Ordering



Go to a good dealer for information. US Tower gives dismal support, period.   I ultimately went to Texas Towers for information and to order. Make sure your rotor fits into the top tower section (I used a Yaesu G-1000).

Despite what US Tower might say, the TRX-80 raising fixture does not work on the larger towers! Their dealers know this, their own documentation states it, but they'll tell you that the lighter fixture will work. Forget it... get the heavier raising fixture.  I would strongly recommend the raising fixture... it allowed me to install the rotor, mast, and antenna and then get it all vertical without help.

If you need to get a building permit in a BOCA town, the stuff provided by US Tower is almost worthless. Hire an engineer licensed in your state and have a base designed. My town required a 5x5x8 base; the 4x4x7 base spec'ed by US Tower wasn't large enough.

If you are in a BOCA town, ask US Tower about a BOCA T-base. I see no mention of it on their web site, but they exist.

You'll need a pro to weld the rebar cage for the base.  I went with WA2VUN. Mike is a busy guy, but the work was top-notch. I've heard nothing but excellent reviews of his work. He did the work according to the blueprints my engineer provided, and then delivered the cage to my house. He has access to an engineer and has done a lot of US Tower installs, so if I had to do this again, I'd have his engineer design the base for me. Eliminates one more sub-contractor from the job.

Shipping/Delivery



Make sure US Tower has your HOME phone number. I gave them both my work and home number. On the trip out, I never heard from the truck driver, so I called him to get status along the way. When I got to work on Monday morning, there were a bunch of messages from an annoyed truck driver asking why I wasn't answering my phone!

Get a wrecker truck to lift the tower off. You can't get it off any other way... a TX-472 is heavy! I spent $85 to get one, and it was a bargain. When I called
and said I needed help unloading something from a flatbed truck, they knew exactly what I meant... they did this before. Call a few days in advance to make sure they have a truck available.

You'll need about 5 or 6 people to help with the unload, and it helps if one (or more) of them has lots of experience dealing with big, heavy things. The guy who unloaded one tower before isn't going to be much help. Fortunately, I had a guy who does scaffolding for a living and another who is a professional rigger. They made sure the job was successful, and most importantly, safe!

Tools You'll Need



This is a partial list of tools you'll need. Some of them might be in your toolbox, but probably not all of them.

  • Prybars; I got two from Sears. Needed to coerce the tower's base holes to align with the base.
  • An 1-11/16th" wrench and socket. Yes, really big. You'll probably need both a socket and the wrench because part of the base prevents the wrench from fitting to tighten down the bolts. I got a 3/4" socket for about $18, and a long breaker bar for $40. Compared to the cost of the tower, the tools were a drop in the bucket.
  • A 3/4" socket or wrench. Needed to flip around the handles on the winches (they are mounted backwards to prevent damage during shipment).
  • A pair of 1-1/8th" wrenchs or sockets. You'll need these to tighen/loosen the 12 bolts that bolt the tower to the T-base.
  • Never-Seize. Put it on all bolts. You'll thank yourself later, trust me. Every time I take a bolt off, I make sure there is a good coverage of Never-Seize. I bought a large container of this from an auto supply place on-line.
  • A normal set of sockets, wrenches, etc. Nothing special, but you'll find yourself having to do various things with the pulleys, etc. I assume anyone buying a tower already has a decent socket set.