Received the following interesting note from Terry, N4TZ:
>My late two cents on gin poles - I agree the Rohn pole is not as strong as
>some of the others you mentioned but consider the following:
>
>I have/had a genuine Rohn gin pole for 25/45 - it was great until a one
>hp winch didn't stop quite in time and a snagged load bent the pole like
>a banana. I replaced the original 1/8" wall tubing with 1/4" tubing that
>was also longer - 16' versus the stock 12'. The revised gin pole therfore
>is as strong as the others you mentioned. Now the bad news - it is also
>now twice as heavy (walls twice as thick) and in my particular case, more
>than twice as heavy because I went to a longer pole (12' is often too short,
>and a 16' pole is long enuff to work with a 24' mast - that's what I was
>raising when the winch went beserk). The extra weight is a real nuisance
>to a person who weighs less than two sections of Rohn 45 and whose age
>is approaching Rohn 55! Furthermore, the Rohn mechanism for attaching to
>the tower leg is vastly superior to the WB0 style in that the tightening
>of the gin pole reqires only one knob being turned - the two knobs on
>the WB0 version appear to me to be a disadvantage while you are holding
>the greater weight of the beefy gin pole with your arm across your body.
>Remember, weight on a tower is a lot heavier than on the ground!
>
>To my mind the greatest advantage of the WB0 gin pole is that the clamps
>will fit on almost any type of tower, not just 25/45. That's why my club
>bought the WB0 pole on my recomendation after everyone oohed and ahhed
>about seeing a real gin pole (the Rohn one I have) and thought it would
>be nice for the club to own one for all the members with BX, Rohn 20,
>and tv towers to use.
>
>It appears to be a nice gin pole, but again, not one for one-handed
>operation in my experience.
73 de Bob, K0KR
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