Hi Rick,
I had one when I was a teenager back in the 70's. It was originally
outfitted with a 2 el. Gotham quad, then later a 2 el. Cubex Skymaster.
Installation amounted to digging a hole and dropping the post, in then
back Upon moving it to my first home some years later, I managed to
punch a hole in the Wonder Post. I had to replace the nearly
rusted-through post with a new section of galvanized pipe along with all
the requisite flat and round stock used to form the post fins and hinge
pieces.
Some years later with a hurricane meandering around in the Gulf of
Mexico, the tower and 4 el. Cubex Skymaster Quad took a continuous
overnight pounding by the wind from an easterly direction. The next
morning the tower and Wonder Post were pushed over a considerable
distance from their original vertical position with all the soil around
the post laying perfectly flat from the driving rains. After the storm
passed I folded over the tower and disconnected it from the Wonder Post
and began to dig to straighten the mess, out. Since the missile fins on
the post were down several inches below the soil surface, I excavated an
area out around it - approximately 3' X 3' and poured a batch of
concrete in, just rubbing the top of the fins. This worked to help
stabilize the tower for a few more years until I eventually sold it for
a UST.
73,
Jon Pearl - W4ABC
www.w4abc.com
On 7/16/2013 6:19 PM, Rick Karlquist wrote:
Wilson wrote:
Thanks for the several replies. I got pictures of installations and a
manual from BAMA!
73,
Wilson
What was the general reputation of these no concrete EZ Way
tower bases? Potential problems such as:
Wonder ground post leans over?
Wonder ground post sinks into the ground?
Fins bend or break off?
The whole thing turns to rust in short order?
I'm looking for ways to put up towers on my land without
concrete so that if I remove them I can disk up the land.
Does it make sense to have a fab shop make a copy of a wonder
ground post? How was the wonder ground post installed?
By pounding it into the ground, or by digging a hole for
it and backfilling?
It seems like a large enough set of fins would give the same
resistance to overturning vs PSI rating of the soil compared
to concrete, but it doesn't have the weight of the concrete.
I've always wondered whether the massive weight of concrete
isn't the real thing holding up the tower as opposed to the
resistance of the soil.
Rick N6RK
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