What's this tower worth?

[nothing to lose]

This is not really a classified but a question on tower price and use so I figured it's wind in general. Like is this tower any good for wind and max size it may be good for.

 I had thought about bidding, but I didn't.

This tower was on Ebay, a buy it now price of $500, high bid was $102.50 with only 3  bidders. It's about a 5hour drive for me and needs taken down and I been spending too much recently etc... so I did not bid on it.

Listing says,

"This windmill tower is approximately 30 feet high, maybe more!"

"It is 5 feet wide at the base of it and tapers in as it goes up."

A few other things said, angle iron, solid, etc..

A link to listing to view picture

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190091511319

So if I was going to buy that or one like it, what would have been a decent fair price perhaps for the tower? I see some similar ones here and there at times, but no idea what they worth really.

[nothing to lose]

I meant to say not sold, high bid was $102.50 but reserve not met.

[windstuffnow]

  If all the metal is in good shape its probably worth the 500 bux... you couldn't buy the steel for that now a days.   You'll need a good amount of concrete in the ground to hold it in place.

  I got a pretty good deal on one locally some years back and ended up selling the windmill gear box so the actual tower ended up being free.  I spent a couple hundred dollars replacing some of the bracing ( X beams ) and a couple hundred in concrete.   Its been a nice tower and I like the small footprint although it really needs to go up another 10ft.

  I'd do it all over again if I happen across one again.   I'm not a big fan of guy wires but it's still the least expensive way to go.

.

[Dispatcherjinn]

Greetings every one. Iv been sandbagging these pages quit some time but nothing to lose may find some use with what I know on this subject. Be it my family Dutch dairy farmer's there were many A cross truss towers on the farms. the one your looking at is a bugger to mow around but there's A lot you can do with these towers. first off throw the bottom brace in the scrap pile and pour a concret pad for it and then you'll have an increas in the wind loading and nothing to trip over and you wont need to wory about cutting under it. if it's what I think it is it will easyle hold a 55gal drum near the top and is easy to fit plywood or corrigated metal in the angle iron should the drum be of plastic.the sun will make mincmeet of plastic in no time.

 the seller realy did not post enoff to go on which is likly why the bidding was so poor, you should wright and ask for more detail. If the holes for the bolts are square the bolts well not be safe reusing cause as you back the nut off there is shearing and I count between 80 to 110 nut n bolt sets that are not that easy to find and can run you well over 200 bux and the square part of the bolt must pass through both sections of the angle iron and a good size fender washer my be needed to keep the nut snug on the theards. nearly every one I have seen had indiffrent metals with  the nut n bolt sets so reusing them is not a wise choice, nor is it a good ideai sticking a round bolt in the square hole . you will need to decreas your wind load and first hand expearinc ,It will keep you up all night on breezy evenings and up the tower often with a bucket of nuts and tools. you can weild the up rights and tack fenders washers on the bolt head side n snug fenders on the nut side and all should be good.

  If the holes are round then your in luck and go give the man what he asked but myself I 'd still use new nut and bolt sets and these will be a fraction of the sets for the square holed joints. the pic looks as though the tower has butt with brace vertical angles which is good but there are some out there that the angles lap and the next section up rest's on nothing but the bolt (very bad )and iv even seen them being sold in garden centers and are only mint to be orniments with free spinning props and a vapor lamp. good luck . and hopefully I'll be posting the one I bought for $100 it is a 55 footer with a 16 foot base and has to come down one angle at a time cause theres no way getting a crain to it (eastren shore's of Va. = to soft a soil) This tower I may considder building my control room for the gen station and green house cause it will straddle the green house saving on space. I just did a jobe replacing 32 glass slider doors in a motel in Chintouage Va. I wonder what Ill do with all them there doors?LOL

I can hear the bird's bouncing off the glass as I type !

Good Luck !

[finnsawyer]

I think some people shoot themselves in the foot when they put in the reserve.  The trick when you are unsure what you want to do is to get a phone number if you can and then wait for the auction to end.  Of course, the seller may have a local buyer waiting in the wings, but that's the chance you take.

[Countryboy]

Mick Sagrillo has an article about tower economics.  IIRC, he said a used freestanding tower was worth $15-$25 a foot usually....a new one will run $80-$100 a foot.

You might want to double check the article....but I think that is what it was.

[nothing to lose]

Thanks guys,

I won't be tryng to buy that one, too far to drive and take it down for me right now, add that to the cost of the tower and it's alot of time and money.

I think that one was in Windsor, MO.

Good to have the info though if I find one closer and I am kinda looking around.