21 feet of truss rod

[yoothgeye]

I was planning on building a set of truss rods for my tandem, I went looking through my steel rod and didn't have anything long enough to make 2 rods. I remembered a piece of steel in the attic of one of the church houses, but I didn't remember it being this long...

21 foot worth of it, after hte truss rods, what else can I build? Hmmm...

 

[yoothgeye]

Can't figure out what this was for. It was in the attic of a house built in the 1940s, there is another "coupler" like the one in the photo on the other end, then an eyelet threaded in the other side. Very heavy solid rod, but in this length very springy. Had to put it on the roof of my Jeep and down onto my trailer to bring it home, was even harder to get out of the attic of a small house.

What could it have been for?

Too flexible for an antenna or ground...

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Sewage snake for clearing clogs???
We had a similar tool for clearing our septic lines as a kid (lived in the sticks then, wait Mom still does :roll: )

After truss rods? Make more and sell them! or beefy fender braces and sell them too!

Good luck!

Cheers,
Dr. T

 

[yoothgeye]

Actually, that is truly a 21' truss rod! Probably was used to keep the roof trusses from sagging or spreading. They used the same system with star shaped cast pieces on the ends to repair earthquake damage. We actually call them earthquake bolts. You see them alot around here on old homes!

I'd buy that explanation. Now I need to go back up there and see if I can find the other threaded end to confirm that theory, heck, there could be another still attached to the rafters, it's not a big attic, but I've found some interesting stuff up there.

 

[2manybikes]

Actually, that is truly a 21' truss rod! Probably was used to keep the roof trusses from sagging or spreading. They used the same system with star shaped cast pieces on the ends to repair earthquake damage. We actually call them earthquake bolts. You see them alot around here on old homes!

Yup I agree ...looks like a sag rod. I use something similar as tension bracing in steel building design.
Now hopefully the house roof doesn't fall in :mrgreen:

 

[X-RAY]

my first geuss was for cleaning chimneys, but these guys theory makes more sense to me.

 

[yoothgeye]

my first geuss was for cleaning chimneys, but these guys theory makes more sense to me.

For chimney cleaning or drain clearing, this thing woul dbe too long to transport. Chimney sweeps use multiple pieces joined together, and plumbers use leaf spring type things coiled up for transport.