[TowerTalk] Erecting tower sections solo

Sat Dec 5 11:23:08 EST 2015

Tower work is dangerous!

When I was in my 30s, I had already been licensed over 10 years (since 
April or May of 61)  In those days I had never heard of a full body 
harness. My Klein, free floating climbing belt with the pole strap was 
considered the top end of climbing gear.  I also used a double strap to 
stay hooked up, although I didn't have one early on.

When using volunteer help, you start out deciding a game plan, who will 
do what,  and who is the one boss (Hopefully you, or the most 
knowledgeable worker in the case of new hams) volunteers who can't live 
with that plan should go home, serve as gofers, or shut up and watch 
without interfering with the workers.  Usually it's a good idea to 
attend a few antenna parties and get to know the hams working.  Knowing 
who makes a good team worker ahead of time makes selecting helpers a lot 
easier, things go more smoothly, and usually prevents hurt feelings.

I've been lucky in there are a lot of knowledgeable hams in the area to 
serve as helpers.  Now days, I find it difficult to just sit back and 
watch.  It's even difficult to have everything ready.  With one working 
hand and a cane it's difficult to even act as a gofer.

BTW I attached the temporary guys before a section went up.

Usually I only had one or two helpers which were plenty with only me on the 45G.

When working on others towers being the climber and well known, helpers normally deferred to me. Owners let us know ahead of time what they wanted so I and the crew knew what was expected.
Solo work is not recommended, particularly as a first project, but we've all had a "first time"

My first time (at climbing) was as a teenager helping as a lineman on an old, rural telephone line. You see those telephones in museums now days.  Some of those old poles were held up by the lines instead of holding the lines up.  Those lines were generally a pair of #10 steel wires that were strong enough to serve as guys.

Safety procedures were something we read about and then incorporated them.  The climbing belt made my Kline look like a Cadillac. <:-)

73

Roger  (K8RI)

>
> At age 38 I erected up my 127' base-insulated Rohn 25G tower solo, except for the first section where I needed a couple of people to help hold it vertical while I attached temporary guys to the anchors.  After that, I decided it was safer to do it alone, because the local Hammy Hambone helpers all wanted to be boss - a  sure invitation to disaster, and I couldn't afford to hire a professional crew.
>
> I carefully studied the Rohn book and other publications on tower erection, and talked to a few experienced tower workers before attempting the job.  It was a slow process, working on weekends and occasional days off from work during the week, erecting a section or two up at a time. I had the holes for the concrete dug by late June, and the concrete poured in mid July, hot as hell. I got the first 30' erected by cold weather, when I quit for the winter.  Started back to work the following spring and finished around the 1st of May. Eleven months to complete a job wouldn't have been acceptable for professional work, but since it was for a personal hobby, I had all the time in the world.
>
> I purchased a real Rohn gin pole along with the tower hardware.  At that time, in 1981, it cost a little over $100.  I purchased a spool of of sisal rope, a little over double the final length of the tower. At the time I used an old Signal Corps leather climbing belt and ungodly heavy lanyard, having never heard of a full body harness at the time.  I used an extra lanyard so that whenever I had to cross a guy point, I would secure one lanyard above the guy point before releasing the one below, in order to remain tied off 100%.
>
> My procedure was to climb the tower, attach the new section, move the gin pole to the top of the new section, climb back down, attach the rope to the next section, pull it up to position, tie the other end of the rope to a rung near the bottom of the  tower, then climb to the top, manhandle the section in place, attach the bolts and then slip the gin pole to top of the new section and repeat the process.  It was slow, and I certainly got plenty of exercise climbing up and down the tower.
>
> I did have one near mishap.  With about 100' of tower erected, I had just pulled the next section to position, tied off the rope, and decided to take a break.  While resting, I glanced over at the tower just in time to see the section falling.  Apparently I had neglected to tie the  rope securely an the knot failed.  I was sure the falling section was going to clip a guy wire and the whole thing would come down, but the only damage was a  chipped strain insulator and a bent tower section leg, so I had to purchase a replacement.  From then on, I was doubly sure to check the know whenever I  tied off a subsequent section. Since the falling section was still attached to the rope and pulled it up through the gin pole and pulley as it fell, that slowed down the descent enough to limit damage.
>
> I never had any problem with fear of heights or climbing towers, but one thing I could never get used to was being on a tower section or two above the top guy point and leaning back on the climbing belt, and feeling the whole tower sway with me.  I  could stand on the ground and look at the thing thinking, sure that tower is engineered to withstand the  stress from my leaning back, but I never could convince myself of that while actually on the tower, so I used a set of temporary guys made of #10 copperweld, moving them up every 10' as each section was added, attaching them on the climb to re-locate the gin pole.  That slowed down the project substantially, and I knew guys made from  #10 wire would offer little protection, but all the temporary guys had to do was to immobilise the  tower while I moved about in the climbing belt and I felt perfectly at ease, which certainly made the work less hazardous.
>
> My only assistance was from my wife who would occasionally put stuff in a bucket which I would haulup using the rope.  Once the tower was erected, I still had to make numerous trips to the top to attach the antenna.
>
> Last spring, at age 72, I climbed the tower several more times to replace the top set of guys, which appeared dangerously rusted.  This time I used up-to-date safety equipment, including a full body harness, lightweight nylon lanyards and fall arrest lanyard.  I was a little slower than at age 38 when erecting the tower, but I still felt perfectly at ease on the tower. I did have an assistant on the ground to help with the work and to call for help in case of a mishap or medical emergency.
>
> Incidentally, after replacing the guy wires I cut the old ones at several of the rustiest points, and found mostly sound metal through every strand; the rust was only a thin layer on the surface.  Those guys would have likely remained intact for years to come, so now I feel guy replacement to be less urgent.  Nevertheless, I have the material on hand and plan to replace the lower sections of guys next spring, so those guys don't become dangerously rusted after I'm too old and decrepit to climb.
>
> Don k4kyv
>
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73

Roger (K8RI)

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