### why bother ? What if you have 3 –4 ants on the mast..what a pita.
I made my mast steps out of 2 x 2 x 14 long Angle Aluminum, .25inch thick
6061-T6.
Each mast step is attached to the 2 inch chromolly mast with a single DXE
super mast clamp.
I cover the entire surface of each step with that non skid stuff.... that
comes in 1-2-3 inch wide rolls.
The 2 inch stuff works superb. I also apply it to the vert portion of the
angle AL. As an
added safety measure, I installed 1/4-20 SS bolts, one at each end of the
step. They
stick UP aprx 1.5 inch.....and secured with a SS nylock. Then I can feel em
with my boots..
so I know at all times where the end of the steps are..and not step into space
! Ditto with
my hands when climbing.
## My mast is heat treated chromolly.... 2 inch OD with a .375 inch thick
wall. IF you have
a choice, I would use a 2.875 OD 1026 DOM mast.... or a 3.00 OD 4130
chromolly mast,
both in .25 thickness. A 2.875 x .25 thick mast weighs the same 7 lbs per
foot as my
2 inch x .375 thick chromolly mast... but is a helluva lot stronger, even
though the 1026 DOM
is only 89 ksi vs 107 ksi for my 2 inch chromolly mast.
## Once a 2 inch OD mast gets to .25 inch thick.... you are better off to go
to a bigger diam mast, instead
of a thicker mast. Mast steps are not for everyone. In my case, with a
motorized crank up, its
a real pita to extend the tower to 55 ft, then remove the prop pitch..which is
6 feet down inside the tower. I also
have a 2nd thrust bearing, which is 4 ft down from the top of tower. So 2 x
thrust bearing plates +
1 rotor plate to deal with. Then loosen the mast clamps on a 150 lb, 40m
yagi, so the mast slides through it etc.
Then pin the mast with the UST provided bolt, so the wind does not spin the top
ant around.
## In my case, its too cumbersome to do what you propose. However, on my old
Trylon tower, I did
exactly what you describe. In that case, the mast used was 2.875 OD with a
.276 wall..and was an
aluminum mast... 52 lbs. Easy matter to lift the mast with the
cum-along...and remove the OR-2800 rotor, then
let the mast slide through the 20m yagi boom to mast clamps. I wasn’t about
to do something stupid,
like climb an aluminum mast.
Jim VE7RF
Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 12:49:58 -0400
From: "Edward Sawyer" <SawyerEd@Earthlink.net>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Mast Steps
Personally, I have kind of "drawn the line" on mast steps. I am 6 ft tall
and I have no problem standing on the top of my Rohn 45 tower. My top
antennas are 10 ft above the towers. I don't find pulling the rotor and
stepping the mast down to the point I can reach the top antenna from the top
that time consuming. If you align the cum-along right you can raise the
mast up to pull the rotor and then lower it down by 5ft for top antenna
access in one maneuver. I would say its 90 mins max (typically 60) to have
the top antenna where I want it and standing on top.
73
Ed N1UR
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