[NLRS] Tower installation detail question

[Dr. Gerald N. Johnson]

Grout is typically a thin concrete mix so it can be squeezed into such 
places as under that plate. It has often been used when mounting factory 
and power plant machinery, sometimes very large machinery. I think there 
will be more down force on the plate than up and the grout will spread 
that load over nearly all of the plate so the installation will be 
stronger with the grout than without. Otherwise wind loads will tend to 
bend the plate down with out the grout and it will stay vertical better 
with the grout.

73, Jerry, K0CQ

On 2/5/2017 4:58 PM, John Toscano wrote:
>
>
> Looking for an opinion on my tower installation...
>
> I just installed a US Towers HDX538 tilt-over crank-up tower. There is a
> T-shaped metal plate with three humongous bolts that are embedded into the
> concrete foundation and hold the plate an inch or two above the top of the
> concrete foundation. The bolts each have one nut below the plate and two
> nuts threaded onto them above the plate. Before the tower was attached to
> the plate, I did my best to level the plate by adjusting the nuts below the
> plate and tightening the nuts above the plate. After the tower was
> installed onto the plate, fastened with a total of 9 nuts and bolts, and
> cranked into the upright position, I re-checked the level against the tower
> itself instead of against the plate. The tower was very slightly out of
> perfectly vertical alignment, so I adjusted the nuts one more time to get
> it as close to perfectly vertical as I can with my level.
>
> According to the manufacturer's installation instructions, once the tower
> is leveled, the installer is supposed to fill in the space between the
> bottom of the plate and the top of the concrete foundation with "grout",
> although the description of the consistency of the grouting material sounds
> more like more concrete. Anyway, I mentioned this to one of the hams at the
> Roadrunners Microwave Group yesterday and he asked, "why bother?". My only
> response was, (a) because the installation instructions say so, and (b) to
> prevent any future change from the current (level) setting.
>
> What do y'all think about this? Should I fill in the space with "grout" and
> thereby permanently set the position of the nuts underneath the plate, or
> should I leave the space open so it would be possible to make future
> adjustments?
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