[TowerTalk] BAG CONCRETE QUESTION

Tue May 3 13:03:34 PDT 2011

I just mixed 11 bags of concrete for a small porch on my shop.  Even 
using a mixer it was a job I wouldn't care to repeat too often.  The 
mere thought of mixing 80 bags is much more than I'd ever attempt.  The 
60 pound bags are only 0.44 cubic feet in size so you'd need 60 bags for 
one cubic yard.  My crankup took 5 yards of concrete for the base.  I 
had a local concrete supply company bring the already mixed concrete to 
my house and pour it into the hole.  That way, I've got a known good mix 
and it's all the same consistency.

John Ammeter
KE7JA

On 5/3/2011 12:49 PM, Dale M. Schwartz wrote:
> Do rent a concrete mixing machine!  And be sure to buy more bags of concrete than you think you will need; you can always them the extras back for credit.  When I put up my crank-up tower last year, I miscalculated the number of bags of concrete I needed.  We bought 43 bags, and at 8:30 at night we realized the hole was only half full!  If we had let it dry overnight and finished the job in the a.m., we would have a non-bonded mess with one rock sitting on top of another!  We rushed to the store just as it was closing and got 40 more bags--just in time.   At 2 a.m. we finally finished--much to my neighbors' delight, as the concrete machine had a BIG SQUEAK in it<g>.  Do the right math.
>
> 					DALE   K4ROZ
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Tue, 3 May 2011 08:30:04 -0400
> From: Bill Coleman<aa4lr at arrl.net>
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Bag concrete question
> To: r miles<greenacres113 at charter.net>
> Cc: towertalk<towertalk at contesting.com>, antennas
> 	<antennas at mailman.qth.net>
> Message-ID:<E16C75E8-C30C-4F90-87B3-DA9DC3BC73BB at arrl.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
>
> 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
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Tue, 3 May 2011 08:35:22 -0400
> From: "Diane&  Edward Swynar"<deswynar at xplornet.ca>
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Bag concrete question
> To: "Bill Coleman"<aa4lr at arrl.net>,	"r miles"
> 	<greenacres113 at charter.net>
> Cc: towertalk<towertalk at contesting.com>, antennas
> 	<antennas at mailman.qth.net>
> Message-ID:<006801cc098e$939a7100$650aa8c0 at yourlk4rlmsu41>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hi K9IL,
>
> I don't know if your location experiences frost or not, but if the ground
> does, indeed, freeze-up where you are, bank on a hole depth of no less that
> 4.5-feet, on penalty of the whole affair "heaving" after the onset of just
> one winter...
>
> I've had two self-supporting steel towers installed in my lifetime---48-feet
> tall---and the prescribed hole-in-the ground for the concrete base is a
> 4-feet per side, 4.5-feet deep,&  with the bottom foot "belled" outward
> around the base.
>
> It took about 3, to 3.5 cubic yards of pre-mixed cemet to fill the hole.
>
> ~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ
>
>
> ****************************************************************************
> ********************
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bill Coleman"<aa4lr at arrl.net>
> To: "r miles"<greenacres113 at charter.net>
> Cc: "towertalk"<towertalk at contesting.com>; "antennas"
> <antennas at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2011 8:30 AM
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Bag concrete question
>
>
>> 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-foun
> dation.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
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>>
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