls it up is attached to a 7/8 shackle attached to a piece of 1/2 plate...I wish the tower anchor points on the gin pole was a 7/8 shackle, instaed of 1/2...modifications down the road.

 Hopefully I can get some pictures soon.

 All the best,

 Gavin

[fabricator]

Holy mother of pearl! A 7/8" shackle! The breaking strength of your 1/2" shackle bolts is around twenty one thousand three hundred pounds, the 7/8" would be somewhere in the neighborhood of sixty five thousand pounds.

[greend88]

Are your shackles the screw in type? If they are do they have lock pins on them? If not you really should replace them with some that have cotter pins.

[freejuice]

Hi Green, they are the push in pin type with a cotter pin. After the first raising they will be really gone over well before the alternator goes up.

The 7/8 shackle that pulls everything up is a screw in type, it too will be wiresd down with a cotter pin.

Everybody mentions going over every connection and everything else 2-3 times, I have done just that. after each cable is fastened down with the cable clamps, I once again go around everything again, but this time I take some elecetrical tape and wrap the loose end of the cable down to the guy wire as an indicator, that "Kilroy was here"...tightening everything up is a methodical process I didn't want to rush it, it took the better part of last saturday to get it all ready to lift.

 I didnt raise it all the way up because I was running out of time and I didnt want to be monkeying around with it in the dusk-dark hours....I wanted a full day to toy around with the tower in order to get all the adjustments correct before I do the final raising....so it means I go from saturday to saturday.

Since this is my first rodeo at towers I didnt want to rush it too much. Just by raising the gin pole I experienced the oddity that guys wires dont not need to be banjo string tight; if they have a liitle slack in them they can easily move the gin pole left or right when tightening the turn buckles and still keep the sway or slight bow in the wire too!

So its appears its not an exact science on the cable tension other than making sure they keep just a little give before they become tight or excessivly tight....only experince pays in this department...so I go slow and steady as I grope in the darkness of tower raising.

The 20ft chain hoist /chain fall makes for an easy pull up. I can lift it every few inches or a few feet and go and orbit around (not under) the beast and check for excessive tension while never taking my eye off the tower and knowing my escape route at any moment.

 All the best,

 Gavin

[TomW]

free;

Yeah, tower rigging is more art than science it seems!

My perfectly plumb gin pole was somewhat less plumb after sitting the winter upright in place. I fooled with it a lot of yesterday and it is still not where I want it. I do know you do not want fiddle string tight guys and even big radio towers have a sag in them.

As you raise things you change the geometry and so the tension varies and it can put tremendous forces on the cables if too tight.

This is my first pipe tower install so I am going at a glacial pace to be sure.

Once everything is tweaked I will paint over all clips / joins so any movement will be obvious by shiny metal areas that appear.

Triple check everything then do it again. Maybe once after that, too.

Time is cheap compared to damaged equipment. egos or people.

Good Luck with it.

Tom

[greend88]

Sounds good to me.  Just remember to be safe.  It can be a daunting task raising and lowering a tower.