Hi Bud and all;
My answer to this problem was to cut 6" lengths of #12 wire (fence brace
wire, light duty, from a farm supply store) and bend a small "U" at one
end of each piece. I didn't try to straighten the slight curvature of
the pieces but just pushed them into the ground over the radials at each
low spot in the terrain.
To bend the "U", I put two nails in a vice, stuck the end of the wire
piece between the nails, and bent them.
I cut the pieces with a fence tool. It worked easier than a moderate
size diagonal cutter.
I put down 66 radials with 8-9 staples each fairly quickly and have been
mowing and driving equipment over them with no problem.
The end of each radial is secured with a 16d nail. I cut pieces of
painted aluminum (I think it was some kind of siding trim, about 1"
angle), flattened them in the vice, and drilled a hole for the nail so I
can easily find the ends, in case I decide to put down more radials.
73 de WO?W
Bud Hippisley, K2KIR wrote:
>This winter I put up a 90-foot Rohn 45 guyed tower -- partly to support my HF
>Yagis and partly to serve as my top-loaded 160-meter vertical.
>
>Because the ground was frozen by the time I could get around to putting down
>radials, I laid some temporary radials on top of the ground just before the
>first significant snowfall. Now the snow has gone (finally!) and everybody
>is tripping over the wires, so now I need to bury two or three dozen
>"permanent" radials. After looking in my junk box, the radials are most apt
>to be #12 insulated solid copper house wire (for mechanical strength) or #16
>bare solid copper wire (if I find any advantage to using it).
>
>I live in a forest, so the top surface of my yard consists of pine needles,
>clumps of moss, and numerous surface roots from pines, balsams, hemlocks, and
>an occasional hardwood. Because there are so many roots I doubt that the
>"EdgeHog" or any similar device would be of much use to me. Instead, I'm
>thinking of hand trenching with a garden trowel a foot or two at a time, where
>possible, and then using some kind of pound-in clip to hold each radial in
>place where it has to come out of the ground to go over a tree root.
>(Probably in pairs -- one on each side of the root.) Something that looks
>like a miniature tent-peg seems like it would be ideal, but I certainly can't
>afford real tent-pegs, based on the prices I've seen in area stores, and
>they're typically far too big for what I have in mind.
>
>Soooo.....I'm wondering if anyone knows of something that would do the "tie
>down" job and is readily (and cheaply) available at Lowe's, Home Depot, or the
>national hardware chains. (Whatever I use, I expect to need many hundreds of
>them.) Alternatively, has anyone ever taken a large electrical or
>construction staple and bent the sharp ends back up, so that they resist being
>removed -- much like the barb on a fish hook -- after being driven into the
>ground?
>
>Bud, K2KIR
>
>_______________________________________________
>
>See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
>Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
>questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
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