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imsmooth

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Joined: 07/02/2008
Location: United States
Posts: 214

Posted: 02:32pm 09 Apr 2008

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I am calling on the expertise of those here who have made towers, as this is the next hurdle I will soon face. I have seen pictures on this site of a tilt-down tower that looks about 20' tall. There is a pivot in the middle that allows the upper section to "see-saw".

I want a 30' tower. I was thinking of having the bottom section permanently mounted at 20' high with 3" pipe. The top section would have anothe 20' section that pivots in the center allowing me to get it another 10' up for a total of 30'. The middle section would have guy wires.

Is this reasonable? Is there a better way? Is 3" enough? If this is good, how do I contruct the pivot sections?

My other route is to just make a 30' standard gin-pole, tilt-up tower.

I would appreciate the help and people's experience. Pictures would be nice, too, if you have something unique.

KiwiJohn
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Joined: 01/12/2005
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 691

Posted: 08:10pm 09 Apr 2008

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Whatever you decide with a guyed pole I think you need to get the guys as high a possible without fouling the blade tips. As this little diagram shows pressure on the mill causes the pole to bow in the direction of the lower arrow.

Bryan1

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Joined: 22/02/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1454

Posted: 09:28am 10 Apr 2008

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Allo Imsmooth,
Awhile ago I made a tilting tower according to Glenn's drawings but didnt put the guy wires high enough and the first real storm we had BENT 2" thick wall rural gal pipe like a pipe cleaner. The tilting tower is a beaut concept but rigidity is the most important part and make sure your guy wires are just below the blades. I'm my opnion the gin pole tower setup is the best but for a 30' tower the tilting arrangement would also be feasable.

Cheers Bryan

Tinker

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Joined: 07/11/2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 1904

Posted: 10:21am 10 Apr 2008

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imsmooth said I am calling on the expertise of those here who have made towers, as this is the next hurdle I will soon face. I have seen pictures on this site of a tilt-down tower that looks about 20' tall. There is a pivot in the middle that allows the upper section to "see-saw".

I want a 30' tower. I was thinking of having the bottom section permanently mounted at 20' high with 3" pipe. The top section would have anothe 20' section that pivots in the center allowing me to get it another 10' up for a total of 30'. The middle section would have guy wires.

Is this reasonable? Is there a better way? Is 3" enough? If this is good, how do I contruct the pivot sections?

My other route is to just make a 30' standard gin-pole, tilt-up tower.

I would appreciate the help and people's experience. Pictures would be nice, too, if you have something unique.

I have built a few masts for radio amateur antenna, none for wind generators yet.
Looking at your ideas I would suggest to make the section up to the tilt pipe a triangular lattice mast. Pipe is just not stiff enough with just one set of guy wires. Just have a look how securely yacht masts are guyed and they normally don't tilt.
Klaus

Klaus

imsmooth

Senior Member

Joined: 07/02/2008
Location: United States
Posts: 214

Posted: 03:15pm 10 Apr 2008

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I still want to here from others on the tilt tower and guy tower.

I showed this link on the www.fieldlines.com website. I want to know what people here think of this lattice tower. It is very light, yet the claim is it can take reasonable winds at the top. I was looking at the 30' model that can take 80mph winds for a 23sq foot surface area at the top.

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