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This perspective was a surprise to me because I always thought the thrust bearing was supposed to handle the weight of the mast and antennas. According to the following comment, that's not true. Convince me one way or the other! 73 de Robert K3RRR
VCTowers: "The weight of your mast and antennas belongs on the rotator. Not the thrust bearing. This is one of the most common misconceptions in ham radio tower work and I got into it with a client about it this weekend on a rotator install.
The thrust bearing at the top of the tower is there to keep the mast plumb and centered. It handles lateral side load. It is not engineered to carry vertical dead weight — and here's the thing — not a single major manufacturer publishes a vertical load rating for their thrust bearings. Not DXEngineering. Not Rohn. Not Yaesu. There is no number because it was never designed to carry that load.
The rotators are what carry the weight. Yaesu G-1000DXA is rated 440 lbs vertical. Hy-Gain T2X handles over 1,000 lbs. The M2 Orion OR2800PX is rated 1,800 lbs vertical with an internal thrust bearing rated at 2,000 lbs. These are published numbers. The Yaesu G-1000DXC manual specifically states that installing a thrust bearing does NOT remove mast weight from the K-factor calculation — because the rotator is still carrying it.
Snugging your thrust bearing down tight to lift weight off the rotator is a workshop myth. Not a spec-driven procedure. Your rotator was designed for this load. Let it do its job.
If you are planning a mast and antenna installation and want it done right, reach out to VCTowers"
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ALT Mark wrote this. We think he's getting a bit full of himself. We'd like someone to save us from him. I mean, have you seen him? His head is ginormous. I don't know how he is able to buy hats. It's insane!
Anyways -- go to the booth, take the card, the doctors say it's best to just play along.