[TowerTalk] raising Rohn 20

[Greenacres113@aol.com]

two of my 4 towers holding wire arrays were pushed up by hand.  they have 
hinged bases. 30' of tower with 10' of mast on top. they are Rohn. the  25 is  
about 10-15% heavier than 20. i was fortunate to have good sized  trees within 
the length of heavy rope i have. i always  loop the rope[ near  the tower top] 
and  wrap it around a tree or my pick up trucks frame  hitch. usually my son 
in law & me  walk  the tower up with a 3rd  person keeping the rope taught. 
i've never had one slip but the rope is a  safety. you never know when a person 
walking the tower up could slip down,  stumble or be attacked by a bee. that 
leaves only 1 person holding  everything!
i once pushed up 40' of 25 with a tribander, rotor and vhf  antennas. but i  
had 5 guys pushing it up. there is strength in  numbers.  i would never tie to 
a chimmeny. can't trust your life to old  bricks. if you have to  put a rope 
over a roof peak to something solid on  the other side you won't damage the 
shingles  unless the tower is lost and  the safety rope holds. what's more 
important, a shingle or two or everyones  safety. you can also build an X or H 
frame out of 2x4s and have someone stand  next to the tower a work it up as the 
tower goes up. i once saw a Rohn 45  tiltover arm bend and drive  the boom of a 
TH6 6'' into the ground but no  one was hurt. you can't undo poor planning 
accidents
 
k9il