[TowerTalk] Re-orienting a crank-up tower

[Steve Maki]

On 12/10/2013 2:53 PM, Kelly Johnson wrote:

> We are planning to remodel our home.  After the remodel, my crankup tower
> will no longer be capable of tilting over.  I have never tilted the tower
> over since installing it and have no plans to do so until the tower is
> removed.  I am concerned, however, that it will be difficult to remove the
> tower in the future if it is no longer capable of being tilted over.  I
> think the only option would be a really large crane or helicopter.  I see
> several options:
> 1) Leave the tower as is and worry about removal when the time comes
> 2) Move the tower to a new location
> 3) Figure out a way to re-build the foundation/base in the existing tower
> location and re-orient the tower so it tilts in a different direction.
>
> I know how to do #1 or #2, but neither is particularly appealing.  Any
> ideas on how practical/feasible it would be to do #3?
>
> FYI - The tower is a Tashjian Towers LM-354HDSP (ie. very heavy!)

The easy way to do #3 is to install new epoxied anchor bolts, pick up 
the tower with a crane and plop it down on the new bolts.

But that would beg the question: why not wait until you're ready to move 
and THEN hire the crane?

BTW, if your tower is say, within 130' of the road, a large enough crane 
can park on the road and easily reach over the house, grab that thing 
and drop it on a waiting trailer in a half hour. You might have to pay 
$700-$1000, but there will be no yard damage. Of course this always 
depends on factors like where the power lines are, etc.

-Steve K8LX