Several years ago, I went to assist with a tower removal. It was
only about 40 feet, with nothing but an old 2 meter vertical on it, but
owner was now too old to remove it himself. Owner said it was "well
bracketed and surely safe". It actually WAS bracketed to the 2nd story
eave, and to the wall about head high. There were no guys.
The problem was, it had a dirt base and with the naturally high
humidity here in Louisiana, moisture had been condensing inside the tower
legs for years and could not drain out. Upon inspection before climbing, we
quickly noticed that the tower legs from the part bracketed to the house
stopped about 2 inches above ground. Yep, there was about a 3 inch gap
between the tower and the ground, with nothing but the house brackets
holding the thing up. We cautiously lowered the tower until it touched
ground and slowly let it lay over. I swore that I'd never recommend or
participate in an installation using only a dirt base.
There's a reason why Rohn (and other manufacturers) base plates
have weep holes, and why they recommend the layer of rock in the bottom of
the hole when you use a starter section. I strongly agree with the LXC
prime directive - do what the manufacturer recommends, and also W3LPL's
suggestion of minimum yearly inspection of all your tower and associated
hardware. Be safe, guys, the life you save might be your own!
73,
Mark, K5ER
Louisiana Contest Club
N5LCC.com
>On 7/6/2011 1:22 PM, Eddy Swynar wrote:
> > Hi Again Roger,
> >
>... I've gone back to using "dirt bases"
>for small, guyed towers with relatively small antenna systems which work
>well in our soil. The success of dirt bases and how much tower they
>will handle is highly dependent on soil conditions as well as the
>"Freeze/Thaw" cycle
>
>73
>
>Roger (K8RI)
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