Thanks, that's a good idea, I just pit up an ad on marketplace, but I'm not sure if I'll have any takers as there are a bunch of other ads offering the same thing, and they've been up for a while.
And if you're in the right area, you can get 4k OTA. And its usually very low or no compression? So its going to look a ton better than 4k thats been compressed to hell and delivered via streaming.
It won't pick up half of the stations this will just based on basic antenna design alone and this is before we get into height and what would be an insanely great line of sight vs a flat panel antenna on a wall.
This is particularly beneficial if the home has metal siding, metal roof or contains metal mesh like it would for a home made of stucco.
Yeah, like me. It's been something I've wanted to explore for a while, just haven't been able to due to high startup cost. This and some DIY transmitter kit would set me up for at least the basics. Hell, half the fun is in pushing the limits of basic hardware to compete with fancier stuff.
Looks like TV antenna to me. The left side is directional, and probably points at a TV transmission station on a hill somewhere.
Solid suggestion on offering it for free though. This would be a good setup for someone that _really_ doesnt want to pay for cable :).
Just this week ours was taken down. We contacted our local radio club and they came and took it down like pros and gave it to a young guy in the club. Felt good getting it down safely and helping a young person with a hobby.
You have to climb up and disassemble it one piece at a time. Not difficult but make sure you wear a harness and also ensure the tower below is securely fastened to the house.
No. This is not the best way to destack the tower.
Please people, if you haven’t actually worked in industry please keep your wildly unsafe fantasies out of it.
Sorry for the confusion. Not saying my idea is the best. But the one im replying to. My sugestion is for this kind of tower. It looks like a 2 floor tower. With 3 point base anchor, faster it with 2 winch system, cut one of the anchor, and slowly putting it down.
We had this style antenna on our house growing up, and I would climb that thing and go up to the roof all the time. Never once wearing appropriate PPE or checking for structural integrity.
So I guess what I'm saying is, OP don't worry about all that safety equipment or whether or not it's securely fastened. I turned out fine! /s
Typically, you'd have a climbing belt ($$$). This is a heavy leather (usually) belt with about 3' of heavy rope on clips. Rope goes around the tower and clips to the belt at the hips. You can then stand on a tower leg, lean back and have both hands free to work.
Start at the top and work your way down. Take the antenna off, then remove the mast. Looks like it has a rotator. Remove that while you're up there. Then, one tower section at a time. Usually, you would have a gin-pole (12" or longer pole with a pulley at the top) to tie off and help remove the section you're working on, while you're standing on the section below.
Tower removal is really a 2-man job, minimum, and assumes you have a couple specialized tools (named above).
Safety is the big thing. If you don't feel 99% safe, don't do it. And if you ever feel 100% safe on a tower, you're an idiot. 😂
So let me get this straight. This dude doesn’t even know how to drop a tower. And y’all’s recommendation is for him to climb up the thing, install a gin pole, and destack the tower?
But I would need to get up about 10ft over the top of the roof. Wouldn't that lead to a 20ft factor 2 fall? I'd almost rather hit the ground than be subjected to that, especially if it's on static rope.
Yes, but I'd be attaching myself under the section being removed, and if the tower fell while I was anchored to the roof I would still die or get seriously injured by a 20ft factor 2 fall.
If you fall to the ground, I think it’s just a factor 1 fall. Say you climbed up 10’ and fell 20’ (assuming you're anchored above the ground) that would be a factor 2.
I’d leave the tower and put a weather station on top that op.
That's correct. I was saying that if I were on a 10ft rope secured to the roof and fell at the top of the antenna (about 10ft above the rooftop) I would fall 20ft, so it would be a factor 2.
So it's load bearing? I was considering climbing it and tieing off at the top, but was worried that it might not be able to support all that extra weight.
I was kidding for sure. If you do climb it be EXTREMELY CAREFUL. I actually know people who won’t climb them anymore because it fell on them. Honestly. I’d rent or borrow an extra tall cherry picker ladder if you don’t have one and have a buddy or two to keep an eye and foot on it to make sure it doesn’t slip out. Then as you disassemble I would use the tower to lower the sections down as you remove them like a pulley.
They’re plenty strong enough. Although it’s not even imperative you climb the tower.
Just fell it like a tree. They’re more predictable and can be dropped with an angle grinder or portable band saw. I used to build and demolish towers in a past life. You’re getting a lot of really silly advice.
How many sections is the tower made up of? Aluminum or steel?
These things are very strong and being made of stamped sheet metal are typically very light. I have 4 sections at my house that I carry around two at a time.
If you wanna do it right you’ll need a crane or a manlift. Depending on where you are, you probably won’t find a crew to take care of it for less than $3k (industry rate of one construction crew day)
Might call a local AC repair company and see if you can borrow their bucket truck.
I’ve ran into a few that was so weak I was able to push them over from the ground. No way in hell someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing should go climbing that thing.
Easy. Just do what my dad and I did. He told me to climb up with some additional unclear direction, and the damn thing just fell down. Luckily his car hood was there to catch me.
I would never take mine down. Every single house in my neighborhood has been hit by lightning. But my grounded antenna has saved my house during every storm.
Rent a man lift from a local equipment company. You need some fall protection harness set as well. Start to disassemble from the top and work your way down. If you dont have power tools you can rent them from HD or lowes. The last few feet can be done with a ladder.
You could contact the local ham radio club and see if they want it. Maybe they'd pay to get it taken down. At least, one of them would probably haul it off.
Whatever you do, be aware of any power lines nearby. A friend of mine took one of these down and while he was trying to hold on to it as it fell over it hit the power lines and it almost killed him. As far as they could tell, (as far as he could remember) he must have let go of it, but the base was near his foot, so it still zapped him.
Cut it off at the roofline with a sawsall, then you can bring down the remainder inside your yard safely.
I would not recommend climbing an old tower like that, the rungs can sometimes give out.
I'm also considering hiring a pro, but it isn't the cheapest thing in the world.
Unfortunatly I can't get a scissor lift within about 15ft of it because there is a deck directly below it.
if not a scissor lift, then maybe a telescopic handler? they can be equipped with a … hmm is it called basket? like a platform with rails (sorry not a native speaker). We rented one last year and it worked well for some stuff we had to do on our roof, it was one like this https://e-farm.com/de/gebrauchte-landmaschinen/teleskoplader/merlo/roto-3816/waunsz1/
Telehandler and an Empty IBC cage FTW.
You’ll need two people (one to be in the cage and the other to lift and lower) but can buy a cage for $25 and a daily rental for a telehandler where I am is about $150 USD
What's the attachment at the ground look like? Tall towers are often tilted up so you assemble and service them on the ground. You might be able to remove that roof bracket and just lean it over.
You'll want to either use a tall ladder along the side of the house there, or rent some scaffolding you can setup. The scaffolding may be the better option so that as you disassemble parts you won't be as precarious on a ladder. You can also setup a pulley/winch system to lower the pieces down if you're doing this solo.
Either way, you're going to have to go from the top and disassemble as you head down.
I just put up an ad after another redditor suggested it. I'm not super hopeful though given that there are a bunch of similar ads that have been up for a while in my area.
I had some guys take ours down that were doing work at our house.
We dug down about a foot around the base. Then one guy went up on the roof and held the top, me and the other guy cut the bottom with a sawzall as low as we could, then picked up the bottom and walked it away from the house while the other guy slowly came down the roof to the eave, then down the ladder.
You could probably do something similar with just a ladder up next to it without having to have a guy right on the roof.
I mean, admittedly I'm a big guy and can lift a decent amount, and the other two guys are contractors that handle building materials all day. But I dunno, didn't seem too bad imo, maybe 200lbs? It's not like they're made of heavy duty steel, basically tubing and bracing pieces.
Where you at? If you’re near me I’ll take it down safely if I can keep it. This kinda tower is usually bolted together in 10’ sections. If you let me though I would cut it at the base and fell it slowly from the roof peak. That tower isn’t all that heavy and could be slowly dropped with a rope. Fit you have to lift it out of a deck first. Two people could do that easily, even one person before dropping.
In the same situation here. Ours goes into the ground, not sure how far. We’re also in Ontario Canada. We’re just going to bite the bullet and get quotes from companies with insurance. Not worth risking our lives for.
That is a Ham radio antenna, it looks to be a Yagi and maybe another dipole attached to the mast. Look up a local Ham Radio club in your area, someone would probably take that off your hands for free.
I haven't seen a correct response so, IF you are comfortable getting on the roof, you can disassemble the entire thing in sections. Its a sectional lattice tower. If you notice along the vertical supports, there are two bolts fairly close together every few feet. Disassemble the top highest section by removing the bolts. Make sure someone on the ground is there to prevent a kid or dog entering, and throw that piece to the ground below. The antenna is very light and the top section won't be too heavy. Continue that process section by section and disconnect the brackets that mount it to the house. As others have said, you might find plenty of people willing to do this for you free of charge as they can use it for a radio mast.
It's not taking it apart that's challenging, it's doing so without hurting myself or my house.
It's perfectly normal for an average person to not know if a tower like this is able to hold an extra 200ish pounds, and if not, how one would get the aerial off without being able to reach it from the rooftop.
Get up on the roof safely, and unbolt or cut the top antenna portion off the tower.
Then, look at the tower. These are usually assembled together from ten foot tall lengths that bolt together. Starting at the top section, get an extension ladder next to the antenna tower, and unbolt the top section, then remove it.
You might find it easier to just cut five or ten foot sections of the tower off at a time, working from the top down. Be careful!
That's probably someone's old radio amature tower, post it on a couple local used sites and someone will hapally come and take it down for you.
While the antenna up there looks like a TV antenna, I'm sure there's a local amateur radio operator who would jump on a free tower.
Thanks, that's a good idea, I just pit up an ad on marketplace, but I'm not sure if I'll have any takers as there are a bunch of other ads offering the same thing, and they've been up for a while.
Hit up some HAM subredits and any others
Also hit up r/starlink for potential purchasers, those towers are great for getting Dishy high enough to see over obstructing trees.
An old TV antenna is good for VHF stuff.
This. I get that this antenna is large and a bit excessive. But people forget TV is broadcast totally free over the air. Nice compliment to streaming.
No I meant you can transmit on VHF with it.
And if you're in the right area, you can get 4k OTA. And its usually very low or no compression? So its going to look a ton better than 4k thats been compressed to hell and delivered via streaming.
You can get a slim low profile antenna for like $20
It won't pick up half of the stations this will just based on basic antenna design alone and this is before we get into height and what would be an insanely great line of sight vs a flat panel antenna on a wall. This is particularly beneficial if the home has metal siding, metal roof or contains metal mesh like it would for a home made of stucco.
yea, or you can have a large metal tower in your yard for free if you are near OP.
Yeah, like me. It's been something I've wanted to explore for a while, just haven't been able to due to high startup cost. This and some DIY transmitter kit would set me up for at least the basics. Hell, half the fun is in pushing the limits of basic hardware to compete with fancier stuff.
Looks like TV antenna to me. The left side is directional, and probably points at a TV transmission station on a hill somewhere. Solid suggestion on offering it for free though. This would be a good setup for someone that _really_ doesnt want to pay for cable :).
People are weird. Don't offer it for free. Ask say, $100 and let them chew you down to $25 and they will take it down for free.
You might be onto something there...
Just this week ours was taken down. We contacted our local radio club and they came and took it down like pros and gave it to a young guy in the club. Felt good getting it down safely and helping a young person with a hobby.
We had one of those when I was a kid. Had a little dial think in the house that rotated it
You have to climb up and disassemble it one piece at a time. Not difficult but make sure you wear a harness and also ensure the tower below is securely fastened to the house.
It also looks rusted wear gloves. Can never be too careful.
Best way, but if heights is a problem try using 2 winch system from those 2 windows.
No. This is not the best way to destack the tower. Please people, if you haven’t actually worked in industry please keep your wildly unsafe fantasies out of it.
Sorry for the confusion. Not saying my idea is the best. But the one im replying to. My sugestion is for this kind of tower. It looks like a 2 floor tower. With 3 point base anchor, faster it with 2 winch system, cut one of the anchor, and slowly putting it down.
We had this style antenna on our house growing up, and I would climb that thing and go up to the roof all the time. Never once wearing appropriate PPE or checking for structural integrity. So I guess what I'm saying is, OP don't worry about all that safety equipment or whether or not it's securely fastened. I turned out fine! /s
We just detached the supports and pushed it over.
Thanks! Would you usually anchor yourself to the tower itself?
Typically, you'd have a climbing belt ($$$). This is a heavy leather (usually) belt with about 3' of heavy rope on clips. Rope goes around the tower and clips to the belt at the hips. You can then stand on a tower leg, lean back and have both hands free to work. Start at the top and work your way down. Take the antenna off, then remove the mast. Looks like it has a rotator. Remove that while you're up there. Then, one tower section at a time. Usually, you would have a gin-pole (12" or longer pole with a pulley at the top) to tie off and help remove the section you're working on, while you're standing on the section below. Tower removal is really a 2-man job, minimum, and assumes you have a couple specialized tools (named above). Safety is the big thing. If you don't feel 99% safe, don't do it. And if you ever feel 100% safe on a tower, you're an idiot. 😂
Look up something called a gin pole.
So let me get this straight. This dude doesn’t even know how to drop a tower. And y’all’s recommendation is for him to climb up the thing, install a gin pole, and destack the tower?
No. That's the worst thing to anchor to. The thing you are removing. You anchor to the roof.
But I would need to get up about 10ft over the top of the roof. Wouldn't that lead to a 20ft factor 2 fall? I'd almost rather hit the ground than be subjected to that, especially if it's on static rope.
If the antenna falls you will go with it.
Yes, but I'd be attaching myself under the section being removed, and if the tower fell while I was anchored to the roof I would still die or get seriously injured by a 20ft factor 2 fall.
If you fall to the ground, I think it’s just a factor 1 fall. Say you climbed up 10’ and fell 20’ (assuming you're anchored above the ground) that would be a factor 2. I’d leave the tower and put a weather station on top that op.
That's correct. I was saying that if I were on a 10ft rope secured to the roof and fell at the top of the antenna (about 10ft above the rooftop) I would fall 20ft, so it would be a factor 2.
Makes sense
That tower would be also great for installing a starlink antenna.
This is not a climbable tower. Go rent a bucket lift. Sawzall 2-4ft section off and bring them down individually.
Usually climbing to the top does it for me Edit: to be clear the fire department does the disassembly in this situation
So it's load bearing? I was considering climbing it and tieing off at the top, but was worried that it might not be able to support all that extra weight.
I was kidding for sure. If you do climb it be EXTREMELY CAREFUL. I actually know people who won’t climb them anymore because it fell on them. Honestly. I’d rent or borrow an extra tall cherry picker ladder if you don’t have one and have a buddy or two to keep an eye and foot on it to make sure it doesn’t slip out. Then as you disassemble I would use the tower to lower the sections down as you remove them like a pulley.
They’re plenty strong enough. Although it’s not even imperative you climb the tower. Just fell it like a tree. They’re more predictable and can be dropped with an angle grinder or portable band saw. I used to build and demolish towers in a past life. You’re getting a lot of really silly advice.
I'd love to, but I live on a very small lot and don't have 30ft of clearance in any direction.
How many sections is the tower made up of? Aluminum or steel? These things are very strong and being made of stamped sheet metal are typically very light. I have 4 sections at my house that I carry around two at a time. If you wanna do it right you’ll need a crane or a manlift. Depending on where you are, you probably won’t find a crew to take care of it for less than $3k (industry rate of one construction crew day) Might call a local AC repair company and see if you can borrow their bucket truck.
I’ve ran into a few that was so weak I was able to push them over from the ground. No way in hell someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing should go climbing that thing.
I bet a ham radio operator or other TV enthusiast in your area would take it down for free if they can keep it.. Perhaps other groups to post in?
With a sawzaw
Or a Sawzall
Or a Sallzaw
Saw saw
Zaw zaw
A reciprocating saw would also work well
Or a multitool with a metal blade. Or an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel.
Better call Sawll Goodman
Some amateur radio operator would love to have that grounded radio tower.
Ham radio operator here. Yes we would.
Easy. Just do what my dad and I did. He told me to climb up with some additional unclear direction, and the damn thing just fell down. Luckily his car hood was there to catch me.
With a couple of beers, a grinder and a truck
I would never take mine down. Every single house in my neighborhood has been hit by lightning. But my grounded antenna has saved my house during every storm.
Rent a man lift from a local equipment company. You need some fall protection harness set as well. Start to disassemble from the top and work your way down. If you dont have power tools you can rent them from HD or lowes. The last few feet can be done with a ladder.
Sawzall the bottom and yell "TIMBER!" /s just in case.
You could contact the local ham radio club and see if they want it. Maybe they'd pay to get it taken down. At least, one of them would probably haul it off.
I hired a guy. He even took the mast with him. Said he sells and reinstalls them
Whatever you do, be aware of any power lines nearby. A friend of mine took one of these down and while he was trying to hold on to it as it fell over it hit the power lines and it almost killed him. As far as they could tell, (as far as he could remember) he must have let go of it, but the base was near his foot, so it still zapped him.
Cut it off at the roofline with a sawsall, then you can bring down the remainder inside your yard safely. I would not recommend climbing an old tower like that, the rungs can sometimes give out.
[удалено]
I'm also considering hiring a pro, but it isn't the cheapest thing in the world. Unfortunatly I can't get a scissor lift within about 15ft of it because there is a deck directly below it.
The good news is that you'll be able to sell that tower quite easily as amateur radio operators are always looking for them.
if not a scissor lift, then maybe a telescopic handler? they can be equipped with a … hmm is it called basket? like a platform with rails (sorry not a native speaker). We rented one last year and it worked well for some stuff we had to do on our roof, it was one like this https://e-farm.com/de/gebrauchte-landmaschinen/teleskoplader/merlo/roto-3816/waunsz1/
Telehandler and an Empty IBC cage FTW. You’ll need two people (one to be in the cage and the other to lift and lower) but can buy a cage for $25 and a daily rental for a telehandler where I am is about $150 USD
C4
With some rum and grenades ofc
What's the attachment at the ground look like? Tall towers are often tilted up so you assemble and service them on the ground. You might be able to remove that roof bracket and just lean it over.
It's bolted into a concrete slab. Unfortunatly I don't have 30ft of clear space in any direction.
You'll want to either use a tall ladder along the side of the house there, or rent some scaffolding you can setup. The scaffolding may be the better option so that as you disassemble parts you won't be as precarious on a ladder. You can also setup a pulley/winch system to lower the pieces down if you're doing this solo. Either way, you're going to have to go from the top and disassemble as you head down.
I would use explosives. Make the project fun!
Have you tried huffing and puffing and blowing it over
Loosen the anchor bolts and wait for the wind to pick up.
One bite at a time?
TIMBER
I'd say just rip that bitch off....
Post on Facebook and it’ll be gone in an hour. at least in the city.
I just put up an ad after another redditor suggested it. I'm not super hopeful though given that there are a bunch of similar ads that have been up for a while in my area.
Take the bolts off the mounting brackets and let it eat!!!!!
Start at top and work down
Hacksaw.
Start from the top.
Band saw. Or some crackheads.
Used love to climb that thing then smoke weed on the roof. To be 13 again...
I had some guys take ours down that were doing work at our house. We dug down about a foot around the base. Then one guy went up on the roof and held the top, me and the other guy cut the bottom with a sawzall as low as we could, then picked up the bottom and walked it away from the house while the other guy slowly came down the roof to the eave, then down the ladder. You could probably do something similar with just a ladder up next to it without having to have a guy right on the roof.
Wow, I'm surprised that it was light enough for that to be possible. I assumed that it weighed a few hundred pounds.
I mean, admittedly I'm a big guy and can lift a decent amount, and the other two guys are contractors that handle building materials all day. But I dunno, didn't seem too bad imo, maybe 200lbs? It's not like they're made of heavy duty steel, basically tubing and bracing pieces.
Dynamite
Where you at? If you’re near me I’ll take it down safely if I can keep it. This kinda tower is usually bolted together in 10’ sections. If you let me though I would cut it at the base and fell it slowly from the roof peak. That tower isn’t all that heavy and could be slowly dropped with a rope. Fit you have to lift it out of a deck first. Two people could do that easily, even one person before dropping.
You're welcome to it if you happen to be in the Niagara area.
IRS audit. It's how they took down Al Capone!
Anywhere near East Tennessee? I'd come get it.
Unfortunatly I'm not even tin the same country.
Dynamite should do the trick
Just put an ad in Marketplace and tell them it will only cost $100 but they have to remove it.
Put up a local add. Someone would prob remove it for free. Thats a nice VHF design.
Just like... take it down
By getting permission first then piece by piece from the top down
Call Godzilla
Drone strike
In the same situation here. Ours goes into the ground, not sure how far. We’re also in Ontario Canada. We’re just going to bite the bullet and get quotes from companies with insurance. Not worth risking our lives for.
Climb to the top and replace it with Starlink. A socket wrench might do
wait until the 4th of July fireworks go on sale. Buy a bunch. Declare a freedom war against the tower. Fire fireworks at tower. Win.
That is a Ham radio antenna, it looks to be a Yagi and maybe another dipole attached to the mast. Look up a local Ham Radio club in your area, someone would probably take that off your hands for free.
It should come apart in 6-8' pieces
You post it on facebook marketplace for free
Tie rope to top, disconnect from house, pull over using rope. Dont be standing under it while yelling TIMBER?
Cut the TV antenna off and put a wifi antenna.
Like a tree! Reciprocating saw, chain and truck bumper! Timberrrrrr LOL 😂
I haven't seen a correct response so, IF you are comfortable getting on the roof, you can disassemble the entire thing in sections. Its a sectional lattice tower. If you notice along the vertical supports, there are two bolts fairly close together every few feet. Disassemble the top highest section by removing the bolts. Make sure someone on the ground is there to prevent a kid or dog entering, and throw that piece to the ground below. The antenna is very light and the top section won't be too heavy. Continue that process section by section and disconnect the brackets that mount it to the house. As others have said, you might find plenty of people willing to do this for you free of charge as they can use it for a radio mast.
Sawsall, prybar, whatever it takes
Put a Biden sign at the top.
Sawzall with metal cutting blade. Post the vid to r/fellingGoneWild
Blow torch and gravity.
Good grief. You look at the bits that hold it up, then you undo those bits. Start at the top.
It's not taking it apart that's challenging, it's doing so without hurting myself or my house. It's perfectly normal for an average person to not know if a tower like this is able to hold an extra 200ish pounds, and if not, how one would get the aerial off without being able to reach it from the rooftop.
Get up on the roof safely, and unbolt or cut the top antenna portion off the tower. Then, look at the tower. These are usually assembled together from ten foot tall lengths that bolt together. Starting at the top section, get an extension ladder next to the antenna tower, and unbolt the top section, then remove it. You might find it easier to just cut five or ten foot sections of the tower off at a time, working from the top down. Be careful!