[TowerTalk] Fiberglass Rod - Current Situation

[Stan Stockton]

I was in the mood to purchase fiberglass rod to guy my towers and may still do it - not sure.  In case anyone is wanting to purchase this stuff, I have some good information about the current situation for 3/8" material:

About three and a half years ago a group made a purchase from Polygon Company (5000 foot minimum) and the price was $.38 per foot.  There may have been other orders since - don't know.  

I got a quote from Polygon a few weeks ago and they raised their price to something like $.65 per foot.  They had always provided it in hand rolled coils that were something like 6-8 foot in diameter.  

Meanwhile I found two other companies who quoted it.  One was $.45 per foot but would not roll it up and did not have the ability to put it on reels.  They would only provide it in 20 foot lengths, so forget that.  

The other company will only provide it on reels (better for shipping) and the price is $.29 per foot for 5.000 - 10,000 feet.  The charge is $100.00 for each reel so if you wanted to buy 5000 feet and have two reels of 2500 feet their price is $.29 per foot plus $200.00.

If I did everything I wanted to do I would need about 6,000 feet but for now would probably go for buying about 2500 feet and and finish the job later if one or more wanted to place an order with me.  It might be good for the future availability of this material at a reasonable price to get this company "in the groove". 

Specs are 3/8" , 100-120K PSI tensile strength, approximate breaking strength at 11,000 lbs plus, UV inhibitors, white color.  Let me know off the reflector if you are interested.  We could get the sales guy I have been talking to on the phone and work out the details.    The company is Tencom and they are located in Holland, OH near Toledo.

The grips apparently are sold direct from PLP and their minimum is $500.  I think it was about a year ago when I last checked and the price was about $9.00 for the one made for 3/8" fiberglass rod.  

Stan, K5GO