[TowerTalk] short survey

[Donald Chester]

I still climb at age 72. Upcoming project is to replace the upper sets of guys on my 127' Rohn 25. I ordered the stuff a few weeks ago and it should arrive any day now. Upper level guys are getting rusty and pitted and I want to replace them while I am still physically able. Surprisingly, the lower level guys show little rust and I don't plan to replace the bottom set. The second to bottom set are almost as good, so I'll see if I am still up to doing them after completing the top two sets. I suspect the steeper angle of the upper guys causes rainwater to  run down the cable, while the angle at the lower levels allows the water to drip off, causing the lower guys to have less exposure to the caustic crud in to-day's rain water.

I threw away the Korean War era leather Signal Corps climbing belt I originally used to erect the tower single-handedly in 1981 and purchased a good quality full body harness, a couple of positioning lanyards and a fall protection lanyard. I'm not afraid of heights as long as I think the structure is secure; you are just as dead falling from 25' or 30' as you are from falling from 130'. 

I'll probably go at it more slowly than I did 33 years ago, but am in pretty good health and physical shape. Splitting and stacking firewood for the past few years hasn't hurt; did 3 cords this spring. I had a hip replacement 4 1/2 years ago, but now have to remind myself that I had it done.

Hiring out the job would bring its own concerns. A professional tower crew would undoubtedly be cost-prohibitive; I have heard of small broadcast stations paying into 5 digits to re-guy a tower not much larger than mine. Local yokel Hammy Hambones might be willing, but could they be trusted do everything right? Then there is the liability issue if someone got killed or hurt. My experience is that unless you are willing to pay a top-of-the-line professional, if you want it done right you have to do it yourself. Even trusted professionals sometime take short-cuts or fail to do their expected quality of work.

The greatest problem I find with climbing Rohn 25 is acquiring a good pair of steel-shank work boots with soles narrow enough for both feet to fit comfortably on the same tower rung. I don't recall having that problem when I originally put up the tower, but my old boots finally wore out a few years ago. Maybe the soles of those boots (made in USA) weren't as wide as the made-in-China ones sold to-day, or perhaps I put each foot on the next higher rung with each step, but now I climb one rung at a time ending up with both feet on the same rung. I found a steel reinforced inner sole replacement that I think will work with a pair of boots I have that will fit on the tower rungs, but which doesn't have a steel shank. I am in agony after just a few minutes of standing on a tower rung, if the soles don't have some kind of reinforcement.


Don k4kyv