Hello,
Just my $.02 worth. I build towers commercially (small ones).
About 20 years ago I erected a 180 foot Rohn 25 tower complete with 7/8th
inch cable and a DB420 (35 lbs 19 feet long UHF) antenna. The assembly
looked pretty good and I was proud of lmy work. I was proud for a period of
about one month when I was called into the boss's office and informed that
the tower had fallen.
One of our anchors was a four foot long Rohn Earth Screw (auger)
anchor. I had twisted it in to about a depth of about two feet mistakenly
thinking that that was enough. It should have been sunken to about three or
four inches from the eye to be really effective. It took a 60 mph wind to
bring it down but down it did come. 60 mile per hour winds are not uncommon
in Tennessee in the spring, at least the gusts that accompany some weather
fronts.
The next day I spent 8 grueling hours on the new tower while the
boss just kept sending me sections and guy wire. I was quite tired after
that. I did learn from my mistake and have since used auger anchors but
always make sure they are twisted in almost to eye level.
John Hettish K4WJZ
At 08:00 PM 4/10/98 -0400, you wrote:
>If you are in an area with a Co-Op or smaller power company, they will often
>come to your house and screw in their massive power pole screw anchors with
>their big power truck for around $60 bucks an anchor. The whole process can be
>done in an hour and you will have an excellent set of guy anchors.
>
>Tom, K5RC/7
>
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