[TowerTalk] Homebrew towers and liability

[K3BU@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/15/2000 8:31:28 AM Eastern Standard Time, K0FF@ARRL.NET 
writes:

> Even Bill did a few things that he would have done
>  differently
>  had he thought about it, especially in the bearing. The whole pole sat on a
>  railroad wheel
>  bearing down in a deep hole
>  and was inaccessible. Water getting into the hole floated the oil, and
>  caused some problems.
>  

Telrex had solution for this, there was a 1/2 pipe going from above the 
sprocket, through the tower pipe, sticking out at the bottom and this allowed 
to suck out water if it accumulated on the bottom of the foundation tube. 
Also the whole tower sat on a single 1 3/4" steel ball, which would have 
minimized any problems with freezing. 
I was leery to rely just on that one ball, and used railroad car bearing with 
some small spacing, which would have taken the load in case ball was worn out 
or crunched. Never had any problems. That thing is the most beautiful and 
safest tower one can dream of. No guy wires, the whole thing rotates and no 
danger from sloppy welds. If the weld would fail the tower would just 
telescope into itself. It would sooner bend or break. Quite easy to calculate 
the design, no iffy welds and braces, and....
I ought to write the story of getting and putting up my Bertha on a 46x120 ft 
city lot in Toronto's suburb. It was quite an adventure.

Yuri, K3BU, VE3BMV

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