50ft tilt crank up/tower w/pics

[n8fgb]

Repairing a CDE/Hy-Gain/MFJ Rotator

 

[n8fgb]

NRS - How to identify your antenna rotator or rotor control box

 

[johnny9]

thanks for them links even tho its old,but was put away many yrs ago like new in a shed,should i take it apart and check it out?
its so smooth,like a babys butt lol..
if i do take apart i will use grease i have..i have,old dinasour on the can grease from the 50,s like half gallon i never use,,its thick like wheel bearing grease used to be.
then i have some synthetic stuff similar to the old kedall blue grease.
i really hate to take it apart since its so quite and smooth but if i should i will.

 

[Mudfoot]

I would tear into it and look for potential problems and grease it before I bust my butt putting everything up, then having a problem. Take it apart inside a big trash bag.

Follow N8FGB's advice on the grease. Do it right the first time.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I use a light lithium grease on my rotator so it will run better in the winter. You will not have that issue down there but don't use a grease that is too sticky or one that will run when it gets hot.

 

[johnny9]

opened it up and all looks great thankfully..the bearings didnt fall apart ,got lucky. the bottom bearings,the first i seen when tearing down have grease but will add a lil more.
since everything is so clean im not touching it..looks real good inside and none of the grease is hard anywhere..theres a bunch in the deeper bearings so gonna leave it be.just add to the others.

 

[johnny9]

n8fgb thanks for those links..i wouldnt have known it was a m rotor otherwise,it has no nothing on it that i can see.

onto the other rotor..i cant find it per the id link at all..it has stamped on it
D00 5037-00 has a diamond shape with an letter A in it.
has a casting circle with "76" in it so prob 1976?
other than that it has a nuber 2 by itself in the same are as the other numbers.

so felt confident since now i no there pretty simple and took the spare apart..glad i did this"thanks fellas" cause if i would have tested it i would have grinded all the crap up and ruined the alum race/frame area..

it was very clean and looks good other than the rusty bearings needing replaced..checked the race area and all is very good,no marks or scuffs at all..prob just rusted from sitting so long..
also missing 3 bearings but no scraps in the rotor anywhere.
maybe someone dropped tham and couldnt find them

someday i will order new bearings and then test it out,and have a spare..or for maybe a vertical quad so my flat side dont get lonely.

i have lots of confidence it will work fine when cleaned up since dad said it did work fine..
he also told me the cde/cdr control box didnt come with the brake switch on the side,that it has been added for that ham m rotor.so im kinda hoping since the older rotor dont have a brake the control box will work for it also..he said it did,but according to the id this rotor isnt a cd44 like i thought i guess.

 

[johnny9]

well lookin at the pics the second rotor may only be missing 1 bearing..they are spaced out a lot,maybe someone robbed the other bearings for another rotor or it must come that way lol.

 

[SIX-SHOOTER]

Flashback to the past. Forgot all about the old E-Z way towers and their Wonder Posts. If you had the post it would have jogged the memory likly. Only heard of a few people that had them but tbose that did liked them. Just watch those windload specs. Tbey are onlu for 50mph. Most towers give specs for 70 and 80mph. Twenty or thirty mph increase reduces those numbers a lot. Make sure any post you put on it has the fins. That keeps it from cutting thru the soil as it wants to bend over.

I know this is an Old thread but I just found one of these towers and it has the specs for up to 110 mph and with no guy wires it’s rated at 28.8 sq ft of windload and with guy wires it’s rated at 40 sq ft of windload.It made me decide that I was putting it up and not another ROHN 25 that I can’t climb and I can do all of my own antenna and tower work.It’s in amazing condition and it’s the answer to my prayers.The antenna’s will be the same height as what I had with the ROHN 25 before the hurricane.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I know this is an Old thread but I just found one of these towers and it has the specs for up to 110 mph and with no guy wires it’s rated at 28.8 sq ft of windload and with guy wires it’s rated at 40 sq ft of windload.It made me decide that I was putting it up and not another ROHN 25 that I can’t climb and I can do all of my own antenna and tower work.It’s in amazing condition and it’s the answer to my prayers.The antenna’s will be the same height as what I had with the ROHN 25 before the hurricane.

Good choice. Everybody seems to think Rohn-25 is the cat's ass but personally I wouldn't own one. They need to be guyed or supported against a building to get any decent height. I despise guy wires. They always get in the way of raising/lowering antennas of any size. They are small and not that great to climb due to that. They do not accept large rotators mounted inside where rotators should be such as the CDE Tailtwister, Yaesu G-2800 or the Orion 2800 without cutting a brace. There is no easy way to install a thrust bearing. Other than that, they are great. The one thing they have in their favour is they are cheap and plentiful. Oh.....and they do not require much of a base since they need to be guyed. I'm not into cheap. I'm not rich either but I believe you get what you pay for. I prefer something that will take a large load without guy wires. I currently have a 64 foot Trylon T-500 Titan. It is 64 feet high, is almost 48 inches across a face at the bottom and 18 inches at the top. It will handle 52 sq.ft. at 70 mph winds with no ice. That drops to 24 sq. ft at 70 mph with one half radial inch of solid ice. I am planning in the spring to convert it to a tilt-over tower. I ran out of time this year.

 

[SIX-SHOOTER]

Good choice. Everybody seems to think Rohn-25 is the cat's ass but personally I wouldn't own one. They need to be guyed or supported against a building to get any decent height. I despise guy wires. They always get in the way of raising/lowering antennas of any size. They are small and not that great to climb due to that. They do not accept large rotators mounted inside where rotators should be such as the CDE Tailtwister, Yaesu G-2800 or the Orion 2800 without cutting a brace. There is no easy way to install a thrust bearing. Other than that, they are great. The one thing they have in their favour is they are cheap and plentiful. Oh.....and they do not require much of a base since they need to be guyed. I'm not into cheap. I'm not rich either but I believe you get what you pay for. I prefer something that will take a large load without guy wires. I currently have a 64 foot Trylon T-500 Titan. It is 64 feet high, is almost 48 inches across a face at the bottom and 18 inches at the top. It will handle 52 sq.ft. at 70 mph winds with no ice. That drops to 24 sq. ft at 70 mph with one half radial inch of solid ice. I am planning in the spring to convert it to a tilt-over tower. I ran out of time this year.

Those are very nice towers for sure. I have a Mosley TA-53M with the 40 meter dipole,M2 6M5X,Cushcraft 215WB,& Hi-Gain VB-214FM so this tower will be far from overloaded. Best thing is I can work on everything by myself & no more worries about hurricane damage. It's motor driven as well so for an older guy like me that's a BIG PLUS. {:>)