Jumping a Gin Pole Part 1

I had uploaded this video on 11/11/2013 but decided I did not like the font in the captions so, after 31 overnight views I deleted it and am now presenting it again. The shadow has been removed from the captions. The video is pretty self explanatory in its captions. It's not terribly exciting but there is a large element of danger when lifting 2500 pounds of steel 500 feet up a tower. The actual work took more than five hours so editing it down to ten minute segments had taken quite a while. The work shown in this video took over three hours but has been edited down to a little over 11 minutes. The video is of the work we did in September 2011. Usually it doesn't take me so long to edit, publish and upload a video. There will be two more parts to this video as I find time to edit.

[@iang3728]

I worked a gin pole building met masts for a few years. My one regret is not getting more video recordings of that job. Thanks for the video!

[@jhettish]

I have the same problem on this job. The crew that was in charge of getting this part done had two guys missing one day so I had to help the last remaining tower guy. It was Eric (tower guy), David (Winch Operator) and me, the "old" man. During part of that job two of my employees were in Nashville installing a new antenna for a broadcaster. When two of the erector guys got stuck without a plane back to Nashville from NYC I had to break off and work with the other crew. John

[@karlhungus5554]

Nope. Nada. Never. No way. Not in a million years or for a million dollars. Folks who build and work on towers, wind turbines, skyscrapers, etc. must have nerves of steel. I truly cannot imagine such daring work. Thank you all.

[@vindieu]

all of that just to get FM in the car.

[@trevordinsmore2194]

I don't see how you climbers can even walk with balls that big. Thanks for what you do...keep it up!!🪜😲

[@cjw9541]

Great work guys! Love the video. That's definitely some next level tower work there. Be safe and thanks for the upload!

[@christianpatterson2214]

been looking for a video like this for ages! thanks m8

[@jesusischrist1527]

I live right down the road from it and It was a 1000ft tower and 3 men died 😔😔😔.... Sad none the less ... I did tower work (mainly cell towers) for 13 years and I quit in 2018 but I have heard all kinds of things about this over the years working with different companies and I have worked for companies where people have fallen and died and then in 2008 I fell in LA but only from the first flange but it was enough to do a complete flip and land in my back braking my foot and heel hahaha ... I miss tower work and I miss my road dogs and tower family ... I worked with the same crew for 8 of those years and after being on the road traveling the country for that long living in hotels , campers and sleeping in the truck and trailer idk how many times 🤣, well , you become family you know and I have missed them for the last 3 years but my body can't take the climbing anymore and definitely not the 10-16 hours a day hanging off a tower in a crummy ole elk river 😂🤣😂 people have no idea what we have had to go through and how many people have died over the years just so we can use our phones 😔😔😔 but from one old tower dog to another - be careful out there and turn to Jesus Christ and be safe 🙏

[@toddnorris4041]

Hi John! Todd Norris here (AAA Comm in Nashville, Bill Kincaid days). I'm still in California and SUPER impressed you're still climbing and kicking ass! You are a wonderful asset to this trade. I only wish I could have learned more from you back in Tennessee. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to the next videos.

[@jhettish]

Hi Todd, I haven't seen you since................ maybe 2003 at the NATE conference in Nashville. Thanks for the kind words. I believe the only thing I have going for me is good genes, in that I can still do this work long after my "use by" date. A little news from Nashville, Bill Kincaid has had a stroke. I saw him in the hospital once and am just looking for a bit of improvement before going to see him again. I'm told he's impatient and combative. He's 82 I think. I sure don't want to have the same fate as Bill and my father so I take precautions. A stroke has got to be one of the worse things to live with. Thanks for subscribing. Listen to my Vblog and you'll hear what's been going on with me during the last six months. John

[@luisgonzalez5780]

Wow, this is very nice. I will be adding a 4th 10 ft. section to one of our towers at work using a much smaller gin pole but this video really helps.. Thank you for the upload.

[@AmericanTowerTech]

Sure hope I get to do this one day. Future tower tech here 🤘🏻

[@darrinbrown3092]

I always look forward to your videos. Find them very interesting and informative. Can't wait to see the upcoming ones for this job. I would love to have that tower in my back yard to hang some Ham Radio antennas on. :-)

[@brucehall5267]

Whoop on the jump easy ! Lol. Sorry I know what's going on. Awwwww the memories. Lol

[@mijodo2008]

Excellent work lads, Top Job. Cheers from Michael. Australia.

[@brucehall5267]

Smooth operator.

[@jhettish]

No. What we did was disconnect the top beacon wiring, remove the top section (29) with the beacon in place and then remove the section just below it (28). Those two sections were moved aside on the ground until time to remount them. Next the two bent sections (26 and 27) were removed and set aside. In the process of removing section 26 we had to re-attach guy wires temporarily to section 25. We then installed the newly manufactured (Central Tower) 26 and 27 (after painting) then reinstalled 28 and 29. This required repositioning the gin pole several times.

[@corndog4life91]

Why did you build the pole at the bottom instead of the top? I've never jumped a pole like that, always built at top.

[@jaesindnb6197]

I like your videos John!

[@jhettish]

Thanks for the comment. This is always good to hear. Thanks,John

[@davidmerchant8245]

I remember that tower falling in Huntsville. I live in the town just west of Huntsville Alabama. I believe it was channel 31.

[@DavidTerryTAEC]

Great video! But this was more like installing the gin pole. I specifically was trying to see how you jumped it. I'm imagining the pole sliding against the track. I hoped to see that in action.

[@jhettish]

This video was from 3013, 9 years ago. Each time I get a comment on one of these videos I go back and watch the video all over again. I hate that I didn't get the audio louder during the editing. I think I'd bee posting and uploading KZbin videos for around 5 years in 2013. I got a bit better later on. I made the comment about "watching paint dry" but that's what it must have looked like to the people who watch the three parts of the video but to the guys on the tower, Eric Foss and me it was pretty stressful. Lifting a 2500 pound item up a tower is pretty dangerous but Eric and the guy on the hoist, David, things were under control. The other guy on the tower was me but I was much younger then. I was 68. At 77 I'm still in good enough physical shape but I no longer have a crew but that's a story I hope to get out soon in a v-log fashion. I truly appreciate your comment and hope I can find part 2 and 3 on the channel. I think that some of my videos have disappeared from this venue but I'm not sure. Last time I looked there were still 104 videos and new subscribers. Thanks for the comment.

[@gabrielcarrizo4880]

Great vid! Here in Argentina were not allowed to climb inside the pole or any piece

[@user-dd1bb4tw4r]

Good thing. Climbing on gin poles is a death trap. Harness to the tower always.

[@brucehall5267]

Holding out with your legs. Lol

[@glenmartin2437]

Thank you.

[@jhettish]

Thanks for the comment Glen, The 2000 lb Ginpole was quite hard to deal with but once in place all went well. There was a Ginpole accident just outside of Huntsville, Alabama about 20 years ago where the pole got stuck at some level and the hoist operator tried to "bull Doze" his way up the tower. The pole broke lose, it fell against a guy wire and the tower (1200 ft) fell with (I think) with three workers at the top who had been waiting for the pole to get there. Sad stuff.

[@waynerobinson2301]

Back in the late fifths early sixtys my favorite uncle was erecting a very tall radio tower in San Diego Ca . There was a permit hand on the job, when a small earthquake hit the tower swayed quite a bit . They were hundreds of feet up , the permit guy got really scared and said," let's get the hell down from here." My uncle told him, " hang on to what you got you'll be down soon enough".

[@jhettish]

Hi Wayne and thanks for the comment. We don't get earthquakes very often in Middle Tennessee. I remember waking up one night about 30 seconds before I felt an earthquake shake my house in Middle Tennessee. It turned out that the epicenter was in southern Indiana. That's the only quake I've ever experienced. Your story is much like my lightning stories in this area. When you're 1200 feet up a tower it takes at least 25 to 35 minutes to climb down. If a storm pops up all of a sudden the safest thing might be to lash off in the middle of the tower and wait it out. 1200 foot tall towers are usually 5 to 10 feet in width so there's plenty of room in the middle in most cases. The best way to make sure it won't rain and there will not be any lightning when working a 300 foot or less tower is to climb down when you see the storm coming. The storm may be a dense wall of water and lightning bolts but if you get off the tower the storm will bypass that site, or so it seems.

[@brucehall5267]

Whoop come up on the jump operator

[@infinitecanadian]

Where’s Part 2?

[@hippieflip8893]

I replaced some guys who died riding the gun pole.

[@brucehall5267]

Meat on the hook operator. Bang bang coming to earth. Lol. Y'all be safe. Rock on!!!

[@steviegillespie5021]

Amazing ….. As a ham I can appreciate this video.... I wish I had a back yard for a tower like that.. would be a dream come true with a log periodic on it.... 73de MI0GTA / EI2IBB

[@morganhanson524]

We are making a documentary on tower work. We're interested in using your video. if you could contact me that would be awesome.

[@jhettish]

Feel free to give me a call at 931-684-8450

[@DavidTerryTAEC]

@@jhettish That's very forward of you on the internet. I'd edit that post....

[@trappistachel]

John, are you scared of bugs? :)

[@jhettish]

Buggy software but not the live version. Bugs seem to drive my wife nuts but are not all that much of a problem for me. Ticks and chiggers irritate me but even wasps don't bother me all that much unless they attack in mass formation and that hasn't happened in a long time. John

[@kerbygator]

Phuck that. You crazy.