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[TowerTalk] Bent Mast

To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] Bent Mast
From: mike.foerster@home.com (Michael Foerster)
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 22:01:47 -0500
Another thought just hit me.  Perhaps it might be possible to straighten the
mast back upright with
less stress than previously talked about.

Tie a rope about 3-4 feet ABOVE the bend.

Make a pipe that will clamp to the bent mast AT THE BEND and go out
perpendicular
to the mast, at the knee of the bend. This should be about 2-3 fee long.
This could be done by cutting a hole in the pipe about 1/2 inch from the
bottom and feed a flat bar through the hole.  Put a pipe clamp around the
mast and clamp it the flat bar.

Loop the rope OVER the end of the pipe that was added and send it down the
side of the tower.

Now pull DOWN on the rope, not outward.  And you don't have to be on the top
of the tower to do it.

Just a thought...

Mike



>    Roger...
>    Several years ago I had the same problem with a bent mast and TH7 with
a 2
> meter antenna above it. Also keep in mind I had a  "schedule 80" mast pipe
in
> place.  After several of us had  headscratched for a while, we decided to
do
> the following....it worked great for me, and may be a solution for you.
>    1)  Tie a strong rope as far  up and "above" the bent place as
> possible.....
>    2)  Tie another rope to the area of the "bend"....just "below" the bend
> and just above the bend.  This is a simple "bridge" of the bent  place on
the
> mast.
>    3)  take a hacksaw, and SLOWLY saw and gradually weaken the "bent"
> part....while simultaneously letting the ground crew pull downward on rope
#
> 1.....as the cut weakens the mast, and tension pulls downward....the mast
> will bend downward, and the antennas will be reachable as the mast folds
> over.  You can gain access to the antennas, and remove them this way.
>    4)  Rope #2 is a "safety" measure that spans the bent area that you are
> sawing through, in case the mast totally fails as it is being sawed and
> weakened. In my case, the mast collapsed and folded over gently, but rope
# 2
> is a MUST in case Murphy is around.
>



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