Topband: burying radials

[Ford Peterson]

I have long understood one of the big differences between men and monkeys is that men can make their own tools.......

One approach to burying radials that I have used with reasonable success is to fabricate a small wooden block in a wedge-like shape.  3/4" thick x about 6" x 2" worked pretty well.  Cut one end at a 45 degree diagonal and shape the tip as a sharp edge.  Drill a hole large enough to allow your radial wire to slip through the leading edge at a diagonal.

Lay the radial on the top of the ground roughly where you want it.  Lace the radial through the block of wood.  Starting at the tower, lash the end to a stout support, or just attach it to the tower ground.  Using the sharpened tip of the wood block, you can push the block along the ground and pull the little blades of grass apart as you slide the block along the ground.  The wire would go through the block and get planted deep into the thatch of the grass so you could barely see it, and the grass would secure it to the ground.  I was able to mow without difficulty immediately afterwords.  

It worked slick except for the fact that 100% of the time was spent crawling on the ground.  It's a bunch of work on hands and knees.  And the wood block will blister your hand quickly if you fail to fabricate rounded edges and wear good gloves.  I can place about 12 - 40M radials in about 2-1/2 to 3 hours before my hands and knees scream for me to stop.

Good luck...

Ford-N0FP
ford at cmgate.com