Loader TV Tower Take Down

[JoelD]

If it is a Rohn 25, the most common type around, dis-assembly with two people and a jin pole is easily done. These towers are in demand by Ham operators, and frequently bought and sold. I have 2 of them (50' & 80') on my ranch. If you place a listing on QTH.com (free) you will likely get several responses, particularly if you offer it at no charge. Market value is about $50 per section. Be sure to state your location. If offered for free, getting someone to take it down is no problem. If you are not sure what you have, take a photo and post it as well.

OK, thanks for posting this picture, now I've got the hee beee geee beees.

I don't know how you guys do heights like that, I just lock up.

I watched a video of a guy free climbing on the top of a 1400 foot or something silly like that tower, was worse than seeing poltergeist as a little kid, I'm still not over either event.

Joel

 

[jake98]

We don't pay for our commercials either. Get about 30 channels, all the NYC stations in HDTV. We bought the Bigger antenna, and an amplifier, going to put a rotor on it soon.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

OK, thanks for posting this picture, now I've got the hee beee geee beees.

I don't know how you guys do heights like that, I just lock up.

I watched a video of a guy free climbing on the top of a 1400 foot or something silly like that tower, was worse than seeing poltergeist as a little kid, I'm still not over either event.

Joel

:laughing: I was thinking of posting that video here...

 

[BrianinMichigan]

I have a full forty ft. tower on a tilt base that I built. on top of that I have a 10ft of 1-1/4" well pipe with a 10ft Channel Master antenna on it. That being said I do raise and lower the tower with my tractor BUT, I have an oak tree about 60' away that I put a pully on and it is off of the ground about 20' (the pully). I tie onto the tower near the top ( using a 1/4" steel cable ) feed the other end through the pully and down to my tractor. It takes 2 people, me on the tractor and another to push the tower away from the house after I unclamp from the brackets. It goes very smooth but I have had some experience doing this. I did take down a 30' tower that was buried in the ground about 3' a couple of years ago. I tied a rope to the top and my buddy dug away at the base. We leaned it away from the house while he walked it down I was yanking on the rope.We had a 6' ladder at where the end of the tower was going to rest so the antenna would not get crushed. If you want to see some of the good the bad and the ugly, look up tower on You Tube and you will see some stuff about doing it and some really stupid stuff too. good luck Also one other thought, all you may need is a UHF antenna on top of the tower. Since the digital transition, most if not all of the TV stations are transmitting in the UHF range even though they kept their low frequency numbers.

 

[blueone]

Jake, we are on the same thought path, why pay someone to watch TV when you can get it for free,except I'm in WV so closest Metro area is DC.

And with SO Many Antennas and towers still standing why pay for one of those either if it can be had for taking it down.

 

[k0ua]

Ok, I don't mean to pee on your tower dreams, God know I have had them, and I have had many towers in my lifetime, and have one now. BUT, you could use a simple Rohn push up mast to get to 40 foot. and if bracketed on a house you could probably get away with just 2 sets of 3 guys, No big concrete base to dig in and pour in the middle of winter, even for a 35 foot tower you would need a mininum of 1 yard of concrete. And that would be way under Rohn specs. and a house bracket. have you thought about all the cost after you get it down safely.. and oh, if you are thinking of dropping it, and let her fall. It usually springs the sections, and or cracks the welds.. also how good of a shape is the tower to begin with? Is it really Rohn 25? or something cheaper. check the base, for splitting from water freezing in the tower legs, because of improper installation/drain . any rust? Galvanizing still good? All the welds look good? Some of these things you cannot know without a thourough inspection. The mast is probably about 80- 90 dollars, and some guy wire is gonna set you back about that much more, then some good RG6, and a mast mounted preamp, maybe, rotator is up to you, if all the stations are in one place, or you want to look in all directions. What I am saying is there might be another way to go to acheive your goal, PM me if you want, Good luck
James K0UA

 

[funwithahoe]

If it is a Rohn 25, the most common type around, dis-assembly with two people and a jin pole is easily done. These towers are in demand by Ham operators, and frequently bought and sold. I have 2 of them (50' & 80') on my ranch. If you place a listing on QTH.com (free) you will likely get several responses, particularly if you offer it at no charge. Market value is about $50 per section. Be sure to state your location. If offered for free, getting someone to take it down is no problem. If you are not sure what you have, take a photo and post it as well.

You would never catch me that high up in a tower but I love the flags on the made in the USA boots!!!

 

[Mace Canute]

Reminds me of when I was a young buck and I had bid onto the Transmission Line crew. First job I got involved climbing to the top of a lattice work steel tower to work on the shield wire.I believe I got picked to do the job because I was the new guy and they wanted to check me out on something high right off the bat..."baptism by fire". It was so small at the top, I had trouble finding a place to stick my boots! Just 125 feet up.

 

[TGF]

I'd blow it up, but that's just me. If you can figure out a way to 60 feet away from it when you push/pull it over, that would probably be safe, but I have seen these things come down, you push it north it bends north then falls south.

As far as TV towers go, you are better off buying a Multi directional antenna. They are cheap and not nearly the amount of work as this.

 

[jenkinsph]

I don't wan't to fool with towers anymore, too old for that but if I were going to put one up for a tv antenna today I would buy one of the Rohn tilting units with a winch to lay it over. Reason being tv antennas need servicing and or replacement from time to time and these tilting models take alot of the grief out of this.

Something cheaper would be a telescopic mast with guy wires. These will work for 40 to 50 ft as long as you guy them properly.
Here is a link to Rohn's telescopic masts, http://www.rohnnet.com/rohn-telescoping-masts

 

[gatorgirl]

Please check out the legal side of this. My husband climbs towers for a living and I can tell ya if your not certified in certain areas, you can get charged with a felony or OSHA can eat you up. Just be careful is all. I would def pay some company to come do and they will remove any debri you might aquire also.

Julie

 

[jake98]

I forget what the actual ratio is, but it's something like five or ten times the height, in radius, that you get lightning protection from a tower.

 

[ctgoldwing]

It would be a lot safer to find a local "Ham" with a gin pole and a climbing belt and rope to take the sections down carefully, I would think a $100 bill for 20 minutes of work would be about right. If you could find one. James K0UA

BINGO

I put up 120' of Rohn 55 with a Rotating Tower System (the top 60' of the tower rotates) with just my 16 yo son. With a gin pole & climbing belt and enough nylon rope & pulleys its a piece of cake.

Without the right stuff you are going to end up with a pile of scrap and the real risk of someone in the hospital (ever get hit in the head with a nut or bolt dropped from 40 or 50 feet?).

 

[MossRoad]

Thanks Moss, your right in one sence, but I want the tower and antenna cause 4-months ago I got tired of feeding the Cable, Dish Monster and cut it all off. I started with my own homemade antenna from coat hangers and a 20' oak 2x3 and got 7 over the air channels. Then with some more experimentation and an old antenna form my dad installed on the chimney I received 13 with 5 in Hi-Def.

So may be I'll look at trying to do it this way TACO Communications DMXB-series Tower Installation Instructions[Fig 4 in link] as the antenna is only 12'-15' over the roof line.

How am I right in one sense?
You said you want to keep the tower.
I said you want to keep the tower.
I think that makes me right in all sense! :laughing:

You asked how to take it down, not how to put it up.

Do you know what kind of tower it is?
Does it have three legs?
Are the legs the same distance apart all the way up?
Are the legs tapered evenly all the way up to a point?
Is each section progressively narrower?
Is it 10' sections or longer?
Is it round pipe or is it angled metal?
Is it bolted to a base or is it sunk directly in concrete?
Is there already hinges on the base?
Is it against a house with brackets or is it free standing?
And, most importantly, are there power lines within one and half times the height of the tower? If there are, forget about doing it yourself. We had a person fried to death taking down a tower a couple blocks from my house. It was not pretty. Another friend of mine unbolted a tower from a house that he had just purchased. As soon as he unbolted the house bracket, the legs buckled and it tipped over on to power lines. His kid went to grab it and fortunately, heard his father yell STOP! It arced all over the place and started a yard barn on fire. So be careful taking it down or putting it up.

I have a 30' steel tower that has three legs that are all the same diameter pipe all the way up. There are three 10' sections. The base has a hinge. I unbolt one leg and tip it up or down on the other two legs. Two strong men can tip it up or down with just our hands, no ropes, no other assistance. I put a step ladder about 20' from the base and we lower it on to that first. Then we take the antenna off. Then we lower it the rest of the way. I just acquired 3 more sections of identical tower and may increase my height to 40' and use the other two sections for light poles.

 

[Alan L.]

A multi-directional antenna is useless when you are 60 miles from the transmit tower like I am. I have a 50 foot tower with antenna and I paid a guy to install it. No way I'm climbing up there. I was involved in raising and lowering towers years ago in my on CB days, and it can be pretty touchy. Have seen a tower scoot a pickup across the yard before.

 

[jake98]

I just acquired 3 more sections of identical tower and may increase my height to 40' and use the other two sections for light poles.

You're starting an antenna farm..

 

[merrickvilleguy]

use the tractor to pull the tower down, cut it up with a sawzall, then spend $300 and buy a brand new 30' tower at radio shack.

 

[pat32rf]

Just make sure that the bottom is fastened so it can't tip up, then put your forks against it as high up as you can reach and let it slowly slide down along your forks as you back up. Hold it against your forks with a rope.

 

[DANOCHEESE]

Please check out the legal side of this. My husband climbs towers for a living and I can tell ya if your not certified in certain areas, you can get charged with a felony or OSHA can eat you up. Just be careful is all. I would def pay some company to come do and they will remove any debri you might aquire also.

Julie

This is funny A homeowner is not governed by OSHA. Felony tower removal What are you in for. I took down a tower. Ooohhhh your bad

Pop the bolts with a 3 lb hammer and a chisle. jack apart if stuck and hand it down. You can use the tractor if you want to, it will lower the tower. but you will stress it. The tower is designed to be a verticle structure. Putting the tower into a horizontal stress may casue kinkage. Yes Kinkage is a word.

 

[MtHam]

OK, I did gloss over the part where you said you want to take it down to re-set it someplace new for your own use. Thus, you will need a gin pole, and take it down one section at a time. Re-assembly also should be one section at a time. I have done it, and will soon do it again. I have 2 Rohn 25 towers, one is 60', and the other was 80'. It came down on Monday due to an adjacent 75' Oak tree which fell and hit one of the guy wires. I think I only lost two 10' sections, and I will be able to re-use the rest. It will go back up soon!