[TowerTalk] trees as guy anchors

[T. A. Russell]

Hi  Stan -

Three years ago we had a microburst or small tornado come through my
woods
knocking down many dozens of trees including a 75 year old Oak and 75
year
old Beech.  Two 70 ft poplars fell on top of the top guy for my 130 ft
Rohn 35 tower.
THE GUYS HELD THE TREES UP!   I used guy grips throughout, including
at the anchors.  The guy wire was 1/4 inch and appeared to stretch a bit,
allowing the top of the tower to be pulled over about a foot.  When the
trees
were removed, the tower straightened up and I merely retightened the
guys.
I have seen two tower failures where guys pulled through cable clamps.
I am a BIG believer in guy grips!  (The anchors were 4 ft screw ins w/6"
plate).

73,  Tom  N4KG

On Tue, 23 Sep 1997 23:34:09 -0700 (PDT) w7ni@teleport.com (Stan
Griffiths) writes:
>>Hi Gang,
>>
>>Using trees as guy anchors has worked well for many (I never heard of 
>a
>>failure).  The recommended technique is to drill a hole straight 
>through the
>>trunk and put a long eye bolt through it.
>>
>>Here in El Paso, I have several palm trees in likely spots.  I wonder 
>if
>>anyone has experience in using palm trees as anchors.  Are their root
>>systems extensive enough to serve?
>>
>>Tnx es 73,
>>
>>Ed
>>Ed Jensen, K5ED, El Paso, TX <k5ed@dzn.com>
>
>
>I certainly would not do it!  Here in the Northwest, we see far to 
>many tree
>failures each year to consider using them as guy points.  Of course, 
>some of
>these trees fall across guy lines that are well anchored in the ground 
>and
>you have a tower failure anyway . . .
>
>I suspect that if you were considering getting a legal building permit 
>for
>such a tower, the building authority probably would not allow guying 
>to trees.
>
>Stan  w7ni@teleport.com
>
>
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