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Reviews For: Tri-Ex W-51/WT-51

Category: Towers, masts, accessories, climbing & safety gear

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Review Summary For : Tri-Ex W-51/WT-51
Reviews: 15MSRP: 1,335.00
Description:
51', 3-section, medium-duty, self-supporting, crank-up tower. Hot-dip galvanized steel construction. Requires concrete anchor base. For info contact: Karl K. Tashjian, Civil Engineering 2183 S. Highland Ave Sanger, Ca 93657 (559) 495-0307 Fax (559) 495-0557 Mobile (559) 284-9707 e-mail Tashjian@msn.com
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.tashtowers.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00154.5
K6RSG Rating: 2004-09-10
Impressive, Durable, and Sturdy Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just over a month ago, a ground crew comprised of several fellow hams and I removed the W-51 from the QTH of a SK. The lower inch had to be jack hammered clear from the surrounding concrete driveway top coat laid down several years earlier. A 59 pound Hy-Gain TH5 MKII antenna and approx. 20 pound TailTwister rotator also had to be removed from their mast mounted positions above the top of the tower. It proved to be quite a job.

After getting the tower to my QTH, I discovered the tower to be in excellent structural condition, notwithstanding it's age of several decades. This older version has the cables, pulleys, and winch on the side rather than the front face of the tower, and has just one pair of bolt holes on each of the bottom mounting ears. It also lacks the tilt over ears about 8' up the tower.

I chose to replace the winch, cables and pulley assemblies along with all new stainless fastener hardware. During the process the entire tower mechanical condition was thoroughly examined and was found to be in remarkable condition free of rust and corrosion in spite of its age.

With a new base, winch and stainless fasteners provided by Karl Tashjian at Tashjian Towers the tower is once again in use. The cables and pulleys I obtained and fabricated via other sources.

This is one durable tower and very adept at holding it's own if you do not require or cannot use the tilt-over feature. There are a great number of these towers available on the used market and they are an exceptional value.

The tower's load rating appears to be quite conservative as the original antenna and rotor mounting scheme mentioned above were in a stong wind prone area yet showed no signs of stress.

With a minor degree of customizing to the rotor plate and mast pass through tube, it is now fitted with a Yaesu GX-800DXA rotor inside the upper section and a chromolly mast passing through a heavy duty thrust bearing. With an additional stand-off arm it will soon be hosting my Alpha-Delta DX-CC Multi-Band Dipole in inverted-v fashion along with my soon to be installed Lightning Bolt 5 Band 2 Element Quad.

Although the tower is light enough at just over 300 lbs to be walked up by four or five persons, it is far more convenient if a raising structure is used.

I also found Rustoleum's Cold Galvanizing Spray to be useful to touch up and seal places where the rotor plate and thrust bearing holes had to be drilled or where scratches penetrated through the tower's original hot dipped galvanizing.

An exceptional tower for the price.

N4JRZ Rating: 2004-08-22
I highly recommend this company!! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I live in So. Fl. where we have building requirements for wind gusts of 140 m.p.h. @ 3 second gusts. I talked to a number of tower companies trying to get some calculations for one of their towers that would meet this as well as other requirements that my city required. None could do it, or would do it except Tashjian Towers. I spoke to Karl Tashjian the owner who was extremely professional and helpful. He supplied me with the calcs and Engineering prints that I needed to obtain a permit in my city. Karl has plenty of bussiness and did not have to go out of his way to get this information for me. I ordered a model WT-51, crank-up, tilt-over tower along with some accessories. The quality and workmanship of the tower is great, and Karl was always good at answering my questions. I read a lot of posts on Tower e-mail reflectors and I have not heard of one other company that gives this kind of service. If you have any questions about these towers call Karl Tasjian and ask him, his website is www.TashTowers.com , or drop me an e-mail via my e-mail listed on QRZ.com and I will try to answer any questions in referance to my experiences with Tashjian Towers. There is also a picture of my tower on my page on QRZ.com when you look up my call N4JRZ. I highly recommend this company.
KE6US Rating: 2004-02-22
Workhorse Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My W-51 has been up exactly 20 years with a TH7DX on a 10' mast, and anchored in 2 yards of concrete. I have never had a moments problem with it. It looks as good now as the day I put it up.

Here in the Inland Empire we frequently get Santa Ana Winds with gust of 45-50 mph. At least a couple of times a year I see gusts of 60+ because of a small mtn pass aimed at my house!

I usually crank it all the way down when I expect these winds, but a couple of times I have been surprised in the middle of the night. Once with 60 mph gusts I went out to crank it down, but the force of the wind bound everything up and it would not crank down. The elements on the beam looked like demented palm fronds in a hurricane whipping around and bending downwind. Scared the crap out of me, but I couldn't crank it down. Next morning I expected to scour the neighborhood looking for my antenna. Everything survived perfectly.

I also climb it all the time when it is cranked down (looks too much like a foot guillotine otherwise). I use a safety belt and feel perfectly secure on it.

Terrific product. I'll post about it in another 20 years.
AB2KC Rating: 2003-02-10
Solid and reliable Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I mounted a full size Home brew 3 element 20-15-10 Meter quad with a 18' boom, with the heavy duty 1.5 dia one piece Cubex spreaders. It's also 4 elements on 10M. I calculated the wind loading at 14 square feet, worst case. At this load, I decided not to go any further with antennas on this tower. I also went only 4 feet above the thrust bearing. I have seen the tower with 40+ MPH gusts and I did get a little nervous, so I cranked it down to 30 ft. I don't think I would leave it full up at 50 MPH, since it is a little overloaded by spec. When I hear weather reports at +30 MPH, I drop it down Ten feet. Greater than 40 MPH, I drop it another 10 feet. If we are to get an Ice storm / hurricane... It's comming all the way down! I dread the day of a hurricane. I will add safety guys prior to a landfall. If I'm going away, or will not be operating for a few days, I drop it down. Be safe. Nice tower.
George AB2KC
WB2WIK Rating: 2001-10-19
Incredible value Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned three of these over the years, at different locations. Unfortunately, when Tri-Ex was acquired by Will-Burt two years ago, the fixed amateur communications towers products were discontinued, and this product is no longer sold "new." However, the W-51 and WT-51 were manufactured for about forty years and there's obviously thousands and thousands in the field, often selling "used" in the ham market.

This is definitely a "best buy" if you find a used one in good condition, which should sell in the $400-$800 range, depending on age and accessories. It is an extremely strong tower that will support most reasonable amateur antenna systems, up to about 10 SF on a 12' mast, without strain. Many hams overload this tower with 15+ SF of antennas, often on 18-24' long masts, and the towers, remarkably, usually survive unless extremely strong winds are encountered.

Its base _must_ be anchored in 2+ cubic yards of concrete, and I usually recommend 3 yards, unless the ground is extremely rocky and the last mechanism to compact the soil was the Ice Age. The tower, weighing only 385 lbs (without rotor, mast or accessories), is easy to handle for one person, if two strong furniture dollies are used to roll it. (It's obviously easier with two people.) Tilting it up on its base, once the base is anchored and conrete cured, is about a 4-man operation; but with four men properly positioned, this can be accomplished in 60 seconds. No crane required for most installations.

When nested, the tower is safely "climbable," and I've climbed W-51's for my entire adult life without incident, using a climbing belt, of course. Standing near the top of the tower (when it's nested) and using a strong belt, it's easy to hoist antennas, masts or whatever and plant them securely. A well-anchored W-51 does not budge with the weight of even two 200 lb men handling another 150 lbs of antennas up there.

The only parts that require any maintenance at all are the winch, the cable, and the pulleys, all of which should be periodically greased. I just erected my _third_ W-51 at the new home I recently purchased. It's a 20 year-old one recently removed from the home of a Silent Key, and it works like new. In lieu of a Tri-Ex base, a similar base from U.S. Tower will work, or one can be homebrewed by a welding shop if you provide them with precise dimensions; the cost of doing so is in the $150 range. The base is made of 1/4" thick steel plate (for the actual mounting surface, where six 3/4" bolts hold the tower on to the base) and standard "re-bar" available at any lumber/cement yard.

I love this tower. It has to be the "most bang for the buck" ever manufactured for a ham radio antenna accessory.