[TowerTalk] The tower base is poured BUT...

[Tim Makins, EI8IC]

Its quite normal for the average Joe, used to seeing 8-wheelers on the
tarmac, not to have any idea just how heavy these trucks are ! Watch the
wheels of one parked up on a verge one day, and you can actually see the
tires sink. Imagine what this will be like on your grass !! Hopefully, the
driver should have a better idea of what happens than you will. (Unless the
guy has been on the sauce, as happened to me!) The trucks here can pour the
concrete up to 27 feet away, using a kind of a conveyor belt. Best to check
with your tape meansure first, or plan the hole to be nearer the road !

73s Tim EI8IC
www.qsl.net/ei8ic/

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----- Original Message -----
From: "Jerry Keller" <k3bz at arrl.net>
To: <N8DCJ at yahoo.com>; <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2003 5:31 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] The tower base is poured BUT...


Dan... you are not alone... earlier this summer I had nearly the identical
situation happen here. The hole turned out much bigger, the concrete truck
sank in soft clay AND got stuck between two trees. The concrete truck driver
schlepped 8 cubic yards of concrete about 50 feet to the hole with a
wheelbarrow, all by himself... I couldn't even lift the handles!  That guy
really earned the extra $ I slipped him.  PLUS ... after a couple of hours
of trying...  he also got the truck unstuck and back on the road.  Bottom
line: It cost me double, but that tower base isn't going anywhere, ever.
I guess life is just one adventure after another, eh?    73,  Jerry K3BZ
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: dan bookwalter
  To: towertalk at contesting.com
  Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2003 10:14 AM
  Subject: [TowerTalk] The tower base is poured BUT...


  Hi Everyone

  well i got the hole for the TX472 dug yesterday , but,
  there was some confusion between me and the backhoe
  guy somehow... instead of a hole 5x5x6.5 i ended up
  with a really nice 5.5x7.5x7ft hole... it almost
  doubled my concrete bill... but that was just the
  begining of what was turning into a disaster... the
  concrete trucks showed up and promptly sunk to the
  frames in the yard... i expected some ruts but neither
  I nor the drivers thought the ground was that soft...
  now i had a real problem in that the backhoe was gone
  and i couldnt find another one... luckily my friend
  who was helping me owns a company with several
  backhoes etc... he made a phone call and had one of
  the backhoes rushed over to pull the trucks out and
  haul the concrete back to the hole... i was lucky that
  he was there, had it not been for that backhoe they
  were going to unload 11-12 yards of concrete into the
  yard in order to get the trucks out...

  but, in the end it all worked out and i have a tower
  base waiting for a tower and lots of yard work ahead
  of me... when i get the pix develped i'll figure out
  somewhere to post them so you all can have a good
  chuckle...

  Dan N8DCJ

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questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.

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