On Thu, 3 Jun 2010, dgrapach wrote: > The pictures are here of the tower. > http://s903.photobucket.com/albums/ac231/dgrapach/Old%20tower/Old%20Tower/
I am really new to towers and tower climbing. Here are a few points based on what images you have posted: 1) Immediately Agent Orange the base of the tower, the guys, and the base of the guys. 2) Thoroughly inspect each of the above points for any through or heavy rust where metal meets concrete. 3) Anything that is living in or on the tower should immediately be severed. The tree growing through the guy wire needs to be separated from the guy wire. By cutting it down. First above the line, and then through the line. You want to crack the tree away from the line. The entire tower must be "safetied" before any attempt to climb is made. Anything organic growing on it should be turning brown and dying, and all of the guy bases must be inspected and assured to be in the ground. Additionally, since this is a bolted tower, I would inspect all of the bolts in the bottom 10 - 20 feet for any signs of looseness on the way up. One of these towers might survive with a loose or missing diagonal. But if it loses two diagonals, it's liable to drop without warning. Any rust should be surface rust only. There are no splits in the legs, so it's good there, but without being able to see the base of the tower without foliage cover, or the base of the guys without foliage cover, there's no certain way to tell how safe it might be. Obviously, the farther apart the vertical legs are, the stronger the tower should be. Rohn 45 is 18" per side, Rohn 20 and 25 are 12" per side. Rohn 45 is a little more comfortable to climb. ;) -- Kris Kirby, KE4AHR Disinformation Analyst
