[SCCC] Hauling Ideas Needed

[Ken Alker]

A while back I removed a hy-gain HG70HD 70' motorized tower from a 
residence.  I first fully nested the tower, which brought it down to 22'. 
I hired a crane to lift it from the back yard and place it on a Pacific 
Boat Trailers G25TW5-10 that I had borrowed.  (Stripping the tower and 
preparing for transport was a two day process, summarized here in two 
sentences :-).  The tower rested on the boat trailer as if the trailer was 
made for carrying the tower; I was amazed and, perhaps, lucky.  I hauled 
the tower home with my 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 diesel.

When I got home, I had to figure out how to get the tower off the trailer. 
I backed the trailer into my dirt field where I wanted to store the tower 
until the day I can put it up.  This is where improvisation began.  I had 
done a ton of planning for tower removal, but hadn't thought through how I 
was going to get the tower off of the trailer.

It turns out that the bottom end of the tower was hanging off the back end 
of the trailer by at least a foot.  This turned out to be quite fortuitous 
(as it was not planned, but should have been!).  I stacked four wooden 
pallets under the bottom end of the tower that was hanging off the back of 
trailer.  I then positioned my New Holland model 1920 tractor near the 
front of the trailer (still hooked up to my truck).  The tractor was 
perpendicular to the length of the tower and trailer.  I wrapped a chain 
around the bucket of the tractor and top of the tower.  Note that I first 
checked how much weight the New Holland bucket assembly could lift and it 
was slightly more than half the weight of the tower, which is what I 
figured I needed.  The tower weighs 1160 pounds (the trailer is 2100 
pounds, not that that matters).  I lifted the top of the tower off the 
trailer and the bottom of the tower (just above the pallets) made contact 
with the top of the stack of pallets.  I was able to lift the top of the 
tower up a few feet freeing the tower entirely from the trailer.  The tower 
was then at a diagonal to the ground, the top of the tower higher than the 
bottom; the bottom end now "resting" (not very securely, mind you), on the 
pallets.  I then drove the trailer out from under the tower.

Next, I placed four pallets under the free end (top) of the tower and 
lowered the bucket until the top of the tower was resting on the newly 
placed stack of pallets.  I removed the chain and moved the tractor to the 
bottom end of the tower and picked that end up in order to move the 
original stack of pallets further under the tower to support it more 
securely in its resting position.

I hope this helps spark some ideas.  I have pictures of the entire process, 
if they are helpful to anyone.

Ken Alker (KA6KEN)

--On Tuesday, April 25, 2023 6:34 PM -0700 Steve Harrison <k0xp at k0xp.com> 
wrote:

> This is a solicitation for ideas.
>
> I have a lead on a 90 ft telescoping tubular Sky Needle, presently
> located some 200 miles from my QTH in 29 Palms. It has a large log
> periodic on it that will have to be lifted off by an available crane,
> which will then lift the tower off its base and onto a trailer, which is
> also available. I don't intend to reuse the LP, although pictures I've
> seen show it in good condition.
>
> But I can't figure out how we'd get that 4000-pound tubular tower off the
> trailer and onto the desert once here. Total length is in the
> neighborhood of 28 feet, likely a bit longer. I'd imagine the tower
> weight is fairly evenly distributed due to the winch at the base and the
> rotator assy at the top. The sand where the tower is to be unloaded is
> basically soft, although my 4"-thick driveway is adjacent to that
> location, offset by about 15 - 20 feet to the side. I can have the area
> for the tower compacted and lay gravel, which works pretty well out here
> for my driveway. This soft sand could also be a problem when attempting
> to back up the trailer to get the tower where it can be refurbished.
>
> One idea that I have to remove the tower from the trailer is to try to
> rent an AWD semitruck boom wrecker truck and operator (which would have
> to come from Yucca Valley, I think), which should be able to move over
> the sand, particularly if I have some gravel placed where the tower will
> be set. Seems to me that the major problem will be to just lift the tower
> up high enough for the trailer to drive out from under, then let it down
> onto the ground. A pair of overhead hoists would accomplish the same
> task, at around the same estimated cost.
>
> Any other ideas?? (No, hitting the gas and letting the tower fall off the
> back is a no-go from the start.)
>
> Once the tower is lifted off the trailer, I then have to evaluate the
> inner wall condition for rust and corrosion due to the tower having lived
> on the SoCal coast for at least 51 years. Any ideas how to accomplish
> this? It seems the tower sections will have to be extended on the ground.
> I would imagine the military would then drill holes along the length,
> measure the wall thickness and perhaps insert an endoscope to look
> further at the insides, then weld the holes up. Any other ideas about
> this? I could, of course, simply erect it, extend it, and see whether it
> withstands our (sometimes high) desert wind.
>
> I've been spending my mornings out on the desert before the heat sets in
> building Beverages, and have two more to put up. The others will have to
> wait for installation of the Sky Needle.
>
> Thanks,
>
> SteveH K0XP
>
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