[TowerTalk] Raising and Lowering a Universal Tower

[jtuel at everestkc.net]

Hello all, 

I have a 40ft Universal tower that I have been tilting up and tilting down with a rope that I throw over my house and tie to my truck hitch.  I tie the other end around the three legs of the tower at about the 20 ft. mark.   This works very well except for the damage to the shingles on the peak of my house.  

To solve this problem, I was thinking of buying a winch and attaching the winch to the house at about the 15 ft mark.  I would have access to the wall behind that and could do any reinforcing that is needed.  I spoke with the people at Universal and they said that pulling the tower up this way would be fine.  

Has anyone ever done anything like this?  I can buy a 2000 pound electric winch at harbor fright for $50.  

Pros, cons, suggestions? 

Thanks in advance, 
Josh - KB0GUS