Sort of off topic, however I know there are some really smart guys on here that may know the answer to this;
I've got a Rohn bx48 (48' light duty tower) that I would like to be able to fold over/up for any maintenance. It will have a Ham IV rotor/3 el. tri-bander and dipole pulley at the top. I plan to mount in the concrete base a 25' steel pipe 4 1/2" diameter with 1/4" walls directly behind the tower for raising and lowering to tower. The pipe will be 20 feet above the ground level with 5 feet embedded in the concrete tower substructure. It will have a pulley at the top of the pipe and a hand crank at about 4 feet, with steel cable attached to the tower at the 20 foot level. Question is; will 1/4" walled 4 1/2" steel pipe be able to withstand the foot lbs. required to raise and lower this tower below the 45 degree mark without buckling? Seems I can not find any pipe this size with larger wall diameter around here. I could guy the pipe in the opposite direction if needed... Any mechanical engineers out there know the answer?? Thanks, Brian / w5ami
