[TowerTalk] Bag concrete question

[Bill Coleman]

On Mar 28, 2011, at 6:53 PM, r miles wrote:

> 
> I just purchased a used HyTower & I'm getting ready to dig the hole. 
> I've poured a bit the concrete before. Either redi-mix or small bag 
> jobs. I have looked  several places at the 60 lb. homeowner type bags. 
> Those are OK  but my question is cubic volume. None of the 60 lb. bags 
> show cubic volume. I'm guessing it's 1 cubic foot of concrete in one of 
> those. Anyone know what the cubic value is?
> K9IL

If you have more than one cubic yard to pour, I would strongly suggest a ready-mix concrete service instead of trying to mix your own.

If you have less than a cubic yard, you might consider doing it yourself with bagged concrete. It really isn't that hard to work with, you just have to be able to lift the 60-90 lb bags. Don't hurt yourself.

If you are mixing more than 3-4 bags, I would STRONGLY recommend renting a small mixer at your local home construction store. Much less work than trying to mix a bag at a time in a wheelbarrow.

My Rohn 25 tower base took 28 bags of concrete. I wrote about it here on my blog:
http://boringhamradiopart.blogspot.com/2009/01/putting-up-tower-pouring-foundation.html

The picture quality isn't great, but you do see a picture of the small electric mixer I used, plus my technique for doing the pour. Pouring the base took about 2 hours of constant work.


Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Web: http://boringhamradiopart.blogspot.com
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
            -- Wilbur Wright, 1901