Good Morning, Stew and TTs;
Thank you for your post. It appears you implement the foldover or tilt
function similarly, but perhaps better in some ways, than I do. I would
enjoy seeing more details if you can send pictures or description.
I tilt a 60' aluminum self-supporting tower with a tribander and a 2M
vertical on top. I cast two steel members into the concrete tower base
to serve as "hinge halves." I built a triangular "gin pole" or "falling
derrick" of two 2" X 8" X 20', with transverse and diagonal bracing,
fitted with steel "hinge halves" to mate to those in the base. I go up
a ladder to tie lines at the 20' level of the tower, run those to the
"gin pole", and to the loader on my tractor. The loader rises above the
tractor so that the pull point is about 10' above the ground, to reduce
the compression load on the gin pole.
I tie another line to the tower at about 20' to pull it away from the
tractor until the center of gravity is outside the tower base, after
unbolting the leg opposite the two legs that serve as tower hinges.
That line also serves to keep the tower from falling into vertical as it
is raised. I raise or lower it gently with the tractor, and rest it on
a support when it is down. When raising it, I tie the opposing line to
catch it before it is vertical, usually to my truck. When that line is
supporting the tower, the line to the tractor slackens and I use the
truck to gently let the loose tower leg down to rest on a block of wood
in the base fitting. The wood is sized so that the bolt holes in the
leg are just a bit lower than the hole in the base fitting and a little
force with a pry bar lifts it to allow me to insert the bolts.
I've often wished I could do this with winches.
I'm interested in any possible improvements.
73 de Red, WOØW
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Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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