[TowerTalk] Screw-in guy anchors for 48' 25G installation?

[Shawn Donley]

For my tower, I used 8"x66" screw-in anchors (part number PS816) from Hubbell Power Systems, a division of AB Chance.  This is what the local power company uses.   See:

https://www.hubbell.com/hubbellpowersystems/en/Products/Power-Utilities/Anchoring-Foundations/No-Wrench-Screw-Anchor/c/2744683

I ordered them from a local electrical supply, Graybar.  Should be able to order from any good industrial electrical supplier.

Putting them in by hand using a long steel bar through the eyelet was probably the hardest thing I've ever done.  Had help from a friend who could probably go one-on-one with Schwarzenegger and we were both exhausted.  Soil here is a mix of heavy clay and sand.  No rocks.  The time of year makes a BIG difference.  Late summer with dry parched ground is near impossible.  Early spring after the winter thaw is a lot easier.  If you have any ability to get the local power company to spin them in with their equipment, I'd highly recommend it.  If you have lots of big rocks, I'd question if they would go in at all.  That said, I have seen what looks like screw-in anchors on power poles out west that are in very rocky soil.

Hubbell does market a portable hydraulic installation tool:

https://www.hubbell.com/chancefoundationsolutions/en/Products/Power-Utilities/Anchoring-Foundations/AnchorPile-Installation-Tools/Portable-Drive-Head-Equipment/Portable-Anchor-Installer/p/1525395

and a portable hydraulic power unit to go with the tool:

https://www.hubbell.com/chancefoundationsolutions/en/Products/Power-Utilities/Anchoring-Foundations/AnchorPile-Installation-Tools/Portable-Drive-Head-Equipment/Portable-Anchor-Installer/p/1525395

But I have no idea where you could rent one.  In fact, when I asked a couple of local electrical utility workers about such a thing when I caught them on lunch break, they didn't even know such a tool existed.  If they had to put an anchor in a spot where they could not position their truck, they had to turn the anchor in by hand like me and my buddy did.  They were not happy to learn that such a tool existed and their employer didn't have one!

Good luck with your project.

N3AE