Mac,
Thank you for noticing my error. It was not 20 sq. yds, it was 20 cubic yds.
That’s what I paid for and what I received. I actually used ~ 18.5 cubic yds
for the two tower bases and six guy anchor holes – the “extra” was what was
dumped in the depression at the edge of my driveway.
I don’t recall the size of the truck or if they had to make more than one trip,
but t was a HUGE truck.
For perspective, because of the boulders and other debris in several of the
holes, what would start out as a 3’ x 4’ x 4’ hole became more like 4’ x 5’ x
6’ as a removed boulder or piece of construction debris (steel cables,
sheetrock, broken piece of wood, barbed wire, etc.) would tear out a chunk of
the dirt wall and require re-straightening by the backhoe and enlarging the
hole in the process.
Bob, KQ2M
From: Mac
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2019 3:07 PM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Concrete
Humm ? a 20 Sq yd concrete truck .. ??
that's a very big and very heavy truck , more to the point, they don't
make emm that big ...
mac/mc w5mc
On 8/26/2019 1:15 PM, Bob Shohet, KQ2M wrote:
> I used a different method which I will mention here just it case it may be
> helpful for a TT reader.
>
> My qth is on irregular and jagged ledge – in some spots the ledge is at or
> just below the surface (like an iceberg) in other spots, as little as 1’
> away, the dirt extends down for 4’ or more feet. You can’t predict where it
> is; you can only dig and see where it actually lies.
>
> My house sits in a small “valley” about 10 – 15’ below the top of the ledge
> which starts less than 15’ from the ends of the house. Coming from the
> street down my driveway facing my house, you could almost imagine this as a
> “U” with the middle part of the “U” flat and very elongated.
>
> Both of my towers are on the top of the ledge with no way to get there other
> than to climb up at a very steep angle > 30 degrees. This made it impossible
> to get a large concrete truck, with 20’ sq yds of concrete, up to the tower
> base. And even if it made the first base, it could never get through the
> dense woods and over the boulders to get to the second base 110’ feet away.
> It was a challenge.
>
> I decided to hire an experienced person with a SMALL backhoe. We proceeded
> by having the large concrete truck drive to the base of the ledge, extend its
> concrete pouring chute to the top of the ledge and then pick up that chute
> and place it in the “scoop” of the small backhoe. (We had discovered that
> only a small backhoe could navigate the boulders and jagged ledge (although
> not without tearing and blowing out two backhoe tires in the process!)) The
> concrete truck then poured the concrete through the chute into the scoop of
> the backhoe filling it ~ 1/2 way. The chute was taken out and the backhoe
> proceeded VERY slowly with the sloshing concrete and then poured it into
> slowly and carefully into the tower base and guy anchor holes (already
> strengthened with a cage or rebar and metal ties – previously made by N1MM
> and myself). At each hole another employee of the concrete company worked
> with a concrete trowel, level and other tools to move and spread the concrete
> and level it properly. We repeated this process many times over a 2 1/2
> hour period so that we could fill in both tower bases and six guy anchor
> holes.
>
> It was a slow and painstaking process but it produced outstanding results.
> No concrete was lost or spilled, the concrete filled all the holes and spread
> and leveled beautifully and the highly complex and challenging terrain was
> overcome. We even had ~ 1 yard of concrete left over which I had them dump
> into a depression in the driveway over an underground stream and which
> successfully filled and stabilized a mini-sinkhole. :-)
>
> This was in 1998 and cost ~ $1,050 cash for all the concrete, delivery, labor
> and 1/2 hour of overtime. I had calculated that doing it all myself with
> renting a mixer, buying all the concrete mix, and other chemicals, would have
> cost at least $400 and consumed at least two full days. I’m not sure if it
> would even have been possible to get the mixer through the woods and over the
> boulders to the two tower bases, and guy anchor holes on the ledge in the
> forest, but I do know that the labor would have been backbreaking – probably
> almost as bad as the weeks of chainsawing that I had to do in order to clear
> the dense forest for the tower locations. I know that I would not have had
> results as good as having the professionals do it. There has been no issue
> with any of the concrete in the past 21 years.
>
> I would also add that the pros know the temperature range that the concrete
> will set best at as well as the chemical composition of the concrete to give
> the best “pour” and “set”. I certainly would not have known that. For that
> information and knowledge alone to ensure the safety and the longevity of my
> installations, it was worth every penny!
>
>
> 73
>
> Bob, KQ2M
>
>
> From: k7lxc--- via TowerTalk
> Sent: Monday, August 26, 2019 1:11 PM
> To: towertalk@contesting.com ; xdavid@cis-broadband.com
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Concrete
>
>> What size is your tower base?? In my opinion, mixing your own for a
> typical tower base is not a cost effective undertaking unless you have some
> insurmountable access issue that prevents you from bringing in a mixer truck.
> I agree. I've poured dozens of tower bases and every base plan I've ever
> seen calls for 3kpsi concrete. The labor involved in buying, transporting,
> mixing and pouring a base yourself doesn't usually pencil out compared to
> having it delivered.
>
> And if there is an access issue, hire a line pump to get the mud in the
> hole. It'll pump up to 400 feet which should solve most problems.
>
> Cheers,Steve K7LXCTOWER TECH -Professional tower services for amateur and
> commercial
> _______________________________________________
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