[TowerTalk] Re: TORQUE ARMS

[T A RUSSELL]

Thanks Steve for your excellent and informative reply.

All 7 of my towers are in the earth, no concrete, but Alabama 
clay gets just about as hard as concrete in summer and I have 
limestone about 3 ft down.  I hollow out my bases and place
several inches of gravel for drainage in with a few bricks to carry 
the load.  I know this is NOT the recommended procedure.

A clever friend of mine placed his R25 tower in concrete but raised
the concrete above ground level and then rounded off the top so it
would drain water away from the legs.  

Some of my Kentucky  TV  towers (not Rohn) are showing severe 
corrosion at and/or under the surface after 18 years in the ground.
I have pounded some 1/4 inch angle iron supports in next to each
leg for support and braced the legs which seems to be holding. 
Eventually, those towers are going to have to be replaced.   Doing 
it right the FIRST time is the best and most COST  EFFECTIVE solution, 
even if the initial costs are a bit higher.  Believe me, when you reach 
middle age and your towers need replacing, tower work just isn't as 
much fun as it was when you were younger (and poorer).

I encourage everyone to re-read Steve's excellend advice and to put
up the strongest and best tower you can, using good materials and
techniques, so that you can play with ANTENNAS in your later years
instead of contemplating tower replacement.  If you want your towers
to last 30 to 40 years, buy NEW sections, period.  The few dollars 
you save on used tower is a small percentage of a tower installation
and you will feel pretty foolish when you start to see it deteriorating
20 years later.   Been there, done that.

de  Tom  N4KG


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