[TowerTalk] Out of Plumb Guy Anchors

[AD7L@aol.com]

Hello All -

Last year I put in some Rohn GAR30 guy anchors so that I could raise my 50' 
bracketed Rohn 45 to 70'.  The plan was to leave the house bracket on at 
approximately 27' for the first level of "guy" and then the top set of guys 
would go to the anchors.  In  spite of my best efforts, when I poured the 
concrete in the anchor holes, I knocked the anchor heads out of plumb; by a 
significant amount; maybe 30 degrees or so.  I did not notice the problem 
until it was too late to fix.  Rohn specifies that the anchor head should be 
within 1.0 degree of plumb (vertical).  Initially, I was not concerned, 
because with just one guy to each anchor, and using an E&J turnbuckle with no 
equalizer plate, it really didn't matter.

BUT, this summer I temporarily guyed the tower (with one set of guys; it's 
still at 50') and removed the bracket for a home improvement project.  The 
quiet was wonderful!  One can't believe how much racket a bracketed tower can 
make inside the house at a windy QTH.  Knowing this, I'm thinking I would 
like to leave the bracket off, and turn the tower into a strictly guyed tower 
with TWO sets of guys.  Now all of a sudden these out of plumb anchors seem 
very serious because once an equalizer plate is bolted to the anchor head, 
the application of two guys will torque the anchor.  I've considered a couple 
of possible fixes to this problem:

1.  Do a custom equalizer plate with a welded on "wedge" so that when the 
plate is bolted to the anchor head, it will be plumb.

2.  Use my 5/8 E&J turnbuckles (rated at 17,500 lbs ultimate strength, per 
Rohn catalog) to go between the anchor head and the equalizer plate, and use 
the turnbuckle to adjust the plate to plumb.

Any other thoughts or suggestions to my dilemma?

By the way, I would recommend NOT doing a bracket at a windy QTH, if you have 
other options, just because of the rumbling inside the house.

Thanks in advance and 73,

Ron  AD7L
Hillsboro, Oregon
ad7l@aol.com
 

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