Dr. Sam Hawes called with a small problem: his rotator was no longer work. But in going out to look at his tower (50-ft of 25G), he discovered that the tower base was rusted away. A classic case of a base installed below grade in a flower bed, where the steel was over by extensive mulch, soil, and plant life, and was of course, wetted down often. The result, two legs rusted through, and the third nearly so.
So, spent some time carefully removing all that, opening up the space around the legs. Then fabricated a simple frame from OSB and some 2X4 stubs. Drilled some holes next to the legs, put some rebar in with epoxy, then wired rebar across the legs, and then covered the old base with acid etch. After catching my breath (it’s hot and humid here in Charlotte), it was time to mix some concrete. Poured seven bags of SaKrete around the old base.
Cleaned up and spent some time with Dr. Sam talking about the Navassa, and how we’ll approach the changeout, etc. The tower is un-guyed (of course) but does have a house bracket. It appears the taper top is not a 2-inch size, so will suggest we replace that.
Back in thirty days~!
stay tuned…
