Who owns the tower? Be sure land owner hasn't leased the right for it to be there. If so, you cannot take it down. It will cost a fortune to do so and land price reflects its existence.

The tower is not leased, it is owned by the land owner. The price actually reflects a tax deed sale. The property never went on the open market. If it had, it would be many multiples of what I am paying. I was diligent in discussing this with my attorney and the tower will become my property to do with as I please.

Two "outside the box" ideas, considering I've never dealt with anything like this: someone who deals in scrap metal might be interested in taking it down for you, depending on what it's made of and how much those materials are worth. Or -- since you already have a lawyer -- you could always put an ad on Craigslist, make the yahoos who respond sign some waivers, and let them try the truck approach while you watch from a safe distance.

Shame you are not a radio ham. I had a 130' crank up (electric) tower in the yard in my home in the UK; a 360' tower is a dream. I sold the tower before I left the UK. Try an 'Ad' on a radio ham site; there may be someone prepared to pay good $$ for it.

Check your local jurisdiction for a dynamite or C4 explosive permit. I've got a lot of Special Forces team mates who would love to take it down.

Put a panaromic camera on the top and enjoy the views!

^^^ that! If you are close to the base you really cant see it. Put a nice hedge around the base.

Or offer it for free to anyone who wants to have it dismantled and assembled somewhere else or as scrap metal. If you do this, make sure they are FULLY INSURED! And experienced.

SELL it on Craigslist. Someone may pay "$100 + you haul it" for a radio tower to put up on their property. Or bid it out to scrappers, depending on how much steel is in it (scrap prices are pretty low right now).

I would get on a ham site and find out first if someone might even pay you for it. If not offer for free if that person takes it down. Like others have said. Have them sign papers.

You can't build anything within the fall zone of a cell tower, and I am guessing that the OP wants to build "right there" where it's already cleared

Who owns the tower? That's question #1. Once you know that, you'll find out how long the owner has permission to keep the tower on the property. The easiest (and most thorough way) to find out is to engage the services of a real estate lawyer /have him or her do a title search. The cost for this information won't be much.

My family farm happens to sit upon the highest piece of land in our county, and a company wanted to lease the rights to place a cell phone tower on it. The money would've been very good, but I didn't do it because I didn't want to live in the shadow of such a thing, and they wanted a lease of 100 years.

It will cost a fortune to do so and land price reflects its existence.

Yes, this tower is why a prime piece of land is offered up so cheaply.

I'd be intrigued by the idea of selling the tower on Craigslist, etc., but I don't know how realistic that is ... and you can't KNOW until you own the property.

My husband's uncle was the most unpopular man in Westchester County. A cell phone company wanted to build a tower on the top of his hill - the highest point in Westchester. They paid him a small fortune to do this. He built his house below it, blocked by native growth trees at house height. He said the lease paid for this very expensive custom home.

Of course in the Westchester/CT area, everyone lives with his cell phone but they unanimously do not want any towers built in the area as they are "unsightly". Then they complain incessantly about the poor cell phone service in the area.

search on "radio tower demolition company".

Yes, to clear up a couple of things, the reason I would be getting the property so cheaply is because I am purchasing it through a tax deed sale. This basically means that the owner did not pay property taxes and the county/state sold the property to cover the back taxes. It never went on the market, so the tower was never reflected in the price at all. It is owned by the person/corporation who owns/owned the land, it is not leased to anyone else. Title search has been done and comes back clean as a whistle (tax issues aside).

My attorney actually does many tower leases. He is very familiar with the ins and outs, legalities of towers, etc. But the only direction he can give me is that, yes, it will be mine, and, yes, I can take it down. Not HOW to take it down.

My brother said to lease it as a cell tower, but if I do that, I cannot build on it. This is literally in the center of the property. Although it would be great to have income from the lease, I would rather use it to build.

I did some research and towers such as this one sell used for between $10k - $30k, but that is once they are already taken down and ready for the buyer to come load. Perhaps I could contact a resale company and just give it to them if they take it down haul it. I do like the idea of contacting some local HAM guys, but I don't see how any amateur would have a need for such a monster. But then again, I am not into HAM. Someone could be chomping at the bit to get their hands on it. I just don't know.

Thanks, everyone for your input!

So, um, is it a problem if it stays up?

haha just a minor inconvenience

I agree with PineBaron...following so I can find out the end of the saga. Because I also agree with Virgil, lol

Just my 2 cents...

These towers are fairly easy to bring down, more expensive to bring down safely, and not really worth the cost of bringing down intact.

I wouldn't advertise the tower to ham users for sale unless you know for sure it is in great shape, and they have done it before. Realistically you are not going to sell the tower to a ham user. Towers over 200' are just too expensive to bring down.

Taking the tower down intact involves getting a large winch and a gin pole, attaching the gin pole to the section that is next to the top, attaching the winch through the gin pole to the top section, then detaching it and lowering it to the ground, then moving the gin pole down one section at a time and repeating the process. Once you get about half of it down, you can get the rest down with a crane, which is a lot less dangerous.

Because the sections will hit the guy-wires they usually rewire the tower as they begin. They will also inspect the tower to make sure it is safe for them to be climbing on it before they start.

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Having said that, if you don't mind possibly sacrificing structures near the tower then they are pretty easy to bring down. However be warned, they are not going to fall over like a tree. They will fold in a completely unpredictable way and the only way you can be sure that you aren't going to get injured is by being about 500' away.

All you do is make sure you have good tension on two sections of guy-wires and cut the guy-wire next to the top (never cut the top wire). The tension on the other wires causes the tower to bubble that direction, but the top guy-wire stops it from leaning and puts downward pressure on it. The tower will typically either collapse straight down or fold at about the 250' mark. Rinse and repeat for the next section. The best you can hope for is a swath of destruction about 100' around the tower.

Bry911 - Thanks for the info. No, I am not concerned about the structures next to the tower. They would get trashed, anyway, whether by me or the tower. Even if I can't sell it as a tower, I can probably get someone to haul it off for scrap after the destruction. By the way, yes, the tower is in good shape and through the beginning of this month was still being used. I believe the FCC dismissed the permit for the owner/tower as of ten days ago. The neighbor says that they see maintenance people out there.

I forgot to mention that the to the west, the neighbor's pool house is approximately 240' from the base and to the north is a well-traveled road approximately 275' from the base. Nothing to worry about to the south or east.

I thought I might be able to make up a little bit of the cost of the land by selling, but it sounds like that's looking like less of a possibility. If nothing else, I can get a drone and make a cool video! Plus I will get brownie points with the neighbors since they hate it.

What was the tower used for? I can't see the top of the tower from your photos. Since the tower is in good shape you might actually consider keeping and leasing it for a cell tower. Depending on the availability and service if the tower is in good shape you can probably get $750 to $1,500 per month.

The cost to have someone knowledgeable take the tower down will get your attention.

Bry911, it is/was a tower for a local radio station. I would consider leasing as a cell tower, but I would much rather build a house on the property.

Hire a professional to take it down. This isn't the first time someone has taken down such a tower. Follow their advice. You may have to do some digging to find a company who has this skillset but be assured there's people in this business all over the country.

We had a guyed tower that was smaller than yours (it was used by a rural fire department) and our estimate for removal (not disassembly) from a professional company was $12,000 iirc.

My advise is to find someone smart enough to pull it down without getting hurt and be done with it.

ETA: The important part is smart enough to not get hurt... Don't hire some yahoo who is going to cut the guy-wires and run.

I'd get rid of the thing, especially since renting it as a cell tower doesnt sound plausible. I'd pay someone qualified to do it so that they take any liability associated with its destruction. I agree with your neighbors - it's ugly. The land is gorgeous but that tower is an eyesore.

We want video when it comes down. Especially if there is beer, or pickup trucks or 'hey ya'll watch this' going on.

I recommend that before you permit anyone to work on the tower, you check with your insurance agent re: liability and workman's comp. And then verify that whoever you contract to works on it ALSO has the appropriate insurance. It won't be an inconsequential cost, but at least you shouldn't need the insurance for very long.

Do talk to your attorney before you proceed, but I would caution very strongly against workman's comp insurance. You want to contract with someone for the removal of the tower, rather than hire someone. You don't want to supervise the work at all, ask how they are going to do it but don't tell them, I wouldn't even be on site when it comes down. You really don't want to be the boss (or have any appearance of being the boss) on this one. Have your attorney draw up an agreement that contractor will take appropriate precautions and release you.

Insurance is always good but I doubt they are going to pay on this one anyway. You are responsible for maintaining a work environment that is free from any hidden dangers. The dangers are rather right out in the open on this one.

Ad in local news paper:

ANTENNA FOR SALE CHEAP, YOU REMOVE. must sign waiver.

bry911, I wholeheartedly agree about getting a lawyer to make sure the contractual details are just so. In my experience (small commercial construction subcontractor) any tower work at all was a red flag to our insurance companies. When we did a little tower work, it seemed to me that common practice was to shift all liability onto whoever hadn't dotted every i in the fine print....even more than usual. <sigh> The work itself wasn't that difficult for skilled people, but the legalities were way beyond usual.

I'd love to put a Cushcraft A3S with a Yeasu G-2800DXA rotator on your tower. Though I had a crankup tower in the UK, I had a 130' fixed/guyed tower I installed in my dad's home and remember I had no problem climbing up the tower though always used a safety harness; amazing views from up there :). climbing 300' would be even more fun but nowhere as challenging as climbing almost vertical rock cliffs, been there done that. VU2VIM/G0KUA

Ditto what Mark said. Not news papers but CL.

Perhaps I can help you. If its within a range I can come in and work on it I can take it down for you and remove it off the property. If you are still looking for options get a hold of me and lets work it out.

I have a friend with a similar situation and would love to know how this turned out. Anyone?

For those still in need, do you have a Special Forces Association chapter nearby?

Virgil Carter--The closest one is Amarillo, about 200 miles away. I've looked on the Special Forces Association website, but can you explain how they can help and why would they be willing to help? This is all new to me.

I'm willing to bet that "go boom" is the answer to both How and Why. (as a Marine wife, I long ago learned that asking for anything to be gotten rid of is usually likely to result in Boom.)

If you ask them, they may come out and use your tower for a training exercise. Are you opposed to some loud noises? Do you know anyone who has a business in scrap metal?

My friend just wants it removed, but isn't able to pay for this particular 600 foot tower's removal. Continuing costs are electricity for the lights that must be atop it.

Use it as a trellis to grow vines. Silver Lace Vine would have it covered in no time. A mermaid rambling rose would probably pull it down and would be more vicious than any guard dog.

(and yes, I am kidding.)

The aforementioned husband points out that who you really want for that job is the Army Corps of Engineers. They can get it to collapse where you want it to collapse. Rather than blowing it all over a 20 county area, which is what will happen if you let Force Recon have at it. However, he thinks that this is unlikely to happen due to liability.

Hi jbax- I have a very similar situation. What was the outcome? Did you have it removed? And if so, what was the cost? Or did you find out it was cost prohibitive? Any info you can share would be much appreciated. Thanks!

This is an awful cliff hanger, i literally read this whole thread mostly to see what the end result but sadly, just a pile of red neck knee snappers. Not that they aren’t entertaining reading, I just had a personal stake in the solution. Oh well, onward to google!

What is "red neck knee snappers"?