Installing light poles

[Greg Swartz]

We're looking at a job where the owner wants to replace 2 existing light poles and install newer ones that are 20' tall, and to install 3 heads on each of the new ones.

What I do not have is any way to install the new light poles...
No forklift, there is snow on the dirt ground, so no scissor lift...

Any suggestions?

 

[quogueelectric]

Only 20 foot poles I will send my kids over to hoist them. :smile: Rent a bucket truck for a day. Or you could do it with an articulating lift if you were careful not to tip it.

 

[MJW]

I've used Bill Boom in Denver. Not sure if they would go to the Springs. They are fast, reasonably priced and know what they are doing when setting poles.

 

[emahler]

rent a bucket or Elliot lift...not a van mounted bucket either...

 

[Fulthrotl]

We're looking at a job where the owner wants to replace 2 existing light poles and install newer ones that are 20' tall, and to install 3 heads on each of the new ones.

What I do not have is any way to install the new light poles...
No forklift, there is snow on the dirt ground, so no scissor lift...

Any suggestions?

yep... this is something that maxis puts out... check it out:

http://lightpolesetter.com/Home_Page.html

or get a little hydro crane for a minimum charge....
or a pettibone, and pick it with that.

 

[quogueelectric]

yep... this is something that maxis puts out... check it out:

http://lightpolesetter.com/Home_Page.html

or get a little hydro crane for a minimum charge....
or a pettibone, and pick it with that.

That looks awesome!! I would love to try one.

 

[emahler]

shoot, i forgot about that maxis...it'll cost you about $4500 +/-....don't know if anyone rents it....

 

[quogueelectric]

shoot, i forgot about that maxis...it'll cost you about $4500 +/-....don't know if anyone rents it....

The link was to a sale price of 2700 I think.

 

[emahler]

The link was to a sale price of 2700 I think.

even more gooder...i didn't look at the link...just remember seeing the machine...

 

[Greg Swartz]

yep... this is something that maxis puts out... check it out:

http://lightpolesetter.com/Home_Page.html

or get a little hydro crane for a minimum charge....
or a pettibone, and pick it with that.

I had been thinking about that, but did not know if anyone rented them...
I just don't have the cash to outright buy one, and my frequency of pole light installs is not enough to merit buying one...

I thought about bucket rental, but thought the price would be out of the customer's willingness to get them...

 

[emahler]

I had been thinking about that, but did not know if anyone rented them...
I just don't have the cash to outright buy one, and my frequency of pole light installs is not enough to merit buying one...

I thought about bucket rental, but thought the price would be out of the customer's willingness to get them...

Greg, as a point of reference...we own a bucket truck, as well as several lifts....when we use them, our customers pay for them...just like if we rented them...we own them for convenience....if we are doing a project that will last awhile, i'll rent the equipment...but for service work, it's nice to have the convenience to be able to use the equipment at a moments notice...

but whether I rent the piece, or own it, my customer pays me for it...

 

[masterinbama]

Ive set poles in courtyards with nothing more than scaffolding and a block + tackle.

 

[nakulak]

this is one of those cases where you have to do your own upside/downside analysis. sure, you could go around setting light poles by hand with 3 or 4 guys, some ropes, and some bengay at the end of the day. but the downside is, one gets loose and you have to buy 500 bucks worth of replacement parts. Personally, unless it was one light pole, I would give them a price for setting the poles safely with a piece of equipment (daily rental + delivery and pickup).

 

[480sparky]

If you check the Maxis website, you'll see they don't list the PoleJack any more. I wonder why.... maybe too many problems with it? I'd like to have one, but Maxis only plugged them for about 4 months. Makes me think twice.

Anyway, I always just call a crane service.

 

[Fulthrotl]

If you check the Maxis website, you'll see they don't list the PoleJack any more. I wonder why.... maybe too many problems with it? I'd like to have one, but Maxis only plugged them for about 4 months. Makes me think twice.

Anyway, I always just call a crane service.

i wondered about that as well.... i suspect it is just that it's a product
that doesn't sell well....

i suspect it's a LOT slower than a stinger. if i had a bunch of poles to
set, it wouldn't be my first choice. and if i had only an occasional pole
to set, it wouldn't be worth the money to invest in one.....

that might be it... a product whose time never will come....

what i need is a friend who will buy one, and then let me borrow it
for a case of beer when i need to set the odd pole....

 

[dduffee260]

Why not just see if another contractor will come out and set them for you. Maybe a 2 hour bill or a sign company. Here before we bought diggers and buckets we would call out a small crane company, a one man show and he would set poles for $75 an hour. We had everything ready and on one job we set 50 poles in 12 hours. Then we went back after he left and leveled everything.

 

[emahler]

If you check the Maxis website, you'll see they don't list the PoleJack any more. I wonder why.... maybe too many problems with it? I'd like to have one, but Maxis only plugged them for about 4 months. Makes me think twice.

Anyway, I always just call a crane service.

i wish they just sold the template...that was slick...maxis has some neat products out there...

 

[augie47]

no problem

no problem

no problem !

 

[Pierre C Belarge]

I had been thinking about that, but did not know if anyone rented them...
I just don't have the cash to outright buy one, and my frequency of pole light installs is not enough to merit buying one...

I thought about bucket rental, but thought the price would be out of the customer's willingness to get them...

If the customer wants large poles installed, he/she will have to pay.



Note:
Do not assume a customer is not willing to pay for an installation based on you thinking it is too expensive for them. Price the job for what it is worth and let them tell you thank you or no thank you.
Do not price the job just to keep them happy, let your installation and good work keep them happy.
You may be surprised how well this works.

 

[peter d]

I
Note:
Do not assume a customer is not willing to pay for an installation based on you thinking it is too expensive for them. Price the job for what it is worth and let them tell you thank you or no thank you.
Do not price the job just to keep them happy, let your installation and good work keep them happy.
You may be surprised how well this works.

Great advice Pierre.