Part II - Concrete

Ok so now we have the concrete in and everything is curing. I was a little worried that people were not going to make it right on time and the concrete guy was a bit early. However, he was very nice and I highly recommend Parkway Concrete located in York, SC. We didn't get any photos of the truck, but its quite a vehicle. They mix onsite so there is no waste and you only pay for what you use and no "hot" loads. On top of that, the washout was almost nil equaling to about a shovel full. I picked up the motorized buggy and flex-shaft vibrator from United Rental in Rock Hill around 10:30am, stopped by Starbucks and headed home to make sure I could drive the buggy without killing myself. It was pretty easy, but the soft ground and no load in the buggy made me worry some. The load sits right about the drive wheels and the motor and me were on the back. I did fill the buggy up with water and drive it around to make sure we would be OK. I only fell off once when i was going to get another load from the truck. I was going a bit too fast down hill and I hit a couple of bumps in the yard. No one got hurt and it was a pretty good laugh.

Ed and his son, Christen, was doing most of the hard work. I mentioned to Ed that I got the vibrator (insert joke here) and he wasn't convinced that it would be that much help. My Dad was watching him the first time he used it and Dad said it took him by surprise. Ed said, "It did!" After we were all done, Ed said, "I will never do another concrete project without a flex-shaft vibrator." It would move the concrete for him and it was amazing watching all of the air bubbles too.

Once we got started, we were done in about an hour. Total of 4 yards of 5000 psi Fiber re-enforced concrete. I spent about another 30-45 mins cleaning off the buggy and loading it back on the trailer. I cleaned up a bit and headed to dinner with KF4ARC and, while we were out, topped off the buggy's fuel tank. The next morning, I returned the rented equipment to United and the trailer to where it belongs and went to work. It feels good to have this part complete. I'm getting more excited each day to get this tower up. Now, the tower legs need to be cleaned up, the Pro 67B needs assembly and testing once it arrives (late Jan/early Feb), purchase transmission line (I'm thinking LMR400) and rotor cable and move the bearing from my 25G to the plate on the top of the 45G. It's not a lot, but the tower legs are going to be time consuming and help will be needed, but I think I've got that covered.

Continued thanks to Ed N4ZVN, his son Christen, Buddy N4BY, Ron WA4USC, Aaron KF4ARC and my Dad for all the help!