The bare minimum required here is a trailer that can hold a 145 pound
"tubular" tower and is small and light enough to be pushed into my
backyard. Anything over 9 feet wide would not work at all. Something
closer to 5 or 6 feet wide or less would be more workable. Something
small enough to fit through a 40 inch wide gate would be IDEAL.
Sure, it would be nice to hold antennas, generators, etc. on the
trailer but I could live without all of that.
On 6/26/06, Dino Darling <dino@k6rix.com> wrote:
> I'm certainly not going to start a little banter war here, but let me
> point out a few things...
>
> First, while some of the following applies to Jim's comments, not
> everything in this post is directed specifically at him. It may appear
> I'm being "a little hard on the Beaver" later in this post, but I only
> mean to point out issues with posting a response to a question that has
> nothing to do with the topic (or any topic on here for that matter) at
> hand. I know you know what I mean!
>
> Kelly has a Force 12 LPT-1242 weighing in at 145 lbs which is real close
> to a "few hundred pounds". If we were talking about a W-51, then that
> would be different.
>
> Kelly needs it SMALL and LIGHTWEIGHT so he can "push it along the side
> of my house into the back yard." Hydraulics, generators, etc etc etc
> does not sound like an option in this case. A horse trailer conversion
> would be a nightmare!
>
> Most small watercraft trailers are designed to handle a minimum load of
> 1,000 lbs and would be overkill in this application yet probably the
> best option none-the-less (ask me how I know).
>
> Having built and designed trailers, I would like to get into specifics
> to get Kelly off and running, but there are still too many questions.
> Most of those questions can be answered after a quick visit to US
> Rentals to look at a light tower. Extendable out riggers, they have
> them; tower kick over device, they have them; raising fixture,
> rotatable base, positive lockdown device, low cg, they have them!
> Actually, if Kelly can find an old light tower without the generator
> and lights, he would be set!
>
> I would hate to see a bunch of "this would be good", "I saw this once",
> "I remember when", etc, rather than actually answering the question at
> hand with concrete advice about Kelly's specific needs. I know how
> frustrating it can be to get an answer to a simple question from people
> arm-chairing from the sidelines! Someone e-mailed me once and said
> something to the effect..."How many post does it take to get an answer
> to a question on TT?" The answer was, "15". 10 people who stopped
> reading after the first sentence and are giving answers to questions
> that were not asked; 2 people who say, "I would like to do the same
> thing and could you forward your answers to me?"; 1 person to complain
> about the number of posts; 1 moderator to calm the waters, and 1 person
> who actually comes close to answering the specific question. You have
> to admit, this is pretty funny and for the most part, accurate! ;-)
>
> Kelly, e-mail me off the list and I'll teach you everything I know about
> trailers.
>
> Dino - K6RIX
> dino@k6rix.com
>
>
> > -------- Original Message --------
> > Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Building a Tower Trailer
> > From: Jim Lux <jimlux@earthlink.net>
> > Date: Mon, June 26, 2006 1:47 pm
> > To: Dino Darling <dino@k6rix.com>, Kelly Johnson <n6kj.kelly@gmail.com>
> > Cc: towertalk@contesting.com
> >
> > At 01:37 PM 6/26/2006, Dino Darling wrote:
> > >Sure Kelly, That would be easy.
> > >
> > >To give you some ideas, head down to your local US Rentals and look at a
> > >"light tower". I used to build these as well as other traffic control
> > >trailers. Our club owns a home built tower trailer and my experience
> > >with it has taught me what NOT to do.
> > >
> > >You first need to decide how much money you want to spend and if you are
> > >going to build one from scratch or convert an old watercraft trailer.
> >
> >
> > Another source of a sturdy trailer to start with would be a used horse
> > trailer. They get pretty beat up after a while, but the beating is on parts
> > you might well be removing.The actually running gear and frame will be ok,
> > but the body and floorboards will be shot.
> >
> > I think that one thing that most people don't contemplate is just how much
> > weight they're going to wind up piling on that poor trailer by the time
> > you're done. A little jetski trailer designed to carry a few hundred
> > pounds isn't going to hack it. To a certain extent, you can limit the
> > "piling on", by limiting the size of the trailer, and not providing a place
> > to put more stuff. (any flat surface is an invitation to lash on just one
> > more thing.. like 400 pounds of ice).
>
>
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