[TowerTalk] Free climbing a 1700' tower

Sun Sep 19 18:16:59 PDT 2010

Jim

re: para 3

A fall arrest cable or rail prevents the climber from falling about "zero" inches.. actual distance depends on how tight your harness is on...

I used to be a paratrooper so my harness is pretty tight...if you understand the term "straight leg" referring to a non Airborne soldier you will know what I mean ...

The steel cable or rail is fitted with a slider that moves up freely but provides a postive dead stop brake in the event of sudden downward movement....

Please check either the Saliwa or Trylon sites for a complete description of these devices...foolproof and safe....

I install these on all of the commercial towers I build (mandatory by law in Canada)...

As for Ham type tin towers ( Delhi, Trylon Titan and Rohn Bx) they can be installed but the towers do not provide a 5000 lb anchor point as per the device ratings less the point at which the splice bolts attach to the concrete footing....

In other words the tower will break before the fall arrest system does... kind of like the diode blowing to protect the fuse...

All said .. fall arrest cables and rails are the industry standard here... I use them every day...

Lastly..I usually check the slider and cable at about the 3 foot level prior to a climb.. a simulated fall...simply let the slider take my weight and then tell my ground guy I'll be back !!!

Doug

VE6PR

>------- Original Message Follows -------
>From: "Jim Thomson" <jim.thom at telus.net>
>To: <towertalk at contesting.com>
>Subject: [TowerTalk] Free climbing a 1700' tower
>Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2010 05:08:25 -0700
>
>Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 13:18:22 -0500
>From: "Ronnie Carter" <towerbob at hotmail.com>
>Subject: [TowerTalk] Free climbing a 1700' tower
>
>I always free climb, then snap the belt when I get where I'm going.  Been doing it for 20 years or more.  There's just one rule -- hold on tight.  But I'm 54 now, and suspect that in a few years I might start hooking up all the way.
>
>##  I have been doing the exact same thing since 1972.... climb up...then hook on.    All the tower's  I have had, are too wide to put a lanyard around  [ 30" face width towers, straight sections] .   The folks here in town, that had guyed 
> rohn 25/45  all put the lanyard right around the tower... then un hooked, and re-hooked at each guy station.  [ one lanyard used]    That always seemed silly to me, since if u fell, you would slide all the way down the side of the tower anyway.
>
>## I mention before, a month ago, about using the 3/8"  steel  safety cable, fall arrest system used on all commercial towers... and the consensus was/is... if you fall, you will fall as much as 6'  before it grabs.   At which point, you will get one of the 5/8" x 10"  long step pegs in your eyes  [ an wireless/ trylon super titan free standing towers]     On a guyed  25/45/55 tower, the 3/8"  safety cable would work... provided you had no tic-ring rotors, or swinging gates.  The safety cable will also not work on  a rotating tower. 
>
>## Then someone mentioned  using TWO lanyards.... both with gorilla hooks on the ends....and alternately  clipping and un-clipping the 2 x hooks as you climb up/down.   I have not tried this..yet, but it's probably a good idea, although awkward, and time consuming.  At least if you fell, you won't fall very far.     On the 30" tower I had.. I just free climbed up the IN-side of it, the entire length.   The yagi's  were all fixed on EU, so no rotor plates/masts, etc.  It just feels a lot safer going up the inside of a tower, than the outside.    On my 40' trylon, I could climb the inside of it too. 
>
>## back in  1977,  I had mast steps welded to the 2"  mast on a 60' tower....so free climbed the 60' tower.. then free climbed the 11'  mast. ... then  wrapped the lanyard around the mast a few times, to take up the slack. [ no easy trick, as your body is in the way, and u have to wrap it several times].   I said I would never use mast steps again.   On this new crank up, there will be mast steps clamped to the 2"  chromolly mast [3/8" thick wall tubing].   At least with the tower nested, tower is only 24' tall, then 14' of mast above it.   IMO, too much hassle trying to remove a prop pitch  from a crank up, then lowering a mast, installing yagi's, then raising again, then re-installing the PP.    I have 2 x lanyards, one with gorilla hooks.   I should make a custom 3rd lanyard... really short, like  12"- 15" long  for the mast.. once up there.  
>
>##  doing this stuff when you are 20 yrs old is one thing.   Climbing in your 50's  is another.  I'd agree with K7LXC.... you have any kind of med emergency, get stung, get caught in a rain storm, or a sudden wind storm comes up, or smash your fingers, knees, cut yourself, and you can be in serious  potential trbl....real fast.     Meanwhile the wife is doing laundry, or out shopping...... and warns you to   'be safe up there'.  Perhaps a cell phone would be the ticket..then at least you could call 911. 
>
>later... Jim, VE7RF 
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