[TowerTalk] They're pumpin out the hole.

[Roger (K8RI) on TT]

Amazingly fast, but you should have seen them with the wheelbarrows 
today! It was about a 150' run from the truck in the driveway to the 
hole on the N side near the back of the shop.  Yes I did say "run".  
They were running with wheelbarrows about 3/4 full of cement.  Couple of 
times, they and the wheelbarrows nearly went in the hole with the 
concrete.  I shot a lot of pictures, but missed the one of two guys (one 
on each arm) pulling a third back up.  <LOL>  Fortunately the framework 
and top form kept him from going in.  There was a big enough gap on the 
E side where even a guy his size could have easily slid in.

I didn't keep track of how long it took, but when I checked, expecting 
to find the hole about half full, I was surprised to find they were just 
below the bottom of the top form.

With all the set backs and hold ups due to snow, wet ground, waiting for 
the ground to freeze, and when it did freeze it was with a long stretch 
of way below normal, sub zero temps that brought a rash of frozen pipes 
and damage to home that took priority.  Then things abruptly turned to 
warm and rain, so the snow was gon as well as the frost while they were 
still replacing pipes, walls, and floors.

That's when the decision was made to dig and pour by hand.  I settled 
for getting it poured rather than a nice finished piece of concrete.  I 
really wanted it behind the shop, but with all the water from that tile, 
and the ground quickly turns from clay to peat back there.  The one guy 
anchor for the 45G is about 50 ft W of that first hole.  When we dug the 
hole for the anchor, we came back the next morning to find a hole a good 
10 ft across and about a ft deep, so somewhere between the hole full of 
water and that guy anchor there is quite a change in the soil composition.

I don't know if the previous tower owner ever managed to get an antenna 
on it, but the contractor who brought the tower over said the base was 
only about 3' deep.  This is not a windy area, but 70 MPH gusts are not 
uncommon, so I have my doubts.   A tower that size and cost and he 
skimped on the base?

73

Roger  (K8RI).



On 4/3/2015 2:53 PM, Wes Attaway (N5WA) wrote:
> On 2015-04-03 10:10, Roger (K8RI) on TT wrote:
>> Finally!
>>
>> The contractor didn't get the tower base in while the ground was still
>> frozen, but Saturday they came out and dug the 4 X 4 X 7' hole by
>> hand.  It only took about 10 minutes..for the second hole.  At 4 to 5'
>> they hit a field tile running through my backyard.  What's a field
>> tile doing there?  It had a pretty gooh head too.   A 4" stream
>> shooting 18 to 24" straight up.
>>
>> Then weather stopped them after digging the second hole, which is good
>> as they set the base backwards.  Today they are pumping out the hole,
>> digging out the dirt that had fallen in and rotating the base 180
>> degrees.  Now to get the concrete poured.  It'll take about an extra
>> yard, but the extra is good.
>>
>> Truck is on the way!
>> -- 
>> 73
>>
>> Roger (K8RI)
>>
>>
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>
> Roger .... do you mean that those guys dug a 4'x4'x7' hole by hand in 
> about 10-minutes?  That seems pretty fast, to me.


-- 

73

Roger (K8RI)


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