[TowerTalk] Pier pin vs. burying in concrete

[Brad Rehm]

> Hi folks,
> I've seen quite a few installations being planned here starting
> out with the botton section of tower sunk in concrete.  What I'm
> curious about is why a pier pin isn't used?  On all my
> towers I use one instead of the hassle of burying part of a section in
> concrete.  As I understand it, it is virtually impossible to get the sunk
> section perfectly vertical, resulting in additional stress in the legs
> when the complete tower is plumbed.  Also, it's cheaper.
> Comments?
> 73,
> Chuck...K1KW


Agreed.  It's cheaper, and it makes it much easier to plumb the tower.  I've
done three installations this way.  My only concern has been to get the
surface of the concrete base as nearly level as possible, and this isn't too
difficult if you plan for it when you set up the form.

The really neat thing about the pier pin approach is that wherever you
locate the guys, the tower will rotate around the pin to equalize tension on
the guys.  When you bury the base section, the tower is never able to do
this, and if you don't locate the guy anchors precisely, guy loading is
never equalized.

Brad Rehm, KV5V
Jarrell, Texas



List Sponsor: Are you thinking about installing a tower this summer? Call us
for information on our fabulous Trylon Titan self-supporting towers - up to
96-feet for less than $2000! at 888-833-3104 <A HREF="http://www.ChampionRadio.com">
www.ChampionRadio.com</A>

-----
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/FAQ/towertalk
Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com