one man wire pull

[kbrandt]

Anyone know of a way or tool that will help one person pull wire in conduit by themself? I'am talking about #14 or #12 not the big stuff.I've done jobs of underground pulls of 120' and only need help for a few minutes to pull wires in conduit and then I can finish the rest.Its hard to hire someone just for a few hours. I'am not a big shop,and don't really need anyone fulltime.Any tricks,tips or tools would make life alot easier.Thank you in advance.

[muskiedog]

The most creative I have seen is hooked up to a forklift.

[emahler]

http://www.rack-a-tiers.com/images/rat_multi.jpg

these work like a charm.

check out all their products at www.rack-a-tiers.com

[tallgirl]

I used something to guide the wire into the end of the conduit (like, by hanging the wires from above the box if I was pulling into the bottom of a box, or off to whatever side if I was pulling into that side), then slather liberally with lube, pull 8 or 10 feet, run back, make sure the cable is still pointed in the right direction, slather another 8 or 10 feet with lube, run back, pull, repeat. I was able to pull at the fill limit with #12 in 3/4" EMT with no help. I got a nice workout running back and forth, but in the end I git 'er done ;)

How many conductors at a time are you pulling, what size conduit and how many feet for each pull?

[emahler]

http://www.rack-a-tiers.com/images/pullbuddy_x3.jpg

these help to feed the wire in

[emahler]

http://www.rack-a-tiers.com/images/pull_buddy_demo1.jpg

[tallgirl]

http://www.rack-a-tiers.com/images/pull_buddy_demo1.jpg

Wow -- very pretty. Have you ever used them, or do you just have photos, or ... ?

Next time someone asks me to rewire a flooded church I'll have to throw some of them into my car along with my tool bag, cot, sleeping bag and cat ;)

[mdshunk]

I have several devices called the "Vornado" that go onto 4 squares. They're the cat's meeow. I see them a lot on eBay lately.

http://i17.ebayimg.com/03/i/03/2e/99/97_1_b.JPG

Other than that, I have several dozen small Sherman-Reiley side opening pullies to set up a nice one-man pull. If you use your head and the proper equipment, there's no such thing as a two man job in the electrical trade. [flame on]

[infinity]

Are you using stranded wire? That stuff practically feeds itself.

[emahler]

Wow -- very pretty. Have you ever used them, or do you just have photos, or ... ?

Next time someone asks me to rewire a flooded church I'll have to throw some of them into my car along with my tool bag, cot, sleeping bag and cat ;)

nah, never used them. like infinity says, when I used to do pulls, 1 man, stranded THHN, no problems.

[Davis9]

I used a combination of the reel stands shown and my maxis 1000 puller for a while back in the beginning. Best 400 dollars I ever spent.

Tom

It's good for 2/0 Cu pulls, I even pulled in some 750kcmil AL (55' w 2 90's) with some creative bracing!

But I just picked up a Raytools puller it seems like the thing to have for the bigger stuff.

[mdshunk]

Are you using stranded wire? That stuff practically feeds itself.Word !
Screw a plastic insulating bushing on the feed end pipe and give 'er a rip.

[hardworkingstiff]

I had a 150' pull from the building to a tank farm once and couldn't find anyone to help. I got my rope in the conduit, ran it through a pully that I suspended from a step ladder over the conduit at one end, stretched the rope above ground to the other end of the conduit. I had my wires set up on a ladder at the 2nd end. Then (I bet it looked comical) I pulled the rope with one arm and fed the wires with the other. Worked pretty well.

[JohnJ0906]

Man, you guys got all the toys! I got to get the boss to loosen up and pick up some of these thing, but its hard to convince him "It will pay for itself in the long run"

[emahler]

Man, you guys got all the toys! I got to get the boss to loosen up and pick up some of these thing, but its hard to convince him "It will pay for itself in the long run"

John,

we stopped buying these toys for our men years ago. while 1 set per truck isn't bad, seemed we were repurchasing lost items over and over. Finally we stopped purchasing them.

many of the larger tools (cable tuggers, hydraulic benders, etc.) we still will buy, but they tend not to get lost.

But the little $10 items start to add up real quick as often as they got lost...

[JohnJ0906]

Why do company tools get lost? I treat the bosses tools like it was mine, or better.:-?

[mdshunk]

Why do company tools get lost? I treat the bosses tools like it was mine, or better.:-?Then you're the exception. I make it a point to audit truck stock and truck assigned tools as often as I remember (maybe twice a year). They guys are signed for this stuff... if it ain't reported stolen, they've done bought the missing stuff (or at least they've got some serious 'splaining to do). I find that they guys like to buy these nickel-dime gadgets themselves anyhow. That wire vortex thing I linked to earlier is maybe 5 bucks.

[peter]

I agree with Lou's solution, having discovered it mysellf.

On a lot of runs, I have been sucessful pushing the wires in. It is important that the conduit system be properly designed. By that I mean, using the minimum number of bends and, when you do have a bend, try to use a super bend [large radius]. I use an Ericksen bender for those. Or you could bend it in small increments like with a hickey.

Solid wire pushes easier than stranded. On a straight run, it should be possible to push 120'. Even a box offet will trip you up, so remember the 36" rule and fake it if above a suspended ceiling. [I have a Starrett "shrink rule" for these situations. It will read 36" whereas inferior tapes will read 36 3/8".]

But the pulley is good for almost any situation and I use jet line for that. The pulley is an Ace hardware model, about 3" dia. with a swivel. A ViseGrip can serve as a clamp.

~Peter

[mdshunk]

[I have a Starrett "shrink rule" for these situations. It will read 36" whereas inferior tapes will read 36 3/8".]Somebody's gonna have to explain that one. It went right over my head.

[e57]

I had a 150' pull from the building to a tank farm once and couldn't find anyone to help. I got my rope in the conduit, ran it through a pully that I suspended from a step ladder over the conduit at one end, stretched the rope above ground to the other end of the conduit. I had my wires set up on a ladder at the 2nd end. Then (I bet it looked comical) I pulled the rope with one arm and fed the wires with the other. Worked pretty well.

I do something simular ALL THE TIME..... As often I too am solo, and even when I was with a big shop I could never get anyone to help. All too busy. Most often I can plan my runs for being alone, and pull it from one end, but sometimes you need someone on both.

So what I do is install a jet line, or nylon pull string and get my wires on that and keep tension on the line as I push them in. Also if I can not pull a line back to where I need to push from, I use a ladder and a roll of wire as wieght and get a few feet at a time, once actually dropped a roll out a 4th floor window as wieght to keep tension... (Empty alley below)

And now I am going to give away free money! :D Just a few words...

Remote controled fishing reel!

Build it and they will come..............

Something like this... But for wire pulling and cheaper than the $2K think beast goes for.
http://technotren.qcommerce.com/images/defaul4.jpg

[allenwayne]

Now that a Dillahickey If I ever saw one.Your right build and they will come. US patent office here I come :) I`m gonna be rich,I`m gonna be rich :)

[Shockedby277v]

http://www.mygreenlee.com/products/fishingpulling.PDF

On pages 15 and 16 (ultra feeder and ultra tugger) is what we use to make big pulls. 2 guys can pull in big runs alone. Communication and experience is a must though. We got it about 2 years ago. Beats yanking em off the reels and rigging up the ol' tugger.

[27hillcrest]

I have used a fishtape and attached stranded thhn to it and pushed it the whole way. I have used this method many times and has worked well. It works in 1/2", 3/4", and 1" with up to 3 90's. The hook should double back and look like an oval. After the pull is done I cut the fishtape head off so when pulling it back I don't damage any of the wires. I learned that the hard way. The longest run was about 150' with a couple 90's. Give it a try!

[hardworkingstiff]

I have used a fishtape and attached stranded thhn to it and pushed it the whole way. I have used this method many times and has worked well. It works in 1/2", 3/4", and 1" with up to 3 90's. The hook should double back and look like an oval. After the pull is done I cut the fishtape head off so when pulling it back I don't damage any of the wires. I learned that the hard way. The longest run was about 150' with a couple 90's. Give it a try!

I never considered this, I like it! Thanks for the tip!:smile:

[e57]

Ya know... Although I would have a real hard time doing that as I have a leader on all my tapes, even without the hook you could still do quite a bit of damage with pulling the cut end of a tape out. The friction alone on the side of the conductors could do just as much if not more damage.

[e57]

Now that a Dillahickey If I ever saw one.Your right build and they will come. US patent office here I come :) I`m gonna be rich,I`m gonna be rich :)

Im not sure you could patent a patented item by simply repurposing the same idea.... (that item there has several) But, I had kept that one in mind for some time as a good money maker.... But, sales would be limited by how much something like that would cost, and as soon as you develope a market for it Greenlee would start making one and absorb your market share through compitition. For instance, the "No-dog Level", now all kinds of companies make an item simular, but have a grip on distribtion.

I do have another big money maker in mind that could be patented (I think by improving a control) but the body of the idea is centuries old, just not available for field use. What it is, I'm not tellin'.....

[tallgirl]

Im not sure you could patent a patented item by simply repurposing the same idea.... (that item there has several) But, I had kept that one in mind for some time as a good money maker.... But, sales would be limited by how much something like that would cost, and as soon as you develope a market for it Greenlee would start making one and absorb your market share through compitition. For instance, the "No-dog Level", now all kinds of companies make an item simular, but have a grip on distribtion.

I suspect that there would be enough differences in the implementation of the idea that it isn't just a repurposed remote control fishing pole. The real obstacle is that this entire discussion counts as "publication", so anything that's been discussed here, in public, is now either impossible to patent or significantly more difficult. Moral of the story -- when you get a patentable idea, be as absolutely vague as humanly possible.

Patents are based on their "claims" and it's the "claims" that matter, not what it looks like (unless it's a design patent, but I could care less about them ...). I have an invention disclosure (one of several, but I'm thinking of one in particular) I'm trying to scrape up money to file and it looks very much like something else whose patent expired years ago, but the actual mechanics of the device are radically different. And based on conversations I've seen here, y'all would love to be able to buy them in the store tomorrow and would already be familiar with how to use them.

As regards the "No-Dog Level", I looked up the inventor, Ron Aubrey, in the USPTO database and couldn't find anything with his name on it (and I scanned 389 abstracts ...). My guess is that he either didn't file for a patent, or he didn't think he could get one, or he might have mentioned the idea to the wrong person and lost the ability to patent it.

I do have another big money maker in mind that could be patented (I think by improving a control) but the body of the idea is centuries old, just not available for field use. What it is, I'm not tellin'.....

"Not telling" is a good idea. But you need to make sure that the improvement to the control is something that's not obvious to a person "reasonably skilled in the art".

Your best bet is getting a consultation with an intellectual property lawyer, or finding a close trusted friend who's been successful at patenting things, getting them under a non-disclosure agreement, and discussing the merits. That's actually a better first step than visiting an IP lawyer because people who've successfully patented things often find ways to extend and strengthen patents. I have two applications at the USPTO right now that started off with a very simple, ellegant invention originally conceived of by a co-worker, which he brought to me to review and improve. By the time he and I and a third co-worker were done with it, it was a much larger disclosure, covering a significantly larger area of intellectual real estate.