Topband: shunt fed towers

[John]

would like to pose   a question to the antenna experts...read recently that a tall tower say 1/4 wave with large antennas atop of it really does not work well as a 160m antenna...what do the experts say?i have been using one of those for years and i think they work like gangbusters but i'm not an expert so it may be that for years i've been using the wrong antenna...and should shorten mine to say 70 feet or so i would like to have a serious answer and as i'm willing to improve my system on 160m if i've been doing it wrong for 26 years...John K1GUN