Gee, Kelly, can't you get the guys at the Skunk Works to whip something up
for you;-)
Your project doesn't sound difficult at all. No hydraulic ram or even a
winch to tilt up the tower should be necessary for anything but the largest
LPT, and even that could be handled by two guys. We have two different,
home made, portable towers we've use for FD. One (mine) is telescoping
aluminum tubing (huge, military surplus tubing) that must be extended before
it is raised to vertical (no crank-up mechanism). It is 40' tall and has a
very heavy duty, cast aluminum, tilt-up base, which is bolted to a drive-on
platform, which I secure with my camping trailer. We simply walk (and pull)
it up into place after we install the rotor and antenna. It takes a couple
of walkers and me on top of the trailer pulling on the guy ropes, which were
also installed while the tower was horizontal. Your tower and antenna will
probably weigh about the same (you didn't specify the antenna) only your
tower will be lowered when you tilt it up so it should be a one-man job, or
two at the most, with that short moment arm. I use guy ropes (also mil
surplus) tied off to my truck and whatever else I can find so no outriggers
are necessary. The other tower belongs to a friend who welded a TriEx WT-51
to an old boat trailer. He did install outriggers and uses a winch to raise
the tower. That's a much heavier tower than even the largest LPT. We also
had one of the biggest US Tower mobile units (something like 100') at out FD
site a few years ago. Man was that neat! We usually attach some guys, even
to the towers with outriggers, just in case a storm comes up and there is a
problem lowering the tower.
Sounds like a fun project and one best designed with the KISS principle.
Post some pictures if you can.
73 - JC, K0HPS
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com]On Behalf Of Kelly Johnson
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2006 12:32 PM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Building a Tower Trailer
I would like to mount a Force12 LPT tower on a trailer. Anyone have
any experience building a trailer for a tower (or otherwise)? I am
looking for design/construction tips. In particular, I need a trailer
that is small and reasonably inexpensive. In particular, I would like
the trailer to be as narrow as possible yet still stable enough for
towing. I'm thinking something with retractable/removable struts.
My LPT1242 worked out extremely well for FD this past weekend. I'm
hoping to make it even more convenient by mounting it on a trailer.
Unfortunately, I have limited space at my home for a trailer and thus
need it to be small, narrow, and light enough that I can push it along
the side of my house into the back yard.
Any advice would be appreciated.
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