Pole Setting Tips

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ceb58

ceb58

Senior Member
Location
Raeford, NC
I have a 6x6x20ft wooden pole to set. There is no room for a truck with a boom or any other equipment for that fact. The only thing I know is to put a 2x6 in the hole to hold the base and walk it up. Any other suggestions?
 
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hurk27

Senior Member
Location
Portage, Indiana NEC: 2008
A 6x6" pole should be able to be walked up if you use light weight fixtures, or if you have a tree around and have some rope and rigging hooks and pulleys, For a long time we didn't have a pole setting truck, and or help, so I got pretty good at doing my own rigging, I kept a extension cord reel with about 250' of 5/16" hollow tube nylon rope on it, and had an assortment of quick clips and pulleys and various other eyelets hooks and stuff.

One thing to keep in mind also is when you dig the hole for a hand lift pole, remember to dig it a little deeper, because you will shave the sides of the hole as your walking it up.
I have raised up to a 10"x20' round pole by hand rigging, but I installed the fixtures after it was set by climbing with climber boots with tree spikes, I used a deer stand tree seat to sit on while using pulleys and the same rope to pull up my brackets and lights, which I had tied to several ropes to before I went up, what I did is I tied the several ropes to one rope long enough to reach the top, so after I got seated and tied off, I used this one rope to pull up the ends of the other ropes, I used a slip clevis so I could stop and take breaks as your arms can get tired, on heaver lights I would use my Greenlee hand wench which I would pull up before the lights, also befor you raise the pole make sure you drill a hole all the way through the top of the pole to put a eye through with a locking nut so it can't come out, they also make an aluminum jib boom that you can walk up the pole above you, so as your climbing you just push it up and it automatically locks in to keep from coming back down, this jib reaches above the top of the pole and can make the raising and mounting of the lights easier, but I'm not sure where to find one as I haven't bought one in years.

Ok I'll make another post to add more in a few after I get done eating
 
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hurk27

Senior Member
Location
Portage, Indiana NEC: 2008
ceb58 said:
No fixtures involved. This pole will be for a service replacement. The 20ft pole is a poco requirement. I have to have 15ft above ground.
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Ohhhh, Why a square pole then, I don't care for green PT poles, to many fail from rot when buried, for service work I only use round creosote treated poles unless for a temporary service, nice thing with a tapered round pole is its already bottom heavy, and can be both walked up while others also pull on a rope with a pull to release cord attached, or use a push up board with a Y at the top end or both, never have to leave the ground.

The round tapered creosote treated pole run around $175.00-$375.00 around here, which might cost a little more, but in the long run will last many years longer and never warp.

6x6 poles tend to twist over time, not all will, but I have had a few that did, and had to re-aim lights because of it. also concrete will cause the rot to progress faster.

Add a few paragraph breaks, too, please.
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Is that better:grin:
 
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gary

gary

Senior Member
Location
California
Occupation
Retired electrical contractor / general contractor
The easiest way to do this is with a pickup truck with a sturdy lumber rack. Back the truck up to within 8 to 10 feet of the hole. Slide the pole toward the back of the rack and drop the end of the pole into the hole. This works best if you make the hole a little bigger so you have room to drop a 6' 2x6 down into the hole to act as a backstop. Now you can back closer to the hole and let the rack push the pole to a vertical position. The end of the pole will slide easily down the 2x6 without gouging out the back of the hole. Once the pole is up you can pull out the 2x6 and back fill the hole. I don't recommend trying to do this by yourself!
 
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hurk27

Senior Member
Location
Portage, Indiana NEC: 2008
gary said:
The easiest way to do this is with a pickup truck with a sturdy lumber rack. Back the truck up to within 8 to 10 feet of the hole. Slide the pole toward the back of the rack and drop the end of the pole into the hole. This works best if you make the hole a little bigger so you have room to drop a 6' 2x6 down into the hole to act as a backstop. Now you can back closer to the hole and let the rack push the pole to a vertical position. The end of the pole will slide easily down the 2x6 without gouging out the back of the hole. Once the pole is up you can pull out the 2x6 and back fill the hole. I don't recommend trying to do this by yourself!
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Done it that way to a few times, and I had a hitch bar also that clamped around the pole which would pivot at the bumper and at the pole that worked flawlessly pushing up a pole, But Ceb said in post 1 that there was no room for any equipment at the pole site.
Another method is a 10-12' tripod with a heavy pulley and a geared down boat wench at the bottom up thew the pulley, with the cable attached about the 8-10' mark on the pole, it will lift a tapered pole off the ground enough for a person balance it and guide it into the hole, while another person lower's it inplace, there are meny methods, just make sure its done safetly and what ever equipment you come up with can handle the load, linemen do it all the time when they cant get a truck into someones back yard, one of the best ones to learn from.
 
USMC1302

USMC1302

Senior Member
Location
NW Indiana
I think the OP said he was going to have 15' out of the ground. Might be overkill, but I was taught that 1/3 length should be buried as a general rule. So, the OP has a 20' pole, with 5' in the ground. Exactly what I would do in this case.

Steve
 
renosteinke

renosteinke

Senior Member
Location
NE Arkansas
Don't just dig a 'hole,' dig a short, sloping trench.

The last 8x8x20 pole I set -solo- I had a 2' trench about 3ft. long, leading to my 4' hole. This let me angle the base into the hole as I walked it up.

IF you have access for your truck, you can also drop the pole from atop the truck, then back the truck toward the pole, raising it as you go.

Plan to do this often? Maxix sells a really nifty looking pole-setter you might want to look at.
 
jmsbrush

jmsbrush

Senior Member
Location
Central Florida
I have done as others said using the truck method.
Reno good tips.

We have also have hired rigging companies on larger poles.
IMO, if you don't have enough man power then hire someone to help. Setting poles by yourself could be dangerous.
 
Buck Parrish

Buck Parrish

Senior Member
Location
NC & IN
renosteinke said:
Don't just dig a 'hole,' dig a short, sloping trench.

The last 8x8x20 pole I set -solo- I had a 2' trench about 3ft. long, leading to my 4' hole. This let me angle the base into the hole as I walked it up.

IF you have access for your truck, you can also drop the pole from atop the truck, then back the truck toward the pole, raising it as you go.

Plan to do this often? Maxix sells a really nifty looking pole-setter you might want to look at.
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I don't know how this would not flip over on you. As you walk it up, more weight is behind you then in front.

So you need a big guy sitting on the hole end of the pole. Or if you don't have a big guy, deer corn or sice your in raeford. May be two cases of frozen turkeys would balance it out.

PM. If you need help I'll drive down and help you. We can video tape it and post it here:D
 
ceb58

ceb58

Senior Member
Location
Raeford, NC
Buck Parrish said:
I don't know how this would not flip over on you. As you walk it up, more weight is behind you then in front.

So you need a big guy sitting on the hole end of the pole. Or if you don't have a big guy, deer corn or sice your in raeford. May be two cases of frozen turkeys would balance it out.

PM. If you need help I'll drive down and help you. We can video tape it and post it here:D
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Got er done. Sloped a ramp into the hole and with some grunting we stood her up. 4 bags of sackcrete and I will set riser and combo on it tomorrow.

The cost of two cases of turkeys would eat up the profit;) and since I'm not that crazy about turkey it would be a waste. As far as a video tape it wasn't that big of a cluster:D
 
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