[TowerTalk] antenna height vs hassle

Mon Aug 23 11:58:09 EDT 2004

I rented a small back hoe with an operator for a day. He dug three guy 
anchor holes and carried concrete.  Total cost $350 for the day.

We did have to reseed part of the back and north yards.  I think we almost 
lost the ready mix truck on the north side.  It took two truck loads of dirt 
and a scraper on the other end of the tractor hauling the back hoe.

BTW, we rigged a long pole to the front bucket and he used that to cary the 
16' X 5" steel pipe to the holes once the forms were in. Each of those were 
over 300#

Roger Halstead (K8RI, EN73 & ARRL Life Member)
N833R, World's Oldest Debonair (S# CD-2)
www.rogerhalstead.com
> Wow.... after reading all this about the cost of
> pumpers and backhoes etc... i have determined i need
> to move.... when i had the hole for my tower base dug
> which took the guy less than 20 mins it was $400.00...
> when i checked on the price of a pumper truck it was
> $900 just to show up , then there were additional
> charges for the extra hose he was going to have to
> use.
>
> Dan N8DCJ
> --- Robert Shohet <kq2m at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> Is it a matter of not being able to get the concrete
>> truck close to
>> the hole, or you can't get anything near the hole?
>>
>> At my qth there was no way to get a concrete truck
>> closer than 150'
>> from my 130' tower base.
>>
>> So I paid the guy with the backhoe to be at the
>> concrete pour.
>> We had the concrete truck pour (through the chute)
>> the concrete
>> into the backhoe shovel, about 1 cubic yard at a
>> time, and the
>> backhoe carried the concrete on my rock ledge over
>> VERY uneven
>> ground to the tower bases.
>>
>> It went surprisingly fast and very well with
>> virtually no
>> concrete spillage.
>>
>> I used a large backhoe.  You can also rent a small
>> backhoe
>> with a small shovel and bulldozer plow and the small
>> ones
>> can fit almost anywhere and navigate highly uneven
>> ground
>> and rock ledge very easily.
>>
>> The project should take less than 1 hour - I had the
>> large
>> backhoe fill two tower bases, and six guy anchors
>> with
>> 20 cu yds of concrete in about 1 hour!  Both tower
>> bases and
>> 4 of the guy anchors were complete inaccessible to
>> the
>> concrete truck.
>>
>> If you saw my QTH and where the tower bases and guy
>> anchors are in the
>> deep woods on rockledge, you would marvel at how it
>> was possible.
>>
>> For the $200 I spent on the backhoe and operator, it
>> was amazingly
>> well worth it.
>>
>> 73
>> Bob KQ2M
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Bill Coleman" <aa4lr at arrl.net>
>> To: <KI9A at aol.com>
>> Cc: <towertalk at contesting.com>;
>> <smc at w9smc.contesting.com>
>> Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2004 7:00 PM
>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] antenna height vs hassle
>>
>>
>> >
>> > On Aug 15, 2004, at 6:27 PM, KI9A at aol.com wrote:
>> >
>> > > I live on a small lot, can't really have
>> > > a guyed tower. I now have a roof tower with my 2
>> meter yagi at about
>> > > 27', the
>> > > A3 tribander at 30' & a 6 meter yagi at 33'.
>> >
>> > I had a similar situation at my old QTH - A3S at
>> 35 feet, 2m boomer at
>> > 43 feet.
>> >
>> > > In order to put this 40' tower up, I would have
>> to hire out the hole
>> > > (5'x5'x5'), then hand carry all of the concrete
>> approx  120-150'
>> > > across the grass, on
>> > > an uneven area (ugh).  No way to get the truck
>> any closer.
>> >
>> > Here's some alternatives. First, you don't
>> necessarily have to use a
>> > ready-mix truck. You could consider mixing the
>> concrete yourself. If
>> > you did this, you could rent a small mixer, and do
>> two bags at a time.
>> > (Note that it would take in excess of 100 bags, so
>> I wouldn't recommend
>> > this)
>> >
>> > Second, you can rent a powered wheelbarrow to
>> carry the concrete from
>> > the curb to the hole. either that, or get about
>> four good friends with
>> > wheelbarrows to shuttle the concrete across the
>> yard.
>> >
>> > Third, if the hole is downhill from the road, you
>> can rig up a trough
>> > to the hole. Failing that, you can rent a pump
>> truck to move the
>> > concrete uphill.
>> >
>> > > Bottom line is this...is the cost & hassle of
>> this worth the potential
>> > > gain?
>> > > If the tower was 60-80', I'd say of course, but,
>> going from 30' to
>> > > 45', I
>> > > dunno if there would be much improvement to be
>> worth it. I'm beginning
>> > > to think
>> > > not.
>> >
>> > At my old QTH, I have the A3S at 35 feet. Today it
>> is on a tower next
>> > to the house at just under 50 feet. It certainly
>> behaves differently,
>> > especially on 20m. Further, I have much less RFI
>> in the house.
>> >
>> > 125 cubic feet of concrete seems like a huge
>> hassle, but I've gotten
>> > much more enjoyment out of my station since I have
>> a (modestly)
>> > improved station.
>> >
>> > Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail:
>> aa4lr at arrl.net
>> > Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever
>> fly!"
>> >              -- Wilbur Wright, 1901
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> >
>> > See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self
>> Supporting Towers", "Wireless
>> Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free,
>> 1-800-333-9041 with any
>> questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
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>> > TowerTalk at contesting.com
>> >
>>
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>> >
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>> See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting
>> Towers", "Wireless Weather Stations", and lot's
>> more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
>> questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>>
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>>
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>
>
>
>
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>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless 
> Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with 
> any questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
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