"rickman" wrote in message
I'm not sure what "sideways torque" is exactly, but an I beam is an I
beam. I don't think a ladder has any inherent weaknesses that would
preclude it from being used as a mast. Masts often have a rather smallish
diameter pipe at the top. The structure of a ladder is much more
substantial than that.

With adequate guy wires I expect a ladder would make a very good mast. The
only real issue is that of cost and convenience. I haven't priced tower
sections but I know long ladders are not cheap.

You will probably pay around $ 100 or more per 10 foot section of Rohn 25G,
one of the most common towers or about 30 to 40 dollars for a used section
in good condition.

If you look at a ladder, you will see the sides of it are made of sort of an
H section . The middle part is much larger than the side pieces. That
gives it the strength when it is laying against a wall as designed to be.

If the ladder is very long and a beam is mounted to the top of it, when the
wind blows it will tend to twist the ladder. The narrow sections of that H
form are not designed for much twisting. A 3 element beam can cause a lot
of twist in a 40 or more MPH wind .

A pipe will tend to resist twisting. Just look how small the drive shaft is
in most cars that have the rear wheel drive.



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