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One other rule to add...
The rules are fairly specific about the size of eyehook that is to used... But don't go out and buy a log chain and humongous S hooks much larger than the eyehook to carry the load... It is totally unnecessary, and kids that build the tower to barely accept the eyehook will be sorely disappointed when the S hook or chain won't fit through the top of their tower... The chain used on swing sets is plenty heavy enough to support the loads we deal with.

Awesome; thanks guys for the explanations and visual cues... that makes things a lot easier.

Balsa Man wrote: Last, as to suitable tables; I'd think there's a decent chance one or two of the teams coming to the event have test rigs; communicate, see if they could bring/provide. Building a decent test rig from scratch is....maybe more than you have time/money for.

Money is not necessarily as much of a concern currently (as long as I give the apparatus to Penn after the tournament, haha). Time is a bit more concerning, since I have a little less than two weeks. Would you still recommend checking with neighboring teams?

Sure worth a try- easiest solution if you can hook it up.

dholdgreve wrote:One other rule to add...
The rules are fairly specific about the size of eyehook that is to used... But don't go out and buy a log chain and humongous S hooks much larger than the eyehook to carry the load... It is totally unnecessary, and kids that build the tower to barely accept the eyehook will be sorely disappointed when the S hook or chain won't fit through the top of their tower... The chain used on swing sets is plenty heavy enough to support the loads we deal with.

YES!

EastStroudsburg13 wrote:Awesome; thanks guys for the explanations and visual cues... that makes things a lot easier.

Balsa Man wrote: Last, as to suitable tables; I'd think there's a decent chance one or two of the teams coming to the event have test rigs; communicate, see if they could bring/provide. Building a decent test rig from scratch is....maybe more than you have time/money for.

Money is not necessarily as much of a concern currently (as long as I give the apparatus to Penn after the tournament, haha). Time is a bit more concerning, since I have a little less than two weeks. Would you still recommend checking with neighboring teams?

It's a really tough balancing act... Do I make it portable, than I can transport easily from venue to venue, or do I build it super sturdy?... Pretty tough to do both... Pitsco makes an amazingly sturdy table tester, but its a little pricey, bulky, heavy, and not real accessible below, where the sand bucket hangs...

On the other hand, I took a piece of melamine coated 3/4" particle board 24" x 48", ran a 2 x 4 around under all 4 edges for stiffness, then added a pair of folding table legs that I picked up at Harbor Freight for a song. cut out the center 20 CM x 20 CM square, drew a 29 CM circle (I attached a 1/4" thick piece of plywood with a 5 CM diameter hole in the center to the under side of the cut out to identify the center of the square).... i always take a bundle of shims with me to a competition to shim it level. It works just fine, although it as not as sturdy as Pitsco's, it is far more portable... I actually extended a plywood side down the one end about 18" and added triangular plywood gussets to each side, and castor wheels to the end of the plywood shelf, and a PVC handle on the other end...

Now I can fold up the legs, stand it up on its end, and it doubles as a two wheeler to wheel the bucket of sand and auto loader around on.

Pitsco testing table:
http://www.pitsco.com/Structure_Testing_Device

dholdgreve wrote:One other rule to add...
The rules are fairly specific about the size of eyehook that is to used... But don't go out and buy a log chain and humongous S hooks much larger than the eyehook to carry the load... It is totally unnecessary, and kids that build the tower to barely accept the eyehook will be sorely disappointed when the S hook or chain won't fit through the top of their tower... The chain used on swing sets is plenty heavy enough to support the loads we deal with.

I agree with what you are saying, but might wanna fix your wording? Eyehook is two words: eye and hook.

Unome wrote:

EastStroudsburg13 wrote:

Balsa Man wrote:I strongly recommend having the chains which hang from load blocks marked (color magic marker) for where S-hook should go, for B and, 10cm lower, for C towers. This avoids buckets too close to the floor, and/or up high enough to interfere with sand spout. Have the hanging rig for the bucket…worked out and simple- a way to have an S-hook attached to the center of the bucket handle so it can’t move around.

Apologies, but I'm not entirely sure what you mean. Isn't the height of the chain dependent on how tall the towers are? Also, how do you recommend attaching the S-hook? I feel like bucket handles don't really fit those very well, so I'm not really grasping how that's done.

dholdgreve wrote:I used a loading block and drilled the hole a bit bigger, then took a cheap carbon fiber target arrow, and slipped it into the block until exactly 50.00 CM stuck out from the bottom of the block, to the tip of the point. If the point touches the table, they are short.

I'm having a little bit of trouble visualizing this; is the point physically touching the table, or just the plane through which the table would pass if there wasn't a hole there? Does that interfere with the chain at all?

Again, thanks for all the suggestions!

Aren't the competitors supposed to attach the S-hook?

My understanding of dholdgreve's height-measuring deivce. The tower is just placed on some flat surface prior to the competitors testing it.

Hypothetically speaking, what if a tower broke from supporting that. It must have some mass. Would the event sups be responsible for the tower breaking?

Chameleon02 wrote:

Unome wrote:

EastStroudsburg13 wrote: Apologies, but I'm not entirely sure what you mean. Isn't the height of the chain dependent on how tall the towers are? Also, how do you recommend attaching the S-hook? I feel like bucket handles don't really fit those very well, so I'm not really grasping how that's done.


I'm having a little bit of trouble visualizing this; is the point physically touching the table, or just the plane through which the table would pass if there wasn't a hole there? Does that interfere with the chain at all?

Again, thanks for all the suggestions!

Aren't the competitors supposed to attach the S-hook?

My understanding of dholdgreve's height-measuring deivce. The tower is just placed on some flat surface prior to the competitors testing it.

Hypothetically speaking, what if a tower broke from supporting that. It must have some mass. Would the event sups be responsible for the tower breaking?

A good question, which I cannot come up with a good answer to. I guess so long as the competitors place it on the device, the tower could be scored using the mass of the height-measuring setup?

Actually, if you look at the rules, the minimum mass carried ("least possible mass scored"- rule 6a) that can be scored is the "load block assembly". The "load block assembly" is defined in rule 4b as load block, and eyebolt, and wingnut, and S-hook, and chain, and 5 gal bucket. Any tower that can't carry 'the assembly' is to be classified as Tier 4.
A carbon fiber arrow shaft is going to be....way lighter than eyebolt, wingnut, S-hook, chain, and bucket, so if a tower can't support it, its a Tier 4 tower. Yes, if using this tool to check height, students should place it on the tower.