[TowerTalk] Foundation and ReBar Work

[Patrick Greenlee]

Usually we think more is better.  Tashjian Towers Corp (Commercial and 
Ham towers) recommends a minimum of 2000 psi cured strength. Maybe I'd 
get 2500 or 3000 on account of more is better but 5000 is probably money 
wasted unless you get a super sweet deal.

I need a 4x4x8 ft hole for a rebar cage to be set in concrete.  I can't 
find a backhoe operator who can do that so will let the surface 
dimension widen out to 4x4++ (6 would be good but hopefully not more 
than 8.  I can drop in a sheet of OSB to square up the sloping wall. 
Then drop in a bunch of bowling ball and basket ball sized rocks and 
pour in some redi-crete from my little mixer that does about 200 lbs per 
load to "glue" the rocks together and then pull the OSB and call out the 
cement delivery truck and fill 'er up.

I'm thinking of pouring an 8x8 ft or maybe 8x10ft slab as a working 
surface/floor so I won't be standing in mud next to the tower. Does that 
seem big enough?  Too big?? Tilt accessory is beside the tower and a 
little larger footprint so need maybe a couple more feet in that direction.

Patrick        Nj5G


On 3/4/2016 11:56 AM, Bryan Swadener via TowerTalk wrote:
> In 2012, I installed a new-to-me US Tower TX-472. I had a contractor dig the hole using a combination of manual labor + backhoe. The backhoe operator didn't hear/understand the word "STOP!", and the hole became extra wide & deep. As it turned out, extra deep was good because it allowed me to backfill with 1-1/2" round rock (that worked against the high water table). I sank a sump pump into the rock and kept the hole pumped out. I'm into that work for $1000.
>
> Rebar cost me $200 from a ham friend who is an "artiste" with the stuff. Some sticks of wood allowed us to lower it into the hole.
>
> Concrete cost me $1500 for 5000 psi mix. That included rental of a horizontal line pump. That was coordinated through a carpenter/contractor/ham friend. "Rebarman" brought and used his vibrator.
>
> There were many other costs involved but, IMO, none were suspiciously high. All things considered, I saved a lot of dough.
> vy 73,
> Bryan WA7PRC
> Photos + text: http://www.tinyurl.com/wa7prc-tower
>   
>       Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2016 16:43:37 +0000 (UTC)
> From: Russ K5ZZR
> To: Tower Talk
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Foundation and ReBar Work
>
> I installed my new 72' US Tower last year and did the work myself including picking it up in Kansas. The 5'x5'x8' hole was dug for $450 which included spreading the dirt at various places on my 5 acres. I was surprised at how accurate it was also, those guys are good. The rebar I would guess was about $150. The cement cost about $750 so the total must have been near $1,200. No other cost were incurred because I was not in a city. I finished the cement myself with the help of the cement truck driver.Russ K5ZZR
>     
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