[TowerTalk] [RE: Ordered a HDX555 Oct. 3 from Texas Towers. It will be here tomorrow morning.....!!!!!!!]

[Jim McDonald]

Roger,

Be VERY careful lifting a crank-up tower with a fork lift.  It's easy to
bend the cross bracing to the point of damaging it or at least making
the tower bind when raised and lowered.  A tow truck or crane is much
better.

Not being popular enough to have 18 friends, I had a tower dolly built
several years ago by a local trailer company.  As I recall (I'm not home
as I write this), it's about 40" square and has a shortened car axle,
leaf springs, and two car wheels/tires.  It's especially easy to push a
1500# tower around on level ground my myself, though the springs flatten
out pretty much with my 2500#+ HDX-589 and 20' mast.

I have the invoice, but think it cost $400-600 or so to have it
professionally made.  I thought I'd rent it out to friends to reduce my
"investment" but that was just a rationalization, as I have instead
loaned it for free, of course.

I had a 2"" mast" with a ball-hitch coupling welded to it made that can
be attached to the dolly (if no tower on it) or to a lightweight tower
if one is brave/foolish enough to pull it behind a pickup truck.

It's worked quite well to move the tower from house to house as I've
relocated over the last several years.  I lower the tower onto it, and
have a crane pick it and the tower up with two nylon slings.  It goes
into and out of the covered moving van amazingly well.  (I'll leave the
details and visualization to your imagination.)

If anyone is serious about making such a thing I can take digital
pictures.

Jim N7US

  -------- Original Message --------

 
 That was quick. Mine (same model, just under a year ago) took about 10 
 weeks. I wonder if somebody canceled an order.
 
 BTW, I used a tow truck to get the tower off the truck, but it bogged 
 down in the yard when I wanted to get it around to the tower base. We 
 ended up leaving the tower alongside the driveway, then I got a bunch
of 
 friends (18 of us altogether) to carry it around to the tower base
using 
 2x4s passed through the tower -- looked like a centipede.
 
 Enjoy.
 
 73
 
 Alan NV8A
 
 
 On 11/14/07 01:06 pm res1q6fs wrote:
 
 > We have had clear and no rain weather here in North Texas for more
than a month. So far, I have been fortunate to be able to dig the hole,
order the rebar and get it bent, get hole with rebar cage inspected,
pour the concrete the next day (9 yards...Yea, I know, we dug the hole
too big. But, it only hurt the pocketbook!) and have it curing in
anticipation of an early delivery in December (Dec. 12 was the initial
delivery date). 
 > 
 > Well to my surprise, UST called yesterday and said the tower was
complete and they would schedule a trucker to pick it up. To my
surprise, the trucker called me a few hours ago and said he would be at
my house between 8 AM and 12 noon tomorrow!. Boy, I had to get on the
cell phone fast and get my son to go rent a fork lift to have it here
this evening. The concrete will not be cured until early December, so
things are really moving. I would never had guessed when I strolled into
Texas Towers a little over a month ago and placed the order that I could
have the tower delivered in about 6 weeks. 
 > 
 > I even got fortunate last weekend and picked up a used CL-33, a Ham
IV rotator, two lengths of coax and the rotator cable. Found this on the
qth.com classified website and although the ham lived 200 miles south of
here, he just happened to be coming up here with a trailer. I met him
south of here and picked the goodies up.
 > 
 > So, should be back on HF after a 25 year span of being QRT!