Here is another caution when taking down someone else's tower.
Disconnecting guys along the way up and dropping the sections in thirty
minutes is quite a feat (in stupidity). I once took down a tower, removing
guys starting at the upper set, and working my way down (the proper
method). On the last set, if it hadn't been for a few trees to catch the
still connected guys,I would probably be dead now. The base was barely in
concrete - apparently the original owner just set it on ledge and put about
2 inches of concrete on it to keep the base "stable". When one of the 3
guys was released, the tower just went over! What a surprise to ride it
down from 40 ft,, while another well known contester at 35 ft. goes for the
ride of his life too! The tower stopped at 5 ft. above ground due to guys
being caught in the tree branches.
Lesson learned: Add a temporary set of guys at probably the 20 ft. level
to improve the safety margin with unknown bases.
If the tower was properly installed, it would have made for a simpler
scenario.
Regards,
Mark, K1RX (that other NH tower crew)
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