As a point of clarification, the turnbuckle displayed in the photo on my web
site was a turnbuckle that was used for a phillystran boom support. The
turnbuckles that Scott used for the actual guy wires were indeed heavy duty
forged turnbuckles that did not fail. From my personal observation of the
carnage the day following the failure, the sole cause of the collapse was
from LARGE trees that were either uprooted or blown over falling directly
across the guy wires and thereby pulling the tower over. No instance of a
guy wire, preform grip, turnbuckle or guy anchor failure were visible
although portions of the guy system were obscured by the trees.
Scott (K8DX) had installed the tower in a manner consistent with
manufacturer's recommendations with first class guying hardware.
I personally helped Scott install several of the Rohn 55 sections, which are
significantly heavy to hoist in place with a gin pole. At nearly 300 pounds
per section, I cannot imagine erecting a Rohn 65 tower without a crane!
Scott has indeed been very busy - the failed tower and antennas have been
removed, and a lumbering outfit has cleared out the fallen trees, cut down
others, and have bulldozed a path through the woods large enough to allow a
crane to reach the tower site. Couple that with what he has probably had to
do to substantiate his insurance claim, it's no wonder he has yet to answer
you!
73,
George
________________________________________________________________
Amateur Radio Station K3GP - PO Box 343 - Louisville, Ohio 44641
Station Location: Alliance, Ohio - Grid Square EN90kv
Amateur Radio Home Page: http://www.qsl.net/k3gp
"I would never belong to a club that would have me as a member"
- Groucho Marx
|-----Original Message-----
|Gregg, I am not sure if you are implying that Rohn 55 is not strong
|enough based on K8DX's experinece, but it appeared to me from the
|photos on the K3GP site that the failure point may have been the
|turnbuckles. It appeared that they might have been simple hardware
|store formed turnbuckles, which are woefully inadequate.
|
|If, in fact, they were formed turnbuckles rather than FORGED turnbuckles
|they may fail with as little as 600-700 pounds of force on them. Not
|much comfort when 1/4 inch EHS guy wire is rated at 6,700 pounds.
--
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