[TowerTalk] Stainless steel winch cable

[Morrison Hoyle]

Just reading of someone else's experience with winch cable breaking, 
I thought I should add my own experience.

In Australia it is impossible to get towers with motorised winches as 
far as I can tell.  Winching my tower up a couple of weeks ago (by 
hand), I had almost got the top section up to the point where the 
catch plate engages the base of that section when the galvanised 
steel winch cable snapped.  I was lucky that the catch plate caught 
on the tower lacing so it dropped only about 2 inches.

The manufacturer came the two hours drive from Melbourne and brought 
stainless steel cable as there was no way I could climb the tower to 
remove fittings etc. and install the new cable.

The new cable costs $3 Australian (about $2 U.S.) per metre so for 
such a small increase over the galvanised stuff, why not use it all 
the time?  According to the manufacturer (Nally Towers) customers 
won't pay the extra.  Incredible, to me.

I overlook the Bass Strait along the southernmost point of the 
Australian mainland and I've never seen corrosion occur so quickly as 
it does here.

Penny pinching to get a sale is inexcusable when you consider the 
consequential costs not to mention possible injuries that arise from 
failure.  And, yes, Nally Towers tell me >after< the event, that 
cables should be replaced after every 3 or 4 years - the galvanised 
ones of course.  Now they tell me.....!

Morrison, VK3BCY

      .
  ,--_|\    Morrison Hoyle    - vk3bcy@dcsi.net.au
 /  Oz  \                     - Phone +61 (0)3 56891205
 \_,--\_/                     - PO Box 248, FOSTER, Vic 3960 Australia
       v

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