A few weeks ago, my 68' tiltover tower failed in a huge wind from a
microburst that came through. One guy failed and the tower was helpless
against 100+MPH winds. I was disassembling the base section today and
discovered something very interesting.
For the last few years, I have been perplexed by the need to forever be
tightening up the guys. All the guys would loosen about the same so the
conclusion I came to was that the base itself was sinking in the moist loam
each spring.
What I discovered today is that the tip-over base section (Rohn's) had been
overloaded by the weight of the tilt-over with all the hardware. If you
have never seen the swivels on a tip-over base, they are single 3/8"
diameter bolts pinned through the 25G type base section tubing. The whole
weight of the tower rests on a single set of 3/8" bolts. The holes in the
base section tubes were elongated downward by about 3/16" in only a few
short years. All three legs were worn about the same.
I thought Towertalkians might want to know this so that you can run out and
check your hinged base bolts.
Now, on to how to fix this base so I can use it again...
Ford-N0FP
ford@cmgate.com
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