Last January I had an unfortunate accident that cost over 5K and the attention
of a hand surgeon here in Phoenix to fix it.....
I was cranking my tower (51') down and, although I thought I could see it all
OK I could not....the top section hung up on something and the center section
continued
to come down as I cranked.....the weight did not change because they were
coming down together....at some point, for some reason, the top section came
"unstuck"
and dropped some 6 or 8 feet....the impact of this tore the winch handle out of
my hand and it whipped around and broke my thumb, and did a great deal of damage
to the thumb and first finger.....many stitches and pins later the thumb is
about 50% usable.....and that's the best it is going to get !!
So, my rules have changed....If lowering the tower...I INSIST THAT A SECOND
PARTY BE THERE TO WATCH AND ACERTAIN THAT BOTH THE TOP AND MIDDLE SECTIONS
ARE COMING DOWN PROPERLY !It is difficult to look up the tower and see if all
is well....a second person standing a short distance away can see things you
cannnot....
And I wish I had 100% use of my thumb again not to count the agony of the
removal of two 1.875 steel pins without any deadening....as I told the
doc.....I believe
I broke the nose of the last person that hurt me that bad......Nuff said.....Be
Careful...................................joel, w7epa W7epa@ARRL.net
----- Original Message -----
From: chasm@texas.net<mailto:chasm@texas.net>
To: towertalk@contesting.com<mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 3:14 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Tri-Ex WT-51 Electric Winch with Pulldown
Mechanismand RMC-1000
Dan Hearn wrote:
> I think it is foolhardy to raise or lower a crankup when you are not
> watching it and in control of the operation. I have had a coax snag and pull
> in two even when I am watching but not as observant as I should be.
> 73, Dan, N5AR
Could not agree more. still not sure why a pulldown is necessary as
gravity should certainly handle it and as Dan states, if you are not
out there to the side walking around with the remote in your hand, you
are likely to bung up your alignment or suffer other mishaps. I do
like the idea of a line hanging from the mast base to put pressure
against the wind. really like this list.
I am still trying to find a 110VAC winch for about the same price as
the 12VAC with remote sold by Stanley or Masterlock, I forget
which..about $70.00 I suppose I could use my emcomm battery set to
run the winch since the 110V is just NOT going to be found.<G>.
73de chas/k5dam
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