[TowerTalk] Strength of installation raising cable for the LM470?

[Steve (K1IIG)]

Hello Roger and Dan,

I too have an LM470 which is only 3 years old and wish there were an easier way to tilt it. I had a friend make up and adapter replacing the handle with has a 1/2" stud allowing a Hole Hawg or other drill to raise and lower the tower. Even at the end of the 40:1 winch it did not have enough tork to perform this job. I now use my Jeep winch to assist with the raising of the tower from a horizontal position. The first 10-20 degrees I do have to hand crank to assist the Jeep. By attaching the Jeep cable through a pulley fixed at the bottom of the stationary section and run to the same lifting point as the tower winch it makes raising the tower much easier. This also provides extra safety while working on the tilted tower.  See pic attached. 

I am very interested in what you install and would appreciate any pics.

73's
Steve
K1IIG


I checked my TriEx documentation, extracted info which I hope is helpful for 
you.

My tower (LM470D) was purchased from an estate in 1998, and I rebuilt and 
recabled it in 1999. Most of the information I obtained was from TriEx, and 
was later supplemented by Tash. Some of it is a little contradictory, so you 
will have to draw your own conclusions.

It appears the cables on each tower section are (or were) 3/16"x7x19 
galvanized, with 4200# minimum BS and 1400# working load. The 
pull-up/pull-down cables are (or were) 1/4"x7x19 galvanized aircraft cable 
with 7000# minimum BS and 4:1 safety factor.

At the time I put up my tower and tiltover assembly, TriEx told me they 
would provide the same cable on the tiltover assembly as on the tower 
(presumably the 7000# minimum BS).

I found some manuals from Tash circa 2010 which seem to confirm this data, 
altho I don't know what their current data is, their cable supplier, nor if 
it is published.

Very interested in the pulley mod you are working on, I hope you will share 
it with us when you get it operational. I, too, loathe the tilt process, and 
find it more difficult each time I have to perform it! I would welcome a 
"torque multiplier", so your modification would be interesting. I have also 
considered some of the Hole Hawg options, but am a little leery of the 
mechanics and reliability involved.

Keep us posted on your project! Good luck and 73
dan
k0dan

-----Original Message----- 
From: Roger (K8RI) on TT
Sent: August 27, 2016 18:26
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Strength of installation raising cable for the LM470?

When installing the LM470 using the raising fixture, the retracted tower
is raised from horizontal to vertical.  The cable attaches to the tower
roughly half way out presenting one whale of an initial load on the
cable and winch.

Does anyone have the strength listed for the original cable? It's
roughly a quarter inch galvanized steel. Unfortunately the strength for
this size and kind of cable varies widely over more than 2 to 1.

I'm planning on replacing the single straight pull with a double pulley
(rated at 32 kN = 7,193.8# )
http://www.convertunits.com/from/kN/to/pounds   at the tower and a
single pulley back at the raising fixture.  This means I'm going to need
a longer cable.  The existing cable isn't quite long enough to make the
4 trips between the tower and raising fixture. Fortunately the new
method reduces the stress on the cable by a LOT.  The cables available
at the hardware store would likely be strong enough and they do carry a
selection of strengths, although my preference is for using one of the
established cable suppliers on the net.

BTW: As for cable flexing there is the drum on the winch, the original
pulley on the raising fixture plus the 3 additional pulleys between the
tower and raising fixture.  Fortunately these extra pulleys are only
used when installing, taking the tower down, or laying it down for
inspections.  I would add that the larger, pulleys rated for  32kN and
up, get expensive.  I did find a couple rated for 2000# at the hardware
store, but when I went back for more the strongest the had was only
rated for 800#  A pair of single pulleys can be used in place of the
double pulley and the pair of those pulleys rated for 2000# was about a
quarter the list price for the Aluminum pulleys rated at 32 kN.

The multiple pulleys do reduce the linear stress on the cable, but each
time that cable goes around a pulley the strands slide back and forth
against each other, increasing wear on the cable.

I haven't been able to find the strength of the original cable. Searches
on the net have become extremely difficult. Regardless of what search
engine I use, it take me through multiple layers of other search
engines, changing what used to take a minute or two into a long, arduous
selection process.

As for rusting, or corrosion those raising pulleys don't have to be left
in place as they see so little use.  Just oil them well before putting
them in storage.

73

Roger (K8RI)


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