[TowerTalk] Tower takedown

[N6FD]

Here in California you have a bit more leeway for loads on your 
vehicle.  The overhang allowed in the rear is 2/3rds of the wheelbase.  
On my truck that is about 10 feet.  This provision was mainly for 
logging trucks and agricultural trucks carrying irrigation pipe, but 
comes in real handy when I go out for QRP portable operations.  Of 
course it needs a red flag during the day and a red light at night on 
the rear most projection.   See 
http://n6fd.home.mchsi.com/Sep2002VHF.html for further details.

Erich N6FD
DM15dp

[California Vehicle Code:  Projections to the Rear 35410.  The load upon 
any motor vehicle alone or an independent load only upon a trailer or 
semitrailer shall not extend to the rear beyond the last point of 
support for a greater distance than that equal to two-thirds of the 
length of the wheelbase of the vehicle carrying such load, except that 
the wheelbase of a semitrailer shall be considered as the distance 
between the rearmost axle of the towing vehicle and the rearmost axle of 
the semitrailer.
]

Floyd Rodgers wrote:
> In most areas, only 3-4 feet are allowed to hang over the rear/front bumper or the locals start revenue distributon (tickets). Unless you have a rack on the truck that extends beyond the cab, you'll not be able to hang it out the back 11+ feet. What you would be better off doing is taking a look for the falling derrick procedure which has been metioned here in the archives to lower the tower. I would generally recommend only using the truck as an anchor point and doing the lowering work with a come-a-long from as high up the tower as practical assuming it has a tilt base. I would caution against using a manlift as a crane because it was not designed for that purpose. You might be able to swing it with a skilled operator and a number of contruction machines like a backhoe/track hoe or rough terrain forklift. Not knowing your skillset in contruction engineering, if it feels questionable at all, simply let a professional handle the takedown, the risks are
>  just not worth it. Having taken down a FREE tower myself, which ended up costing nearly the full new cost, I will carefully consider the freebies before leaving the driveway. Any perceived posibility of an accident make it an instant "pass" for me.
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