10ft BUD - Removal by Myself - Can it Be Done

[toucan-man]

Hah! I did the same, except I used a BFH to knock the half sawn bolt clean off.

 

[sergei]

Adjustable wrenches and zip ties will hold the bolt in place while you try turning it. Just try to zip the adjustable to one of the supports or you end up messing up the panel.

Strange, I've taken them apart and haven't messed any up yet, main thing being careful then you won't mess them up.

 

[sergei]

Today I took time to get the Winegard 10 footer that I saw last year. Loaded it on the Toyota and got it home and unloaded for storage and mostly a spare.

 

[hwm]

Well guys, I was able to get the dish down by myself. I found out that it is indeed a SAMI. The logo was faded out on the feedhorn cover.

I have a dilemma though with getting the dish home. Right now it's on its face. If you look at the pictures, you'll see the front and back plates the hold all four sections together in the middle. When I have the dish on its face, I can get to all the rib bolts themselves but when I try to turn the nuts on the back rib plate, it just turns the whole not and bolt because of the rust. I've sprayed with PBblaster a lot, but I really need to get to both sides. On the other side the bolt head is flat. I'm not sure what to do at this point. I want to get this thing apart. Taking it home in whole is not an option for me. I was thinking I could crawl under the dish and take out the screws for the mesh on one of the panels, which would then allow me to get to the nut and flat head bolt. Once I get one rib panel free, the other three would be a piece of cake. Should I go this route or is there another way?

Thanks,

DJH

Those flat-head bolts have a square section under the head that fits into a square hole in the metal. If it has turned and rounded the hole in the metal, then your only option is to remove the nut with a hacksaw or small grinder.