Anyone ever take a 60' tower down?

[4570Man]

Rent a 35' or 50' trailer boom lift. You can run it from the ground. Strap a jib crane beam on the basket, insert it into the tower above 1/2 way up. unhitch the base. Then you can gently set it down. Put it back up the same way. I do it all the time with windmill towers using my JLG-T350 lift. Mine can pick up 500# if I'm running it from the ground. The outrigger sensors will prevent you from tipping over.

I was thinking along the same lines but google suggests that tower weighs 37 pounds per ft. I would hire a more capable crane and lay it down in one piece.

 

[zzvyb6]

I was thinking along the same lines but google suggests that tower weighs 37 pounds per ft. I would hire a more capable crane and lay it down in one piece.

That weight range is for a 10 FOOT section. So even if it was the 45lb per 10' tower section, I can pick it up and lay it down.

 

[rumwrks]

When I used to climb tall smokestacks, I always framed it in "10' ladders". A 500' stack was just (50)- 10' ladders

I'd ask if you were secretly Fred Dibnah but he's sadly passed.

Relevant I was the tower man when we rebuilt part of my grandpa's windmill tower after a storm pushing forty years back. We used one of the bolt on cranes with a pivoting base and it went pretty smoothly. Granted the legs and braces on that one were in separate and shorter albeit heavier pieces. I think the main challenge you'd have here is making sure the crane had sufficient bearing surface so as to not crumble the leg it was fastened to.

 

[Rockbadchild]

With a few set of scaffolding next to it I would be able to remove it from the bottom up.

 

[Topzide]

The scaffolding idea would work slick! With 4 bucks high, you could strap to scaffolding and then lifting to remove a section then lower it down till all sections dismantled.

 

[4570Man]

That weight range is for a 10 FOOT section. So even if it was the 45lb per 10' tower section, I can pick it up and lay it down.

With a 70 ft lift you could. How are you going to reach the top of a 60ft tower with a 35-50 ft lift like your post suggested?

 

[MossRoad]

With a 70 ft lift you could. How are you going to reach the top of a 60ft tower with a 35-50 ft lift like your post suggested?

You don't have to reach the top. You only have to reach slightly above the center of gravity. Assuming all the sections weigh the same and no antenna on top, that would be about 31'.

 

[zzvyb6]

With a 70 ft lift you could. How are you going to reach the top of a 60ft tower with a 35-50 ft lift like your post suggested?

 

[zzvyb6]

1) Exactly what MossRoad Stated.
2) You can extend the lift arm another 15 feet with an aluminum beam and attach it to the top. This might require your friend to climb up to the top to attach a cable, chain, strap, or a few bolts.
3) Borrow a backhoe and build up a 15' mound of dirt. Then back the lift up onto the dirt pile to get some extra reach. I'd wait a few months for the dirt to settle, though, depending on how well you compact the dirt.
4) Pull it down with a 100' rope attached to the top. This also requires you to climb up there to make the attachment. Don't disconnect it from the base, but slit two of the legs so it falls more gradually. Then catch it with the lift as it falls.
5) Get a heavy crane to park the lift on top of the pole barn. Mine weighs 2600 lbs, so reinforce the roof before you make the move.
6) Get 2 more identical towers. Attach them together at the top, and set them flat on the ground with the bases spread about 10 apart. Run a line thru the two joined towers and up to the other one at the top, then back to the ground. As you pull on the rope, the two on the ground will raise up while the tower of interest gently gets lowered. Problem: now you have TWO towers up there, but scrap metal prices make it worth the effort.
7) Max out the lift. Fasten the upper section to the bucket (securely), and cut the tower at the 30' level. Then gently lower the lift. Don't do this on a windy day. Now you ought to be able to just cut the base and topple the remaining 30' section.
8) Maybe your buddy only wants 30' of tower for his 20mW wind generator. Just take down the first 30' and leave the rest up there in case you need cell service in the future.
9) They make 100' lifts. Don't worry about falling from that height. I was told anything higher tha 20' is deadly, so no after the event remorse.

10) And the 10th best way to use a lift to down a 60' tower? Get a neighbor with a hot air balloon to stabilize the tower top while you lower the lift fastened at the midpoint ! That's Physics, Chemistry, Aerodynamics, Mechanics, and Psychology aggregated altogether. A recent college graduate with a degree in Ancient French Literature ought to be able to assist you. That's how they put up the Eiffel Tower, and its over 1000' !!!

With a 70 ft lift you could. How are you going to reach the top of a 60ft tower with a 35-50 ft lift like your post suggested?

 

[4570Man]

You don't have to reach the top. You only have to reach slightly above the center of gravity. Assuming all the sections weigh the same and no antenna on top, that would be about 31'.

If you had the capacity to lift it at once that’s true. That tower weighs too much to attempt lifting in one piece with a 500 pound lift.

 

[4570Man]

1) Exactly what MossRoad Stated.
2) You can extend the lift arm another 15 feet with an aluminum beam and attach it to the top. This might require your friend to climb up to the top to attach a cable, chain, strap, or a few bolts.
3) Borrow a backhoe and build up a 15' mound of dirt. Then back the lift up onto the dirt pile to get some extra reach. I'd wait a few months for the dirt to settle, though, depending on how well you compact the dirt.
4) Pull it down with a 100' rope attached to the top. This also requires you to climb up there to make the attachment. Don't disconnect it from the base, but slit two of the legs so it falls more gradually. Then catch it with the lift as it falls.
5) Get a heavy crane to park the lift on top of the pole barn. Mine weighs 2600 lbs, so reinforce the roof before you make the move.
6) Get 2 more identical towers. Attach them together at the top, and set them flat on the ground with the bases spread about 10 apart. Run a line thru the two joined towers and up to the other one at the top, then back to the ground. As you pull on the rope, the two on the ground will raise up while the tower of interest gently gets lowered. Problem: now you have TWO towers up there, but scrap metal prices make it worth the effort.
7) Max out the lift. Fasten the upper section to the bucket (securely), and cut the tower at the 30' level. Then gently lower the lift. Don't do this on a windy day. Now you ought to be able to just cut the base and topple the remaining 30' section.
8) Maybe your buddy only wants 30' of tower for his 20mW wind generator. Just take down the first 30' and leave the rest up there in case you need cell service in the future.
9) They make 100' lifts. Don't worry about falling from that height. I was told anything higher tha 20' is deadly, so no after the event remorse.

10) And the 10th best way to use a lift to down a 60' tower? Get a neighbor with a hot air balloon to stabilize the tower top while you lower the lift fastened at the midpoint ! That's Physics, Chemistry, Aerodynamics, Mechanics, and Psychology aggregated altogether. A recent college graduate with a degree in Ancient French Literature ought to be able to assist you. That's how they put up the Eiffel Tower, and its over 1000' !!!

If you had a lift already available then some of those suggestions could work. If you’re renting a machine why would you not rent a machine with adequate capacity to start with?

 

[zzvyb6]

If you had a lift already available then some of those suggestions could work. If you’re renting a machine why would you not rent a machine with adequate capacity to start with?

Renting a 35' lift is $250 for 4 hours around here. Weekend rates, too, if you need to expalin it to your wife. Sky crane ? 10 times as much. And you need to pay the operator, too. Plus you will still need to climb up there and attach the hook while meeting ISO standards.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

 

[4570Man]

Renting a 35' lift is $250 for 4 hours around here. Weekend rates, too, if you need to expalin it to your wife. Sky crane ? 10 times as much. And you need to pay the operator, too. Plus you will still need to climb up there and attach the hook while meeting ISO standards.

The local rental cost are closer than you’re assuming. The man lift is around $500 daily and the crane is around $600 for the first 3 hours with an operator included. An extra couple hundred will be cheap when you either buckle the boom or flip the machine trying to lift a tower that weighs 4 times its capacity.

 

[zzvyb6]

The local rental cost are closer than you’re assuming. The man lift is around $500 daily and the crane is around $600 for the first 3 hours with an operator included. An extra couple hundred will be cheap when you either buckle the boom or flip the machine trying to lift a tower that weighs 4 times its capacity.

Your estimate of its weight is off by TEN. It's just a ROHN tower. 37 lbs per TEN FOOT section. Do the math.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

The way I'd probably do it it this, with a helper:
1) extension ladder roof to tower, helper hold bottom on roof & rope tie ladder to tower 2-3 places.
2) long rope secure around tower
3) down from ladder, untie short ropes securing ladder to tower.
4) across building roof over to a truck or tractor away from building.
5) unbolt tower to building brace
6) unbolt tower base support, fabricate a simple strap so tower bottom won't shift
7) slowly back truck or tractor up

 

[4570Man]

Your estimate of its weight is off by TEN. It's just a ROHN tower. 37 lbs per TEN FOOT section. Do the math.

Google puts the weight of the whole tower at around a ton. You’re not going to convince me that a 60 ft steel tower weighs 220 pounds.

 

[Topzide]

Here are the specs for a Rohn 25G tower. 41.1 pounds per section. Google is using AI and looking at commercial radio tower weights!View attachment rohn-25gdrawingc630625.pdf

 

[4570Man]

Here are the specs for a Rohn 25G tower. 41.1 pounds per section. Google is using AI and looking at commercial radio tower weights!View attachment 5301210

If it only weighs 250 pounds give or take I would do it exactly like Fuddy describes above.

 

[MossRoad]

If you had the capacity to lift it at once that’s true. That tower weighs too much to attempt lifting in one piece with a 500 pound lift.

I agree. Man lifts are just that, man lifts. They aren't meant to support loads.

With that said, a 60' tower with six 10 foot sections that weigh 70 pounds per section is 420 pounds.