On 6/18/2013 8:13 AM, Mickey Baker wrote:
As many of you know, my LM-354HD broke a cable and crashed recently from a
fully extended position. The reason for the crash is that the previous
owner had provided the wrong replacement cable for the tower. I was luck in
that my beam was not on the tower at the time, but the tower is a mess.
I've been looking for a replacement that would fit on the current base -
RCB-70 in a robust base as specified for the LM-470 and the LM-354HD. No
towers in good shape have popped up.
A while back, I reached out to Tashjian and learned that freight from their
factory to my place is about $3,000 - more than half the cost of the
replacement tower itself.
My questions for the group:
1. Has anyone engineered a way to use the Tri-Ex/Tashjian base for another
tower? Aluma tower is relatively close by and, if I could make the current
base work, I would save shipping and have a lighter "temporary
installation" tower that is light enough to easily move.
=== The Tashjian "bury part of the base in concrete" design makes it
harder, but a competent ME & fab shop should be able to design/build a
frame that bolts to the existing flanges and connects to a new frame
suitable for the new tower you want, particularly if you aren't
constrained in the tilt direction. I have an LM354 w/o a base and am
building a "bolt on" base frame in a new concrete foundation ala UST
designs so I have flexibility. I don't need calcs since the steel
sizing will be from my HDX589. Another choice - burn off the LM354HD
flanges and drill for anchor bolts grouted/epoxied into the concrete for
a new tower base that is bolted onto the new bolts.
2. Has anyone worked out a way to save shipping costs from Tashjian? For
example, if two or more people from the same geographical region (or on the
path to Tashjian's facility?) ordered towers, they could hire or take their
own truck and trailer.
=== Even though Tash should have a low contract rate (unless freight is
a profit maker) check with Freightquote.com. They specialize in LTL
(Less Than Truckload) freight and also put jobs out for bid. I used
them a few times for machinery and heavy equipment and had good results
at a great price. It depends on the freight flow and availability of
dead head trucks and driver owned rigs, so each bid is for a specific
"ready to go" load. Towers are shipped on flatbeds so a forklift can
load/unload them from the side, easy to rent if you go that way. Get
some appropriate slings also, a steel tower on steel forks is super
prone to sliding. Remember you are responsible for unloading and
drivers don't like hanging around (unless there is a tip). I know UST
is careful with carrier selection as it is easy to damage/bend a
crankup. I've never dealt with Tashjian.
A Penske 26' rental truck (10k lb legal payload) will handle 3 of the
biggest UST & Tash ham crankups if you can figure out how to load/unload
them. Check their rates, and if it is a slow time they will
negotiate. However CA>FL is not good, too many CA escapees like me.
To move my shop CA>WA, I rented 7 Penske 26 footers plus a rigger and
53' flatbed. The Penske moves were spread out over a few months to
sequence installation and the price varied from $650 to $900 for San
Jose to Seattle one way, 900 miles; 4 days included and a Class C
license is ok. Plus fuel, motels, and one way air fare and soon they
cost as much as commercial. I have a friend with a Class A license,
but I couldn't find an interstate rental for a tractor/trailer.
Grant KZ1W
I'd appreciate the group's thoughts on the above.
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