[TowerTalk] cutting galvanized tower legs

[Jim Thomson]

Date: Sat, 31 Jul 2010 17:01:04 -0700
From: Dan H <n5ar at air-pipe.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] cutting galvanized tower legs

On 7/31/2010 4:40 PM, Gary Slagel wrote:
> Hi guys,
>   
> My triex w51 crankup folded over in a windstorm the other day.  I'm going to have to do some cutting on it to get it all the way down and apart.  
>   
> What is the best way to cut this stuff?  Is there a metal cutting blade I can put in a circular say?  Some kind of metal cutting disk I can use with my handheld disk grinder/sander? 
>   
> Thanks for advice. 
>
> Gary Slagel/N0SXX
> Hot Springs, SD
> http://marina.fortunecity.com/sanpedro/351
>

##  I just went through this, trying to cut down an old steel clothes line pole.   The 4"/5" cut off wheels will fit an angle grinder... but were not deep enough to cut the  1/2"  bolts.
[Previous owner had used 1/2"  bolts  to bolt 2" angle steel to the sides of 4" OD pipe... and the entire mess had rusted.]   

## The 7 1/4"  cut off wheels  will fit a  circular saw.. but the motor was in the way of the job.   Ended up buying a new Milwaukee brand sawzal.   This thing is built like a tank.
You can also rotate the front/back end in 45 deg increments... so you can do cool stuff.... like cut sideways... without having to turn the unit 90 degs..and trashing ur wrist. 

## The cut off wheels work... BUT... they will NOT flex.  Once 1/2 way through some material... you don't want to shift the machine a little bit side to side... or the 3/32"  thick 
abrasive wheel   will literally  shatter and explode in your face.   The bigger the diam of the cut of wheel... the more likely the case it can shatter.    I see you can get cut of wheels up to 16"
diam... but the 10-16" variety are usually used in chop saws.. so can't shift about.  All the cut off wheels I saw  from 4"-16" were all 3/32"  thick.    I have seen two wheels break in the last 
15 years.. and it's a real mess.   You want to be wearing a full face shield when using a  4/5"  or  7  1/4" cut off wheel.  

##  although a sawzal  with a 8-14 teeth per inch bladeS will work on tower legs... if you have to do a LOT of cuts.... an acetylene torch would make shorter work of the project. 
If the tower legs  pinch the sawzal blades.. that's no good either. 

## OK.... WHY did the triex  W-51 fold over ??   Was it overloaded ?   What's it rated for?   Did you have a lot of mast out the top ?    Where on the tower did it fold ? 

Later........ Jim  VE7RF