Hello Matthew:
What is the center to center distance of the legs? It could be Rohn 25 - not
model 45 from the photos.
It looks like the dirt trapped lots of moisture around the base. That might
be a problem.
A close inspection of the entire installation by a trained and certified
tower professional is defiantly in order. Do not take any chances.
73,
Tim K3LR
-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk [mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of
Matthew Kaufman
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2014 10:29 PM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] how much rust is too much?
I've just acquired a property with a 150 foot tower, appears to be Rohn
45, guyed at 5 levels. It was installed in the early 1970s(!).
Prior to climbing the tower, I want to be sure it is safe. I've
excavated along the guy anchors down to concrete, and they appear a
little "crusty" but not more rusted than that. Still need to check the
very edge where they meet the concrete close-up to see if it is any
worse there. Not sure if I should try removing the rust or just leave as-is.
The base of the tower is a pier-pin base on concrete with the tower
bolted to the base plate. Some time over the past decades, dirt fell
down a slope and covered the base plate and the bottom bit of tower
(less on one leg than the other two). Near the surface I can just see
that the galvanizing has worn through, but below that there is
progressively more and more rust. The tower still feels solid, and I've
been working on removing the rust to see how much material loss there is
and it doesn't look *that* bad... but how do I know how much is too
much? Can I measure the diameter of the leg after removing the rust and
compare to the non-rusted portions of the tower?
As far as removing the rust, I got some of the thin areas cleared with a
chelating rust remover gel, and the rust on the base plate cleared with
a stripper wheel on an angle grinder, but I'm thinking a small
sandblaster might be the best for the legs themselves?
Picture of the base immediately after uncovering it, before removing any
dirt or loose rust: http://www.matthew.at/tower-base.JPG
Picture of one of the three guy anchors:
http://www.matthew.at/guy-anchor.JPG
Any and all suggestions welcome.. obviously I'd like to salvage as much
of the current install as possible, but I don't want it killing anyone
either.
Matthew Kaufman, KA6SQG
matthew@matthew.at (mailing lists)
matthew@eeph.com (personal)
http://www.matthew.at
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