I am putting up a T400-80 Trylon 80 foot freestanding
tower in a few weeks. I'd like to be as safe as
possible when climbing it, but I am also a cheap
SOB. So I am thinking about installing a very simple
fall protection system.
My idea is to take 6 pieces of 1/4"x2"x2" or so angle
iron, and drill a 1/2" hole about 2" from one end. I
would bolt these pieces horizontally onto 2 legs of
the tower about every 10 feet, with the end with the
hole sticking out from the tower 6" or so and with
the hole facing up and down. Then I would attach one
end of an 80 foot long piece of 1/4" wire rope to the
top of the tower, and thread it down through the
holes in the pieces of angle iron and then attach it
to the bottom of the tower. So I would have a wire
rope running up the tower, spaced off the tower 6" by
these pieces of angle iron every 10 feet.
The idea is that I would clip my fall arrest lanyard
to the wire rope as I climb up or down. Every 10
feet, I would come to one of the pieces of angle
iron, and I would have to unclip from the wire rope
on one side of the iron and re-clip to the wire rope
on the other side. Other than that, while I am
climbing the lanyard clasp would just slide on the
wire rope.
If I fall, the lanyard clasp would slide down the
wire rope until it got to the nearest piece of angle
iron where it would stop. The angle iron would catch
the lanyard, and the lanyard would arrest my fall.
In essence, I would be clipped in to the next lowest
angle iron. My fall would never be more than 10 feet
plus the length of my lanyard.
Does this make any sense at all? It would be cheap
(1/4" stainless cable is pretty cheap, and so is the
angle) and doesn't require any special 'trolley' or
ratchet to work. It seems like it would be
effective, and I am much more likely to use it than I
am to clip on to the tower itself every 4'.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Am I crazy? Is every 10'
too often - can I get away with every 20'?
Thanks much as always,
***dan, K6IF
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