Just bought a tower, need advice!

[007_man]

Been around CB’s for a long while now but first timer on the tower stuff! As I’ve always had push up poles and decided I want to go higher with my antenna. I have several question here.
#1: how deep in the ground in concrete does the base need to be?

#2: how high can I go without guy wires with my Maco V5/8 ground plane on top?

#3: What kind of tower is this?

I’m currently at 28ft on a push up pole. I want to get higher. I really want 60ft of tower but I really do not think I have enough room for the guy wires. Thx guys

 

[543_Dallas]

The only safe bet is to find some literature from the company than made the tower....if you can find out who made it.

My 40 ft self supporting tower has a 7 or 9 sq. ft. antenna load rating. It required a 3ft x 3ft base at 4 ft deep. It also starts out wide at the bottom and tapers down as it goes up.

What you have looks like straight sections. I think 60 feet without guy wires would be a disaster.

 

[007_man]

The only safe bet is to find some literature from the company than made the tower....if you can find out who made it.

My 40 ft self supporting tower has a 7 or 9 sq. ft. antenna load rating. It required a 3ft x 3ft base at 4 ft deep. It also starts out wide at the bottom and tapers down as it goes up.

What you have looks like straight sections. I think 60 feet without guy wires would be a disaster.

That’s what I’m thinking too. I know 60’ without wires is not good at all but I was just saying that’s what I want and it’s not gonna be possible based on how much room I have (I think)

I’ve heard mixed things about 50 ft and no wires. Some say yes and some say no way

 

[kopcicle]

https://www.championradio.com/UP-THE-TOWER-The-Complete-Guide-To-Tower-Construction.1

 

[W4KVW]

I have 50ft of ROHN 25 with one set of guy wires at 40 ft & I have 11 ft of mast pipe out the top of the tower with (4) yagi antennas.It has so far survived about 1 dozen or more Hurricanes & more Florida Thunderstorms than I can count.The heaviest yagi is a Mosley TA-53M at 55 lbs & it sits on the crown of the tower & the rest of them are all pretty light though the M2 6M5X is longer than the Mosley it is far lighter & has far less wind load.The other two beams are far lighter with much less wind load.It has been up for over 18 years with zero issues.I have 980 lbs of concrete in the ground around about 8 ft of tower.The Tower will bend or snap off long before the tower base will ever move with the weight of the concrete with the soil packed around it.

SIX-SHOOTER

 

[Road Squawker]

Hard to tell from the pic, but, that looks a lot like TDS (WADE) tower sections,.... no X or W cross bracing.

It "looks" like a tower for lite weight TV antennas.
I wouldn't climb it more than one section above the guy/roof attachment point. YMMV


16 or 18 ga.. 3 sq ft wind loading MAX
http://wadeantenna.com/product/18-gauge-golden-nugget-straight-tower-section-2/nm


http://wadeantenna.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/390355_G01_GN_N1065.pdf

 

[BJ radionut]

http://www.rohnnet.com/files/25G_110MPH_B090091_ASSYPKG.pdf

This is for ROHN 25G tower...Which is more than likely TWICE+ as strong as your tower?
See the diagram for 40 foot and 50 ft guy installer height.
With your tower going up 50 foot (4 straight sections + tapered section) I would use 3 sets of guys. 20 ft. / 35 ft. / just below the top right below the taper (45-48 ft.).
Remember looking at the picture, I would say that the tower is at least 30-40 years old!
Now check the layout of your location. You will need guys anchours set away from the tower at a minimum of 40 ft. in ALL 3 directions from each tower leg.
Check your location and report back.
Also, remember to be safe those guy anchours need concrete also to hold them in place!
http://www.rohnnet.com/files/2015_Rohn_Full_Catalog.pdf#page=302

See catalog for equipment needed for proper guying of the tower.
Cable/clamps/turnbuckles/anchour posts ... etc.
Should give a better picture of what it will take to do this correctly and safely.
All the Best
Gary

PS: Personally I think for assembly and antenna mounting, your looking to have to rent a "Cherry Picker" I would never climb that tower and work off it not going up that far!
That tower will be "shacky" at 30 ft.

 

[W4KVW]

I just looked at the picture of your tower and I am familiar with what one looks like in real life.Myself and a couple of friends just removed one of those from the home of a friend of ours who passed away and it was 40 foot tall.It had a five element 6 meter beam on it with a dual band vertical and it was very shaky without any guy wires.She did not have any guy wires on it but it definitely needed at least want to set. Another friend of mine claimed it and remove the two antennas and it was very shaky and it is very hard on your feet when you climb it and he had on climbing boots designed for use on towers.

SIX-SHOOTER

 

[2NC995]

I cant offer anything in the way of advice, but I do know I am jealous of your recent purchase. Lol.

Good luck getting all set up. Looks like fun!

 

[007_man]

I just looked at the picture of your tower and I am familiar with what one looks like in real life.Myself and a couple of friends just removed one of those from the home of a friend of ours who passed away and it was 40 foot tall.It had a five element 6 meter beam on it with a dual band vertical and it was very shaky without any guy wires.She did not have any guy wires on it but it definitely needed at least want to set. Another friend of mine claimed it and remove the two antennas and it was very shaky and it is very hard on your feet when you climb it and he had on climbing boots designed for use on towers.

SIX-SHOOTER

interesting....

a beam at that size with no wires. Wow!
Almost wants me to believe 50’ and a ground plane will be ok with no wires... lol

 

[Blackcat630]

From the looks of the pic I would probably go about 30 ft freestanding. 40 if you can bolt it to the house.. with just a vertical you'd be ok. Put 8-10 foot of mast out and that will get you up a ways.. might also look at throwing a fresh coat of paint on it before erecting. I used chain link fence paint and a auto wash mit and a couple saw horses..

Note: if you plan to do the wash mit and paint for a speedy job put a heavy rubber glove under it unless you want a silver hand. I wore a dish washing glove..

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

From the looks of the pic I would probably go about 30 ft freestanding. 40 if you can bolt it to the house.. with just a vertical you'd be ok. Put 8-10 foot of mast out and that will get you up a ways.. might also look at throwing a fresh coat of paint on it before erecting. I used chain link fence paint and a auto wash mit and a couple saw horses..

Note: if you plan to do the wash mit and paint for a speedy job put a heavy rubber glove under it unless you want a silver hand. I wore a dish washing glove..

All good advice especially the wash mitt for painting. Professional tower riggers use that method. I would be very leery climbing that tower over 20 feet above the highest support. No I changed my mind. In fact I myself would not do it. I am used to free standing towers with no guy wires but they taper from wide at the bottom to narrower at the top and are MUCH stronger. That tower also looks to have rust on it so that alone would make me leery of putting much weight and surface area on it. I run up and down my free standing 64 foot tower without a second thought. Well I USED too before I blew out my knee in an unrelated incident.

 

[Blackcat630]

If you dont want to have to worry about it coming down after you go through the work of putting it up.. maybe look at selling it and finding some rohn 25. It is much better for what you want to do. I ran 50 ft of rohn 20 mixed with 25 for years. It was bolted to the house at about 25 ft. Had 10 ft of mast out the top and a variety of verticals throughout the years. The house was on a slight hill and had completely open fields around in all directions. It handled some hella winds. I moved and took down the antenna but the tower is still standing 20 yrs later..

 

[Mustang 131]

60' Universal Tower is a great tower. Cheap, light, free standing and it will never rust.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

60' Universal Tower is a great tower. Cheap, light, free standing and it will never rust.

Mine is a 64 foot Trylon Titan T-500. 18 inches at the top and 42 inches at the bottom. GREAT tower. NOT cheap. Heavy galvanizing so I will be long dead by the time it rusts. Rated for 52 sq. ft at 70 MPH .