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Show all reviews of the Glen Martin Towers
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of the Glen Martin Towers.
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W7IS
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 27, 2005 23:54
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Great Product
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I purchased a 26ft Glen Martin roof tower. It came in 5 boxes sent via UPS. Several of the heavy boxes had broken open but I was missing only one piece part. It comes as a 17.5 ft tower with an add on 8.5ft heavy duty lower section. There is a 2 page assembly manual for the 17.5 ft tower but the 8.5ft add on section had no inventory of parts and no assembly instructions. So I had to spend an extra day talking with Glen Martin and they sent some engineering pictures via email that provided enough help to figure it out. The assembly required modifying the 17.5 ft tower with some internal cross braces and some heavier angle braces in one area. The legs on the 26 ft tower are NOT set up to allow it to be tipped over. So I had to drill new mounting holes in all four feet so it could be tipped over like the 17.5 ft tower can be. The legs are held to the roof with 2 bolts on each leg and the 2nd bolt hole is drilled after you have the it laying on the pitch of the roof. I was able to assemble the 17.5 section with it sitting on two 6ft long tables. The first two sections are surprisingly light weight. If I were the one who designed the 17.5 tower I would have used angle aluminum for all the braces rather than the light weight tubular braces. The 8.5 ft add on section is very heavy duty with aluminum angle metal for all the braces. The four lower side rails are solid 2” angle aluminum ¼” thick. While the upper two tower sections are 1 ½” angle alum 1/8” thick. The tower can only be climbed on one side. If I were to order it again I would have them send climbing ladder steps for all four sides. The heavy steps wouldn’t add that much weight but it would provide for a more sturdy construction. Plus its lots more convenient to be able to climb all four sides while working on the ant. If you were to accidentially step on one of the light tubular braces used on the two upper sections, it would easily bend them. The top of the tower came drilled to allow the high quality Yaesu GS-065 thrust bearing to bolt on. The Yaesu GS-065 thrust bearing is a new design that has 8 heavy bolts to position the mast and a set of four unique retaining plates that prevents the positioning screws from coming in direct contact with the mast. The Yaesu GS-065 is the best designed thrust bearing I’ve ever come across. I didn’t mount the 26ft tower on the roof. I decided to place it on the second story deck instead. The deck is 50ft long which allowed the tower to tip up and I added the quad elements as I was tipping it up. I purchased it with the medium duty 9ft alum mast which added six feet to the tower height. With the large 42” base it seems to be very stable and sturdy. I beefed up the bottom of the deck the same way you would with a roof. I gave them a 5 rating even though I had to spend an extra day making up my own assembly manual for the lower 8.5ft section. It sure solved the tower problem without having to pour concret. And so far I am more than pleased with the result. If you were planning on installing this 26ft tower on the roof, it would normally require a boom truck to lift it onto the roof. I don’t have a web site to post pictures of the finished product with the LB quad but I do have digital pictures taken as I assembled it. To tip it up I placed a 20ft chain around the tower, 9ft from the bottom, and used an 8ft beam to support a chain hoist. Frank W7IS
I wrote up a journal with pictures and detailed describtion of the Glen Martin 26ft roof tower at the following link: I hope it helps others who are thinking about a Glen Martin roof tower. For me, it was the perfect solution for an economical tower. Its a great product but it could stand some improvement as I indicated in the journal.
http://journals.aol.com/w7is/GlenMartin26ftTowerInstall/
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