[TowerTalk] Cost of HDX-555MDP Tower System

[Cox, Norman R.]

     If anyone is considering a U.S. Towers heavy duty crank-up, this information might be helpful, in terms of what it might cost.

     I ordered the heavy duty 55 ft crank-up with the motorized winch in the Fall of 2014.  In retrospect, I'm glad I ordered the motorized version and the tower raising feature.  U.S. Towers told me there as a 10 week lead time on the tower.  As it turned out, the tower was ready a week ahead of schedule.

     A snow storm was forecast, and we were nearing the Christmas vacation shut down for the manufacturing plant.  One of my in-laws had a 20 ft trailer and made the trip with  me to U.S. Tower's Kansas facility to pick up the tower.  the personnel were very helpful in loading the tower.  It was scary driving  home in the blinding snow storm, but everything went smoothly.

    I hired an experienced contractor to do the cement work.  I was amazed that he was able to dig the 5 x 5 x 7 hole so perfectly.  The amount of cement ordered was exactly enough!  I'm glad I did not try to do this myself and hired a pro.

    I hit a rock layer when installing the ground rods, so some had to be cut off at 4 ft.  The others were 8 ft in length.  The rotary hammer was very much worth the rental fee.  I was surprised that the grounding system with  arrestors  was as much as it was.  Anyway, here's the breakdown:

Tower and raising fixture   $8,500
shipping for base plate            75
Gas for hauling                 __ 200
                                       $8,775

Foundation work and rebar:   $1,775

Grounding system (8 8ft rods, 7 4ft rods, copper conductors, arrestors for rotator and 3 coax inputs)
                                          $1,300

Total cost (a year ago) was  $11,850.

There were other expenses for a new rotator, coax, mast, bearing and tree trimmer services, but the basic cost of the tower installation as $11,850.

  In short, I'm very pleased with the workmanship on the tower and it's performance.  Also, the neighbors were fine with the installation.  In it's nested position, the antenna is below the forest canopy and no one even knows it's there.

Norm
KE0ZT
Rolla, MO