Hydraulic Bender

Status
Not open for further replies.
horsegoer said:
Are there always two electricians operating this?
Click to expand...
I'm going to answer as a hydraulics guy .... we bend pipe and tubing, some of which is much heavier wall of tougher materials than electrical conduit, often in 20-22 ft lengths ... often with 1 person. I'll go further and say there are automated machines that make bends with no people involved at all ... although MY experience with those is thinner wall, more like EMT. Think about automobile exhaust plumbing.
 
Personally, I prefer to work solo. I can bend 4" EMT on the 881 camtrack table by myself and I prefer it that way.

If I am assigned a helper, I might ask their assistance to help level a 90 in preparation for a kick.
 
mike7330 said:
yes. I have used the greenlee 881 in a stand, But it's a lot eazier with two.
Click to expand...

I used an 881 for the first time today bending 2.5" EMT working solo. After initially putting it together and thinking I was in for a long day, I was quite surprised how easy it was.

I will say that I was a little confused though. It showed a degree gauge on the shoes in the manual but there were none on any of the shoes. Wasn't really a big deal as I had a bevel gauge but it would have been a little easier with the gauges.

Edit: it was a rental
 
Depends: if you just have to do one-shot bends, great. If you're doing offsets on 4" RMC it might be better to have two people--that stuff gets heavy if you are at it all day. If the installation is overhead, you may need three or four people. Two to install it, and two bending it. If you do 18 shot bends for a 36" radius, you'll want two people.
 
Walk out to the supply area and pick up a 10' stick of 4" ridgid, now try to turn a factory 90deg. on to it. Now take that pipe and walk up two storys then onto an eight foot ladder, lift it over your head.
What do you think one man or two?
 
horsegoer said:
I was told today that it is a 2 person job. Can one person use a one shot bender with pipe above 3"? Thanks
Click to expand...
As you can tell by the other replies, the answer to your question is yes... with reservations. So not all scenarios allow for one man bending. It greatly depends on a number of factors: conduit type and size, job size, complexity of bends, etc. One good way to gauge it is by how many persons it takes to install a bent conduit (i.e. two if it takes two or more to install it once bent). If it is a large enough job to have one person bending continuously, there is usually enough other hands around when needed.
 
jeremysterling said:
Personally, I prefer to work solo. I can bend 4" EMT on the 881 camtrack table by myself and I prefer it that way.

If I am assigned a helper, I might ask their assistance to help level a 90 in preparation for a kick.
Click to expand...

It is better that way less mistakes.
 
Hydro on the job, well yes because a journeyman usually has a helper...

Most projects I've been on the accounting for 90's has already been made and never a matter of bending 90's to complete... to each job it's own!
 
I mean that less than 1/20 or even less of that conduit will need to be bend on site!

It's pre bend 90's or it's not ....
 
cadpoint said:
I mean that less than 1/20 or even less of that conduit will need to be bend on site!

It's pre bend 90's or it's not ....
Click to expand...

That's a thread I started sometime back... Is it cheaper to bend 2"+ EMT or buy prefab 90's if you have A LOT on a job and most people responded saying bending was the cheaper way to go.
 
BTW, I have one those 881 benders with electric pump which has not been out the gang box and not being used for at least 10 years. do not not have a large size job to spend hour or to just to sit it up. do you guys think I may need to replace seals since being sitting for so long?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top