50ft tilt crank up/tower w/pics

[johnny9]

well after waisting a lil time with a 36ft crank up tower i got that needs a lil work and time,,i did a trade today and drove 160 miles total to get a better one.
this one dont need painted..has a newer electric winch,all new cables,the tubes are 1/8inch thick on the tower,and has a stand to tilt it down..came with guy wires and a new hand crank winch to lower to the ground.
not sure i trust the stand and cable could lower it to the ground but i will see soon enough.may install a 4 inch 12ft pipe behind it if need be.
traded the abc 250 amp and 5-6 other cb stuff i had from the 3 boxes of stuff i got a couple weeks ago at a good deal..figure i got about 150 bucks into it including gas.
thankfully i have the 3/4 threaded solid rods 12 inches long to bolt the plate down with.
i will weld a few together so the rod will be 20-24 inches long and weld a t on the bottom to sink in the concret slab..
i assume me mixing kwikcrete from lowes should be fine for this..i will pro go 4 ft deep and 2ft x2ft wide,and throw some scrap 1/2 inch steel rods i have in for rebar..i will even angle some of them to tie it all together..
i say 4ft deep because where i live is easy digging and sand the first ft or so..

wondering,since i will angle the rebar wont that help with,,if i run out of concrete and have to get more to pour on top a day later the angled/tilting the rebar should help keep it all together im thinking.

the plate is aprox 20x20 ,maybe bigger,so i guess a 2 inch or so wider pad all the way around should be ok since im going deep.

instead of anchoring the plate flat on the concrete,i will use a 3/4 nut between the concrete and plate to get the tower perfectly level when installed.
the tower is 2-23 ft sections with a 4 ft apex,so i shouldnt even need the upper tower half,but half way up since the antenna and pole will be fairly
high its self..
im not a concrete mayjor or a tower speacialist so does this all sound about right to you guys thats been here a time or 2 ,j9

 

[johnny9]

after thinking about it,maybe the elctric winch is for tilting the tower,and the hand crank for raising the mast..seems lik it would make more sense that way lol..

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

You might want to rent a gas powered mixer and a buddy to help to mix the concrete(sackrete). If you just pour a little bit each day you'll need rebar to tie it all together with. If you're guying this tower then you don't need much of a base. Those deep concrete bases are for if you have a self supporting tower. Captain Kilowatt could help you if he were so inclined to help. I have a 4.5 cubic foot block of concrete supporting my self supported 31 ft tower that has a seven ft mast extending above it and a A99 mounted on top of that.

 

[wavrider]

That old blood hound looks GREAT.

Tower is not bad either good score.

 

[Mudfoot]

That old blood hound looks GREAT.

Tower is not bad either good score.

Was thinking the same. Looks like he never misses a dinner bell.

 

[johnny9]

i hate the idea of havin guy wires unless i can attatch 2 of them to trees about 5-10 ft up? would that be ok..maybe check them couple times a yr to make sure they dont need loosened or tightened?they have turn buckles.

id hate havin to mow around them in the ground but i guess thats not to bad.
if i have to attch them to the ground it will be with a 5ft mobile home type anchor,which i have a few of them already.

i will mount this thing aprox 20 ft from my home and have it so even if it was to fall it couldnt fall into the house.
id have it mounted so it would tilt down beside the house.

i can use less of a concrete pad i just figured its needed for when i tilted it down..
what about less concrete in depth and just make a nice size pad to sit on maybe 2 ft deep,bolt it down,then bury a 4 inch post 5 ft in concrete and bolt the top of the plate/post for lowering it,to the top of the 4 inch post that would be 5 ft deep with a 8 inch round hole and fill it with 200 lbs of concrete?
im gettin concrete tomorrow morning so just trying to get the best ideas
i have a single 5/8 8 ft ground rod i will use but the good grounding like ck has will have to be a lil at a time..

if anyone knows a good link with pics on a tilting base tower with the big plate/post set up likei have please share.

 

[JimmyG]

Looks nice, good luck on the concrete work, and yes, you can do separate poors as long as you have your rebar extending deep enough and high enough to peg them together.Don't skimp on this, use plenty of pegs. It's done a lot. I'm no master concrete man, but I have done it quite a bit over the last several years.

 

[Mudfoot]

I wouldn't do anything less than 2 yards on that install

 

[Robb]

You station is in FL - right? The lighting capital of the US of A. Ground rods are but ~$8 each and you need just two more to do it all right. You cannot afford not to.

Ten feet of 1/2" copper tube smashed flat, some hose clamps, and a means to isolate the coax to ground and you are in the home stretch.

Tower looks very nice, and so does your hound.

 

[johnny9]

you guys beat me to the last post lol..thanks for the flowers**Jump_im**

the garbage gut mut is "molly" i always wanted a bloodhound..boy if i could re think that it may be different now lol..she is the best dog ever..did a job for a guy that bread them mainly for a texas company that uses them for cadiver dogs..she was 1500 bucks so i decided against her till the guy needed some alum welding done..then she came home at like 15-20 lbs.
she is 4 yrs old now,,120 lbs ..my 1200.00 new carpet is now junk,,the walls have been painted 2 times in 4 yrs...whoo,need i say more..people freak when i tell them she is our lap/house dog..she talks up a storm and you kinda fall in love with her..shes a red nose pink eye iirc they call her..the vet shows her off to everyone..
last week she hooked a steel bungee cord inside her nose and was hooked..she straigtened the steel hook and spring straight as heck and it didnt even peirce her nose and no blood..amazed how tuff these dogs are..she has huge feet too,and you can step on them with 200 lbs in your hands and it dont fase her..next time the dog will fit in the sink for a bath or i dont want one..live and learn..maybe a cat

ok the heck with her..its time for me to start talking maybe by sun would be nice..tired of listening to everyone and cant talk back

 

[johnny9]

holy cow m42duster..2 yards..my buddy figured at 4 ft deep and 24x24 sqaure it was a yard,,maybe he was wrong,very poss.

the grund roda around here are 13 bucks each so no problem..i assume the 1/2 inch hollow copper is for the grouns straps? thats pretty easy them,may have that too.

hose clamps to clamp to the tower legs? i can do better than that,i have some smaller welding machine copper lugs and can use a self tapper screw to the legs..then again that could weaken the tower,,hmmm

i may even have some thick"bunches of small strands" of 5/8 welding cables..or is solid smashed flat better?

if i go all out with the concrete log as its the size or a lil bigger than the base and 4 ft deep it should be plenty ya think..plus use the guy wires for the heck of it..

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Find out the manufacturer of the tower and follow his recommendations for a proper installation. I will say that your suggestion of using 200 lbs. of cement (Quickrete no less!!) is absolutely NOTHING for a tower installation of any kind much less the tilt over type you have. Also NO!! you cannot pour over several days if you want it to be installed properly.The different layers will not bond properly and any water can cause the layers to crack and separate whether you use angled steel or not. Nobody ever does a foundation pour over several days unless it is a continuous pour like when erecting concrete and steel buildings.If this is to be a guyed tower then you still need a hefty base to stand up to the tilt over function. There is a lot of leverage on that base when you extend 40 or 50 feet out. Also your suggestion of installing it 20 feet from the house and orienting it so if it falls it will not hit the house I ask, how do you know which way it will fall? No guarantees either way. If you want to guarantee that a 50 foot tower will not hit your house if it falls then you need to locate it at least 51 feet from the house. Anything less is just kidding yourself. I suggest you find out what the manufacturer recommends and gather some info from other with similar tilt over installations before you even dig a hole. You will find that the hole has to be a lot bigger than you thing especially in sandy soil.

 

[Mudfoot]

I don't mess around with concreting towers.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

FWIW a cubic yard is 3x3x3 feet or 27 cubic feet. Your suggestion of 4x2x2 is only 16 cubic feet or barely over 1/2 cubic yard.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I don't mess around with concreting towers.

That makes you, me, and anyone else that understand physics.