[TowerTalk] Lateral load bearings

[john at kk9a.com]

At P40A I used Create CK-46 bearings on both of my towers and they
held up great in the corrosive environment. 

John KK9A 

To:
<towertalk at contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] Lateral load
bearings
From: "Rick Kiessig" <kiessig at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2012
11:43:27 +1200

I'm looking for a lateral load bearing to use with the
upper support
plate
for the mast on my tower.

Array Solutions carries
one that's intended to work with a 2" mast (2
1/16"
opening), though
it's not designed for outdoor use (they suggest
painting it
before
deploying). My QTH is near the ocean, so that's a concern.

The brackets
on the antenna can be configured to support either a 50mm
or
possibly
60mm mast. The readily available piping in ZL in this size
range
is
generally 48.3mm outside diameter (I'm looking for 50mm material,
but
it's
hard to find/custom); mostly steel, though aluminum seems to
be
available
too. The antenna is 29 kg, with a 0.67 sq m wind
load.

Since the bearing will be used to support lateral loads, and not
as a
thrust
bearing, how much slop is reasonable between the outside of
the mast and
the
inside of the bearing?

Are there other commercially
available alternatives for bearings like
this?

Also, for a relatively
light weight antenna like this, what sort of wall
thickness should I use
for the mast?

73, Rick ZL2HAM