[TowerTalk] Bolts - Another Favorite Topic

[Bob Kellow]

Gary:
Looks to me like those "special" bolts have a nice "serated" shoulder to
make a press fit into the steel tower legs so that there is minimal movement
available between the two sections. Good design. The other side of the joint
would bear (if at all) on the threaded part. Not so good. 
I would recommend you get SS bolts of the same diameter as the tower leg
hole (as tight a fit as you can get  even if you have to tap it lightly to
get it home), with the correct shank length to place the bearing surface
against the shank on both sides of the leg. The heads should be marked
"F593C" for the maximum strength SS bolt. These are available from the
better hardware stores or on-line hardware companies. You can then use nylon
insert nuts (and flat washers if needed to make sure the shank remians
correctly spaced) to hold the bolt securely in place. This would make a
joint that is stronger than the original, IMO. 
Of course if you do not plan to place a significant load on the tower, that
may be over kill.

Good luck es 73s

Bob, W5LT

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Gary "Joe" Mayfield [mailto:gary_mayfield at hotmail.com] 
Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2005 9:58 AM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Bolts - Another Favorite Topic

The mystery tower( http://wat.midco.net/kk0sd/tower/tower.htm )is down.
Most of it is in very good shape, but I probably wound up breaking 30% of
the bolts.  These bolts are shown near the bottom of the page.  I don't
think I can find carriage bolts like the ones I removed, and I don't think I
want to anyway as several spun in place and had to be cut off (lots of
work).

A trip to the hardware store yielded several possibilities, so I thought I
would check the wisdom of the group.

Grade 5 very shiny chromed steel
Grade 8 very shiny chromed steel
Grade 5 black
Grade 5 gold
Grade 5 dull gray (carbon steel?)
Grade 5 stainless steel

I didn't see any galvanized bolts near the size I need.  I assume I want the
stainless bolts and nuts, am I right?

Also with all the paranoia in the tower business, why aren't lock washers
used just to be sure nothing will come loose?

Thanks and 73,
Joe
kk0sd