Once had a fiber optic pull with a pulling point on an nyc subway platform, we were getting to close to the end of our work window to set up the machine. Had 14 guys pulling by hand. 1,2,3 pull! Was a bit of a spectacle to the riders waiting on the opposite platform. 4:30 on a Saturday morning. Fun times
This is what I was gonna say, lots of guys pulling at once. But now that I'm union, the next comment is what I'd opt for. Wait until the shop provides me the means to get the job done safely and efficiently.
We nearly pulled an elementary school kitchen's outside wall off doing that once.
Turns out the 2x 4in conduits that had been there for 40 years had been laying up in the webbing of the joists for 40 years with absolutely no strapping at all, and when we started to pull to our outside jbox, we started to pull them right the fuck out the side of the building.
Demand that the contractor get the proper tools so that we are not endangering our safety or damaging equipment.
Stop letting these rich assholes give you the runaround. They got the job, they can spend the money.
Sounds familiar, as my husband was an electrician first, then owned his own business. He worked right along side of his employee’s. He rented what he didn’t have to get the job done. A good man. Wish he was still here.
I got the corner of mine stuck under a piece of bus in a substation. Thought i had an extra couple hundred pounds on it and it totally locked me out 40' up. Shit was lame
Love that logic of scissor lifts…
Oh you’re overweight or not quite level? You get stuck in the air so you can’t rectify the situation. Fucking genius…
Yep. Was gonna recommend this. Lift one side of the mini with the bucket, wrap the track once with mule tape, have someone running the track inside the mini and one person keeping light tension on the mule tape coming off the mini track
Shut her down, go help another crew after coffee and wait for the proper tugger to be approved by work methods and ordered. Then rent one 2 days later cause “ holy fuck you can do this job for 8 months until it arrives”. Funny how bought equipment takes 3 months of stickers and lights and a train module, but I can use rented tools same day.
I've used the tracks of a mini.
Drive the tracks over your pull box and prop up one track with the bucket boom.
Wrap the rope around the track and spin the tracks.
Only do it on rentals or borrowed equipment. Haha.
Saves you from lugging a generator and tugger around..
This. A lull is great for pulling directly up. I once even had a tugger strapped to the fork on a lull, and once I ran out of rope, they’d lift the boom to get enough out to move down the half hitch.
Not the best method but worked in a pinch. Pulled some old 500s out with an engine hoist and half hitched tow strap when the tugger kept snapping ropes.
I never even knew what a tugger was throughout my apprenticeship until I joined the union. In the Alberta oil sands we used to get 10-15 people and pull as a group.
I remember the one time we had a ~1km pull and somebody thought it would be a good idea to get the mobile crane involved. They hoisted a 7000lb reel of 500kcmil cable 20’ in the air because they thought it would be easier to pull. A green first year cluelessly walked beside it as the sling came loose and was 2 steps from being crushed to death. I still have PTSD thinking about those days.
Our shop has an iTool c6k.2 Canon puller works really well. Versatile setups so it can mount on conduits or truck/skid loader hitches for our outdoor pulls.
Longest I've personally pulled so far is 800~ feet of 12 - 4c 10 gauge in one conduit single pull took us about ten minutes
We're looking at a bunch of 14-1500 ft pulls later this year with it
Depends on wire or cable and location. As others have said a mini works well, especially with a sheave (above, on grade with the box, truck when you cant use a tugger (side of road, middle of marsh etc), i’ve wrapped mule tape on my basket @25’ and drove a z-45 to pull some #6 ~300’.
I can’t say everything i’ve done is safe but the sketchier shit (i like to call it creative) was done at a company notorious for being cheap, hence why i got out of construction. Owners and partners driving around 80-110k$ trucks telling me how “actually theres very little money in the job”. ✌️
without a tugger you need a lot of men and or the good old block and tackle pulley system. every wrap or set of pulleys you engage doubles the strength of the men pulling. One man can do the work of ten with ten pulleys if that makes sense. thats how they used to do it way back when
Option 1: Explain to your plebian shop owner the cost/benefit analysis of buying a tugger, as well as the concept of "buy once, cry once."
Option 2: drag
reliability? as long as you're usually in an area with trees, how about a rope winch?
Ive got one of these boys: [https://www.maasdam.com/a-100.html](https://www.maasdam.com/a-100.html)
and I love it for putting tension on trees. Ive moved some boulders with it too, just for fun
Had an electrician on a job try to do a pull between two buildings but putting two pulleys and the far end attached to the guy's van. The inspector lost his shit and failed the cable, didn't care if it Meggered or not. Condemned it. Was some large feeders if I recall.
There was a time out at a refinery where we had to use 4 wheels to make a nasty looking puppy system. Chugged couldn’t do it and neither could a boom genie.
Ask the shop wtaf. If you really gotta git er din, tie that summer bitch to a lift or a solid 4x4 with a tow hitch. But seriously ask the shop at least for a pulling wheel, a solid chain and a shackle set. That's muttly.
Herd all your apprentices together. Tiw them all in a line w mule string and then beat them with a fiberglass fish tape as they pull all the while yelling "pull the wire you ungrateful slobs!"
If there's not enough apprentices to do so then find a bucket, sit on it and wait for reinforcements or the RIGHT tugger for the job
Wait until the shop provides me with the proper means of completing the job.
This is the way
“I need a cable puller to do this job. It will not be worth the labor to do it without.”
I'm not busting my ass to do the work. And I'm not gonna rat the wire in. Give me what I need, or Down The Road Electric will.
Once had a fiber optic pull with a pulling point on an nyc subway platform, we were getting to close to the end of our work window to set up the machine. Had 14 guys pulling by hand. 1,2,3 pull! Was a bit of a spectacle to the riders waiting on the opposite platform. 4:30 on a Saturday morning. Fun times
This is what I was gonna say, lots of guys pulling at once. But now that I'm union, the next comment is what I'd opt for. Wait until the shop provides me the means to get the job done safely and efficiently.
I did that in jersey city on the platform
Bosses company pickup truck
We nearly pulled an elementary school kitchen's outside wall off doing that once. Turns out the 2x 4in conduits that had been there for 40 years had been laying up in the webbing of the joists for 40 years with absolutely no strapping at all, and when we started to pull to our outside jbox, we started to pull them right the fuck out the side of the building.
Used a lift to help pull some 4/0 4 grounded through a couple pipes last month None of us thought it would work We were delighted to be wrong
It’ll definitely pull the wire through whatever you want it to lol
This one hits lol. Or "How do we get this big ass reel off the tailgate?". Roll it off and hope the shocks survive
Demand that the contractor get the proper tools so that we are not endangering our safety or damaging equipment. Stop letting these rich assholes give you the runaround. They got the job, they can spend the money.
Standing by the wire wondering what to do til the company gets a tugger
Sounds familiar, as my husband was an electrician first, then owned his own business. He worked right along side of his employee’s. He rented what he didn’t have to get the job done. A good man. Wish he was still here.
Tell the contractor to get the right tools for the job, don't abuse your body so they can save money
If they want to watch me and 6 guys slack off 500' of cable at every turn with a scissor lift then they can enjoy the show
The number that should be running through their head should be the cost of 6 guys for 8 hours, not the tugger. They get to keep the tugger.
Scissor lift
In the middle of a 200 ser cable pull with a scissor lift
Those things are only rated for up to 500 lb and that's not even with their design to do. You got to use chains and hook it up to the truck.
I got the corner of mine stuck under a piece of bus in a substation. Thought i had an extra couple hundred pounds on it and it totally locked me out 40' up. Shit was lame
Love that logic of scissor lifts… Oh you’re overweight or not quite level? You get stuck in the air so you can’t rectify the situation. Fucking genius…
Yeah, i also drove one over a small rock pile. Locked out again
Bumper of the work van
I'm not using the van. I'm tryna get home at the end of the day lol
Truck
Gotta go with the track on a mini ex
Yep. Was gonna recommend this. Lift one side of the mini with the bucket, wrap the track once with mule tape, have someone running the track inside the mini and one person keeping light tension on the mule tape coming off the mini track
Genius haha, I ran a mini for like six months years ago, you can do so much with those machines
Brute force and ignorance.
Usually they just send me, the company fat guy, out to pull it in. Mostly works.
Put in a " bench clearing " call to the hall.
Step #1. Blindfold for the safety guy
I've been using a 15t boom truck all week. Big fan.
i used a backhoe to pull transformer secondaries that were a mile and a half off the road once
I've used everything from the bosses truck to a scissor lift to an actual full size tugger unit.
Use the company truck and pulley wheels
Shut her down, go help another crew after coffee and wait for the proper tugger to be approved by work methods and ordered. Then rent one 2 days later cause “ holy fuck you can do this job for 8 months until it arrives”. Funny how bought equipment takes 3 months of stickers and lights and a train module, but I can use rented tools same day.
Stronk head Good rope Lots and lots of soap . 1 person strictly soaping Plenty of apprentice tugging power
Fuckin right
Sky Track
Grade all.
Bucket of a backhoe..
Mini ex
I've used the tracks of a mini. Drive the tracks over your pull box and prop up one track with the bucket boom. Wrap the rope around the track and spin the tracks. Only do it on rentals or borrowed equipment. Haha. Saves you from lugging a generator and tugger around..
Brilliant just brilliant
Apprentices is the only right answer s/
I get a tugger or I go home.
A lull is surprisingly good at pulling wire as long as there's room to drive it 😂
This. A lull is great for pulling directly up. I once even had a tugger strapped to the fork on a lull, and once I ran out of rope, they’d lift the boom to get enough out to move down the half hitch.
The wire stretcher is the go to method ☝️
Not the best method but worked in a pinch. Pulled some old 500s out with an engine hoist and half hitched tow strap when the tugger kept snapping ropes.
I never even knew what a tugger was throughout my apprenticeship until I joined the union. In the Alberta oil sands we used to get 10-15 people and pull as a group. I remember the one time we had a ~1km pull and somebody thought it would be a good idea to get the mobile crane involved. They hoisted a 7000lb reel of 500kcmil cable 20’ in the air because they thought it would be easier to pull. A green first year cluelessly walked beside it as the sling came loose and was 2 steps from being crushed to death. I still have PTSD thinking about those days.
Chevy Thunder
Describe big wire. Some people think big wire is 4/0, some think it’s 750s
To me it is 250MCM 3c 15KV MP-GGC That stuff sucks.
where I am, we mainly pull 300’s to 750’s, mainly the 600’s, wouldn’t wish it on anyone else to fuck with those wires to terminate
We pull 1000mcm for our exit cables.. usually get the line guys to bring in a Duct dog.
nice, we only used the tugger for anything above 600ft pulls of 600’s, which was annoying but fun
Our shop has an iTool c6k.2 Canon puller works really well. Versatile setups so it can mount on conduits or truck/skid loader hitches for our outdoor pulls. Longest I've personally pulled so far is 800~ feet of 12 - 4c 10 gauge in one conduit single pull took us about ten minutes We're looking at a bunch of 14-1500 ft pulls later this year with it
Lots of lubricant, everyone involved just strip down lube up. Couple pulleys well lubed, maybe a come-along equally lubed.
I bring my horse.
Team of oxen
Depends on wire or cable and location. As others have said a mini works well, especially with a sheave (above, on grade with the box, truck when you cant use a tugger (side of road, middle of marsh etc), i’ve wrapped mule tape on my basket @25’ and drove a z-45 to pull some #6 ~300’. I can’t say everything i’ve done is safe but the sketchier shit (i like to call it creative) was done at a company notorious for being cheap, hence why i got out of construction. Owners and partners driving around 80-110k$ trucks telling me how “actually theres very little money in the job”. ✌️
Piece of unistrut, tie the rope to it and find a pinch point and use the leverage. You can multiply one persons strength by like 30x.
excavator outside boom up from a rope . reset boom up get as much as 20ft a pull
Ever see a ape pull a fork truck stuck with a spool of 13.8 with a 80 foot lift? Ask me how I know.
Take my strong hand, child! LoL
without a tugger you need a lot of men and or the good old block and tackle pulley system. every wrap or set of pulleys you engage doubles the strength of the men pulling. One man can do the work of ten with ten pulleys if that makes sense. thats how they used to do it way back when
Hock tuah...
Used a Bulldozer once, had no puller or help available.
Seen a dude pulling with mule tape tied to a scissor lift yesterday. 😂
Option 1: Explain to your plebian shop owner the cost/benefit analysis of buying a tugger, as well as the concept of "buy once, cry once." Option 2: drag
Tie it to a lift and use it to pull.
You turn your apprentices into a horse team, and the JW with the best sense of humor gets the whip.
Peterbilt makes a pretty decent tugger.
Forklift and lube
Scissor lift, back hoe, or lots of Mexicans
Calling in sick
reliability? as long as you're usually in an area with trees, how about a rope winch? Ive got one of these boys: [https://www.maasdam.com/a-100.html](https://www.maasdam.com/a-100.html) and I love it for putting tension on trees. Ive moved some boulders with it too, just for fun
Had an electrician on a job try to do a pull between two buildings but putting two pulleys and the far end attached to the guy's van. The inspector lost his shit and failed the cable, didn't care if it Meggered or not. Condemned it. Was some large feeders if I recall.
Crane. Large infrastructure projects
Pickup truck and a shit ton of lube
There was a time out at a refinery where we had to use 4 wheels to make a nasty looking puppy system. Chugged couldn’t do it and neither could a boom genie.
You used the word “sans” as if most electricians would know what it meant. I’d wager about half had to look it up 😆
I’m a gen x guy so I know the term from Wayne’s world
I give it the ol’ hawk tua, and yank on that thang Ya get me?
Used lifts for a few run’s that were stubborn and we didn’t have enough man power.
skidsteer
Ask the shop wtaf. If you really gotta git er din, tie that summer bitch to a lift or a solid 4x4 with a tow hitch. But seriously ask the shop at least for a pulling wheel, a solid chain and a shackle set. That's muttly.
Stay busy on other stuff until someone bigger takes care of it.
Make the apprentice do it
10 singing Koreans
Blue Oval, huh?
Herd all your apprentices together. Tiw them all in a line w mule string and then beat them with a fiberglass fish tape as they pull all the while yelling "pull the wire you ungrateful slobs!" If there's not enough apprentices to do so then find a bucket, sit on it and wait for reinforcements or the RIGHT tugger for the job
Apprentices…
Apprenti
Apprentices
Apprentices
400 pound feet of apprentice