[TowerTalk] Guy anchors for AB-577

Shawn Donley n3ae at comcast.net
Wed Feb 21 17:20:27 EST 2018


Depending on your location, time of year can make all the difference when installing screw anchors.   I used some Hubble/AB Chance "No-Wrench" screw anchors with a 8" diameter helix and 66" long rod.


https://www.hubbell.com/hubbellpowersystems/en/Products/Power-Utilities/Anchoring-Foundations/Helical-Anchors-Piles/No-Wrench-Screw-Anchor/No-Wrench-Anchor/p/1915218


Tried to get them down into my ground of heavy clay/sand mix in early summer.   What a job !.   I had a buddy help.  A big fellow (think NFL lineman) and we still could not get one anchor fully in.  But early the next spring when the frost was gone, it was still cool, and the ground was soft under foot, I managed to get the problem anchor fully in by myself along with a couple of others.  Sometimes you have to go in a quarter turn, back it off a half and then drive down again.  Maybe tree roots, not sure.   Much easier in the spring but still a hard job that I would not want to repeat.


If you can get your local power company to come out and put them in with their hydraulic tools (same as the ones they use to bore a hole for a power pole) that's the way to go.  In my case, the anchor spots were in the woods and no way for a truck to get back there.


There's even a portable hydraulic installation tool for situations like I had.   WARNING.  If you've huffed and puffed to put screw anchors in by hand, watching this video might make you feel sick.


http://videos.hubbellpowersystems.com/detail/videos/anchors---utility/video/5062658445001/chance-portable-anchor-installer---hubbell-power-systems


I saw some of our local electrical co-op lineman having lunch and asked them if they might stop by with one of these  portable installers.   Got the deer in the headlights look and after explaining what it was, and after listening to a string of cuss words, I learned that their company had no such device and they had no idea such a thing even existed.  If they had to install a pole anchor where they could not get the truck, they had to put it in my hand with a long bar and muscle just like us.


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