Duke Energy has gone mad

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Many of the lineman that can tell you stories of hand digging holes and setting poles without a crane of some sort are gone now. That is how it was done quite often. A digger truck with a crane was a luxury to them, today it is standard equipment.
 
kwired said:
Many of the lineman that can tell you stories of hand digging holes and setting poles without a crane of some sort are gone now. That is how it was done quite often. A digger truck with a crane was a luxury to them, today it is standard equipment.
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And that's because the days of sending out 6 lineman to one site are long gone. Two to a crew, three if there's an apprentice in the bucket.
 
Craigv said:
And that's because the days of sending out 6 lineman to one site are long gone. Two to a crew, three if there's an apprentice in the bucket.
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Depends on the job. To go change out one pole, with fairly simple components at top and easy access, maybe not six.
 
Craigv said:
Either way a 4' bury depth effectively eliminates man-held augers and hand-dug holes.
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Not at all. They have extensions for powered hand augers. They also make manual diggers for deeper than that but the real deep ones are twist type rather than scissor type.

The heavy pole is the issue. With a proper rig it could be done.
 
winnie said:
I'm not going to say that the utility requirement isn't crazy, but it seems to me that with a suitable jig this could be a 1 person operation.

We are talking about a pole weighing 160-200lb. Not at all trivial, especially if you loose control of the thing. The big risk is that you have the pole balanced in some nice fashion (resting on a headache bar) so that you are not actually manipulating most of the weight, and then something moves and you suddenly have to manage a bunch more force.

Start with the 'tilt the pole into the hole using the headache bar' concept. But instead of a pole resting on a bar, you have the pole locked into a jig with a hinge in place of the bar. Say the hinge is 7 feet off the ground and the pole is positioned 7 feet from the end. Now the effort is about half that of tilting up a 10 foot length of 4x4.

Then this jig would need to be able to release the pole in a reasonably controlled fashion, eg. using a winch or something similar. Ideally the winch could also be used for loading the pole onto the vehicle, but presumably you could get assistance with this at the lumber yard.

Just musing about solutions here, and the above is probably not a good approach, but hopefully it stimulates someone to come up with a good approach.

-Jon
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I agree the proper rig could work. We used to use the truck's ladder rack to help. Granted we would have at least a two-man crew but we were winging it with wood and ropes rather than a proper rig. There is no reason you could not make a pole jig and wench system if you wanted to go one man.
 
I used to have a copy of The Lineman's and Cableman's Handbook that had instructions for setting poles by hand in complete detail. Spoon shovels to dig the hole, two or three guys with pike poles to raise it against a butt board in the hole. Drops right in. Easy peasy.

In my younger days myself and my buddy set a 16 footer in my back yard for a washline. Found it on a job someplace. Drove home with that sucker hanging out the back of the van, no way it could go (or we could get it) on the ladder rack.:eek:hmy:

-Hal
 
I really don't have to worry about this anymore. After installing several of them I finally understand how to properly quote them. Now that I'm asking for the proper amount of money, nobody seems to be interested in having me install one.:)
 
Coppersmith said:
I really don't have to worry about this anymore. After installing several of them I finally understand how to properly quote them. Now that I'm asking for the proper amount of money, nobody seems to be interested in having me install one.:)
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On small projects, including most single family dwellings, I have been telling people to consider generator, power run from a neighbor, etc. long enough to get enclosed enough to put in permanent service and then energize that for any temp power.

I know some places won't let you energize the permanent service for such purposes (won't get into how stupid that may be, and just leave it at AHJ's wanting as much control as possible) though so that don't work if that applies to you.
 
Coppersmith said:
I really don't have to worry about this anymore. After installing several of them I finally understand how to properly quote them. Now that I'm asking for the proper amount of money, nobody seems to be interested in having me install one.:)
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I rent them w/install fee

I'll also waive the rental ,IF i get the bid

i'm just not proud when i'm hungry....:) ~RJ~
 
mivey said:
Not at all. They have extensions for powered hand augers. They also make manual diggers for deeper than that but the real deep ones are twist type rather than scissor type.

The heavy pole is the issue. With a proper rig it could be done.
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Ever (tried to) use a powered auger with an extension? I'm a big guy, but pulling up an auger full of dirt that high is beyond exhausting. Same with the pole. Rig or not, you have to lift and move it, usually more than a few times...don't forget removal...:D
 
mivey said:
Not at all. They have extensions for powered hand augers. They also make manual diggers for deeper than that but the real deep ones are twist type rather than scissor type.

The heavy pole is the issue. With a proper rig it could be done.
Click to expand...

In our part of central NC, we mostly have red clay soil, much of it rocky. Add a few roots here and there and you have a hazardous dig with a hand auger that deep. I have used a 1 man auger and 2 man auger for about a 3 foot hole but it was not an easy dig. Could be a real arm breaker to get near 4 feet deep and hang up on a rock. With 2 bad shoulders, I now stay as far away as I can from augers as it is.

In Wayne County, where I grew up, most areas had soft sandy soil. A 4 foot hole would be a pretty easy dig there.
 
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