Brad,
How far is it from the spot where you'd stop the truck to the holes? Would
a concrete pump work? I'm thinking of the type you might have seen in
commercial work, pouring highways or big slabs. They use a LONG boom of
several sections of tubing and an auger that pushes the concrete from the
truck into and through the tubing.
There's another kind of pump, I was told, and that's one for gunnite used
for swimming pools (here in Arizona). Though that would have been cheaper,
I was told it wouldn't handle the 3000 psi concrete for the tower base.
I used one when I poured a base in back of my house but couldn't get the
truck in. The pump went over my one-story house and shot the "mud" into the
hole slick as can be. This convenience cost about $150/hour back in about
1985, so it's not a cheap solution, but what in out hobby is?
The concrete truck was an hour late, so I had to pay an extra $100 for the
additional time for the pump. You might think about how to preclude that
from happening to you. One way would be to hire a concrete contractor to
make up the rebar cages and do the whole (hole?) job, including scheduling
and ordering the pump and concrete. (It's only money!)
Jim N7US
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
[mailto:owner-towertalk@contesting.com]On Behalf Of N9EN@VOYAGER.NET
Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2001 12:05 PM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Pouring concrete
This summer, I am going to finish the installation of some
heavy-duty guy anchors for my two "short" Rohn 25G
towers (62' & 68'). Last summer, I dug 6 holes (by hand)
that were 3' square by 4' deep. I ran out of time before
the snow started to fall and didn't get the ground slotted
to allow the anchor rods to come out of the ground at the
proper angle, nor did I get the re-bar assemblies made up
and installed. I hope to have all of that done in the next
few weeks, weather permitting.
I'm going to have 1/2 cubic yard of concrete in each hole,
for a total of 3 cubic yards of concrete. I don't want a
cement truck driving all over my lawn, creating deep ruts
from the weight of it and was trying to come up with some
practical alternatives.
A friend of mine has a heavy-duty contractors' wheelbarrow
that he has offered to let me borrow. But I have no idea of
how many "trips" it would take to wheel all that concrete.
My driveway is 100' long and if the truck were to remain
parked in the road at the end of the driveway, that would
be a lot of trips, I'm guessing.
I've thought about employing the use of an "Agri-Fab"
utility cart that I can pull behind my garden tractor. The
specifications for the cart say that it has a capacity of
1,200 lbs. (it has a 10 cu. ft. capacity). The specs also
say that a cubic foot of dirt weighs approximately 150
pounds and I've loaded that cart with dirt until it would
hold no more dirt.
I thought about the possibility of filling the cart 1/2 way
with concrete & hauling it to the holes in that manner. I
made a heavier-duty "tailgate" for it, using 14 gauge
steel, that simply lifts up out of the channels that it is
mounted in. But I was wondering how difficult it would
be to lift up with the cart partially filled with concrete.
I also thought about using 5-gallon plastic buckets and
using the cart to transport the buckets to the various
holes & then emptying out the buckets by hand, after I
got them to the hole locations.
Around here, the cement truck drivers' time is at a pre-
mium and I don't know how much time I would be allowed
for the 3 cubic yards of concrete. I'm just looking for the
easiest way to get this done and not waste too much of
the driver's time.
Any comments or suggestions on this would be apprecia-
ted. Thank you very much.
73 de Brad, N9EN (ex-KA9LTR)
at Radio Free Roscoe (IL)
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