[TowerTalk] climbing AN-Wireless/Trylon type towers

[K7LXC at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/4/2006 9:01:52 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
towertalk-request at contesting.com writes:

>  I'm installing a new 80' tower this summer.  It's in a  location that can't
be accessed by a crane so I'm going to build it in  place like a giant
erector set.  (I'll post a link to photos  soon.)  I know some of you have
done this in the past and I'm curious  how hard it is to climb around on
these towers?  
 
    It's pretty easy. To climb up a Trylon, you  climb on the nose, or leg. 
Grab the leg with your hands and then use the  downward sloping diagonals as 
steps. They're just about perfectly spaced so  that you can climb them just like 
a ladder. They don't need step bolts. I've  never climbed an AN tower but 
imagine it's similar. 
 
    As far as moving around the tower, just move  across the diagonals while 
being hooked in with your fall arrest lanyard.  

There is no ginpole available for the Trylon  but I just use a hefty 12' 
piece of aluminum tubing and just lash it to the  leg. You need to hook the bottom 
to a diagonal to keep it from sliding down as  you use it. Double-block your 
haul rope and it'll be able to handle those  assembled heavy sections quite 
well. If you're going to do it like a big  Erector Set (one-piece-at-a-time), 
you just need a pulley at the top to pull  stuff up with. You'll probably need 2 
guys on the tower to set the legs. I've  done 56 feet plus a day with this 
method. 
 
Cheers,
Steve     K7LXC
TOWER TECH -
Professional tower services for hams
Cell: 206-890-4188