Alan,
I put in a 5 ft x 5ft x 8ft foundation last November. My first quote for
digging the hole was $700. I didn't want to dig it myself because it is in
hard clay. I eventually found a neighbor who owned a backhoe that did it
for $200. Here is a breakdown of costs for my do-it-yourself effort:
Hole digging $200
Cement $960 ( rent a vibrator to
move the cement around in the hole and get the air out. My neighbor had one
to borrow.)
Rebar to build Cage $200 (the tower is self standing
with 8 vert. #9 and 6 #5 saddles. Rebar was cut and bent to order)
Lumber $ 20
Total $1380
As someone else said, building the cage is easy. Wire it together and have
it ready when the backhoe is ther and get him to lift it in. I dug a 4x4x4
foundation in sandy soil once and it wasn't too bad. If you are not able to
dig, I would bet a couple of teenagers would do it for a couple hundred
dollars. Good luck and let us know how it turns out for you.
Pat, K8PC
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alan NV8A (ex. AB2OS)" <nv8a@att.net>
To: "towertalk reflector" <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, May 27, 2005 6:32 AM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Foundation for a tower -- cost
> You can price the tower itself, together with such items as mast and
> rotator, on the Internet, but have you ever wondered what the foundation
> for that wonderful tower would cost?
>
> Although I had had little trouble in deciding what tower I wanted, I
> kept putting off getting a quote for the foundation work, fearing that
> the cost would be so high that the whole project would be nixed and that
> I would have to quit dreaming of a decent antenna system.
>
> Yesterday I finally did it, and I'll report what I was quoted, since
> this might serve as a rough (very rough, since local conditions vary so
> much) guide for others.
>
> This is for the largest size Pad and Pier style foundation specified for
> AN Wireless towers: 9ft x 9ft x 1.5ft pad with 5ft x 5ft x 3.5ft pier.
> The location is W. Michigan, with somewhat sandy soil.
>
> The quote for the whole job -- digging out the hole (with a BobCat and
> backhoe), constructing the rebar cage, placing the formwork, pouring the
> concrete (using a pump reaching over the roof of the house), removing
> formwork, backfilling and compacting, and removing excavated material --
> is $2950. Going to the next lower size (pad only 8ft x 8ft x 1.5ft)
> reduced the cost by only $200.
>
> Having nothing with which to compare, I honestly did not know what to
> expect, but I had pretty much made up my mind that even if it were $5K I
> wouldn't fall off my chair.
>
> I'll probably get another quote anyway, but does anything jump out at
> anybody here?
>
> 73
>
> Alan NV8A
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
> Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with
> any questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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