[TowerTalk] Sinking ground rods

[bill wall]

Hi all;
We used a large electric impact hammer. Our soil is clay and granite. My
next door neighbor is the second largest quarry in Ga. I drove in 6 18'
copper glad/steel ground rods in about 2-1/2 hours. This was after hitting
my leg with a sledge hammer. The rental rate at that time was $38.50 per
day. This was real cheap, compared to the pain my leg. This knowledge was
from N4SE. Thanks Mac.
                            Bill Wall  KC4UZ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Finch" <paulfinch@msn.com>
To: "Tower Talk (E-mail)" <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, January 15, 2001 9:29 AM
Subject: FW: [TowerTalk] Sinking ground rods


>
> Hello,
>
> An electrician friend showed me a way to start ground rods and get them
> down to a level where you can get to them safely with a hammer or other
> device, at least if you have sand or clay soil.  This will not work if the
> ground has big rocks!  I have both sand as well as clay, about 12 inches
of
> sand on top of clay in Texas.
>
> I have used this method many times while putting in the ground system for
my
> 500 foot tower and the house I built, it works.
>
> Make a small hole where you want the rod to hold a small pool of water,
turn
> a little water on from a hose and run it into the hole, put the rod in the
> pool of water and start working it up and down, wear gloves.  Make sure
> water runs down into the hole as you work the rod up and down.  It takes
> about 5 minutes or so to get a 8 foot rod in my soil.  It is hard work but
> it is easier than trying to stand on a ladder with a sledge hammer or
heavy
> jack hammer.  When I used this method in the past I normally get the rod
> down to where there is only about 18 to 24 inches still out of the ground.
> I then use a 16 pound sledge hammer to get it the rest of the way.
>
> My friend tells me he has seen a large electrician friend of his put in 8
> foot ground rods in with only a coke bottle full of water.  Insert flames
> here, but try it, it works!
>
> Paul
> WB5IDM
>
>
>
>
>
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>


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