Life with Jane

[ronspradley]

Good catch on using the bucket truck to sight in the transmitting tower. If I ever thought of that (big if) it would have been right after they finished and left.


ron and pebbles
.

[okmunky]

Originally Posted by Wroughtnharv

One of the interesting things about these towers is they are not supposed to be climbed. Fifty feet high no climbing.

So to add something to the tower or maintain what’s up there you have to bring in a 50’+ tall bucket, or do you lay it back down?

[Wroughtnharv]

Ron I had noticed they were getting utility locates so I knew they were replacing the old poles. I hoped they would work with me on sighting in the required elevation of the tower while they were in the neighborhood.

The tower is designed to be lowered for servicing of hardware on top Barb. I can add a ladder if that is needed for a tenant.

Yesterday I inventoried the tower package. I have one complete antenna and another missing pieces including the whole bottom section. I can make the missing pieces including the bottom section so I have two complete towers. They engineered the towers using common electrical components. I was a little discouraged when I first started because the stuff missing was not the same as I was used to using. Then I had a “duh” moment about them building electrical equipment so they would naturally use electrical sourced materials.

Tuesday I stopped by my sand and gravel source and ordered a load of premix for the new pad, “deliver it when you can, no hurry” I said. Yesterday morning I got after cleaning up the area where I wanted the material because I know that they would deliver it sooner than later. We got it yesterday afternoon. Now we got to get through a solid rain day today and another wet one tomorrow and then just chances of it on Saturday. Right now we’re enjoying today’s high temperature.

This morning first thing I’m off to the fastener store for a couple of hundred bolts and nuts for assembling the tower sections. I can do that between showers on the slab.

[ronspradley]

Do you plan on fabricating the replacement parts for the tower while both are still on the ground? I would probably wait until I install the one that is complete and then look up 45 feet and say I wonder what the dimensions for that piece are. That is how I roll. Duh is my nickname.


ron and pebbles
.

[Wroughtnharv]

As you can see in the photos there are lots of small pieces in the towers. I’m missing enough of the braces where I’m going to have to buy 80’ of 1” channel for replacements. I’m also going to have to buy three more posts for the missing section. I purchased 200 bolts, 200 nylok nuts, and 400 flat washers yesterday for the assembly. I sorted and labeled the braces while it was raining. I have enough of the original ones to make one complete tower, that’s the one I will sell. Today I start assembling the towers.

[Wroughtnharv]

I fought the welding up the joints and finally decided I could do better and faster with screws. First I attach the bracket with self tapping screws. The bracket actually gives me a better fit up for welding than without it. Then the next piece is screwed down to the bracket. We’re averaging 15 - 18 screws per bracket. You can’t believe how rigid the structure is becoming. I will follow up with some welding of the connection, just because I can.

One of the issues is the steel used for making the purlins work hardens quickly. What the means is the action of the drill bit can harden the steel immediately causing the screw to burn up. The trick to avoid that is to apply as much pressure as possible on the screw from the get go at a slow speed. I can’t apply that pressure in some circumstances and it is not only very frustrating, it’s physically demanding. I’ve started climbing out of the man lift and standing on the purlins, works like a fire hose in a water fight, just takes some getting used to.

[ronjhall]

That’s a lot screws.

[Wroughtnharv]

Originally Posted by ronjhall

That’s a lot screws.

It’s an old man thing........

[Electra 225]

Said it before Harv, I likes your style....overkill is good. Is that 16ga or 18ga? You probably already said but I missed it or forgot.
I also hate trying to get a screw to bite and drill it's way through 16ga. Once it does though, like you say, finesse comes into play or you'll snap the head off the screw.

[Lloyd in S.C.]

Good morning Harvey!

When I did my building, I found a good quality cordless impact drive the screws much better than a drill. I'm guessing you already know that but figured I would mention. Also if heavy gauge, dimple punching speeds up the process.

Looks great. Will be one solid building!

L.

[Wroughtnharv]

In amongst the electrical tools is a couple of 115 volt screw guns. One is a high speed DeWalt for doing sheet rock into wood. The other is a Milwaukee slower speed that is for screwing TEK screws into steel. Neither one has been used in a good fifteen or so years. And both of them have twenty to twenty five foot cords, keep the extension cord plugs out of the way.

I have been using 1/4” cordless impacts since they first came out. My favorite was the Panasonic because it was smart for its time. But it was on the market for a limited time so I went to Makita. Then I went to Milwaukee and DeWalt. I would buy the five unit sales packs where you got the saw, light, drill, and impact etc. I wouldn’t like them and one of the friends or kids would end up with their very own cordless tool kit.

I’ve settled on the DeWalt 20 volt tools. The biggest hiccup I have with them is like all DeWalt tools there are various degrees of quality. The box stores carry the bottom line but occasionally they’ll throw the better to good models on sale and I snatch them up. My latest DeWalt impact driver is the three speed version. The tool without a battery was almost twice the cost of the cheap one with a charger and two batteries. I have three chargers on a shelf and six or so batteries already.

The steel is 14 ga, some of it is 12. Some of it has some stainless qualities in it because it will work harden in a New York second. All of your bulk screws are roll formed anymore. That means they don’t have the sharp edge and heat treatment regular drill bits have. They’re not hard and if allowed to heat up will literally melt away, life in the city this close to the country.

It was ugly all day yesterday, few showers but constant mist and sprinkles all day long. I needed some 1” channel, like 80’ of it. So I called around, closest vendor had what I needed for $2.36 per foot, most distant $1.00 per ft, what I expected to pay. But one thirty miles away had it for forty two cents a foot. At that price I bought two hundred feet, love a bargain.

The instructions on the tower says assembling of a tower will take about five hours. I figure all of that because I will be making missing pieces as I go. Today will just be cold this morning with a beautiful afternoon, mid sixties. I have three days to work and then a couple more days of rain, love it. We had three and a quarter of an inch in the rain gauge yesterday morning. It felt like a frog strangler Thursday night but either the cadavers washed away or the frogs survived.

Ten years ago I would have had it all framed by now. Twenty I would have the skin on. That was then, this is now. Let’s say I enjoy the process more than the product now, or maybe I’m just getting old.

[ronjhall]

I have a 120 volt AC Dewalt screw driver. Have not used it in years. If I had that many screws to put in I would be using it. My go to most of the time is a 18 volt Bosch.

[Wroughtnharv]

Originally Posted by ronjhall

I have a 120 volt AC Dewalt screw driver. Have not used it in years. If I had that many screws to put in I would be using it. My go to most of the time is a 18 volt Bosch.

Ron working off of the man lift makes 115 volt a pain. It has the plug at the base for powering up the duplex in the cage. But you still have the cord on the ground to run over etc. The newer 20 volts from Milwaukee and DeWalt are lighter and more powerful than the old 18 volts. In fact I have stopped using the big 20 volt batteries and use almost exclusively the small batteries on the DeWalts just because of the weight factor.

I also have the better 20 volt DeWalt drill in the bag with the driver and have 3/16’s sheet metal bits in it, those are the double ended bits just a couple of inches long. Sometimes I will pre drill the holes if I suspect the material is extra tough. That way the screw doesn’t have to drill through two pieces of steel to make the connection.

[okmunky]

Originally Posted by ronjhall

I have a 120 volt AC Dewalt screw driver. Have not used it in years. If I had that many screws to put in I would be using it. My go to most of the time is a 18 volt Bosch.

The only real difference between men and boys is the power ratings of their toys.