Wire Pulling with Greenlee 6805 Ultra Tugger

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How long is the run? How many bends are in the run?

4-500's in a 3.5" shouldn't be a problem.
 
we pulled two runs of 4-600mcm thhn cu -- 660 feet -- 3 1/2 " raceway(emt) --- 315 degrees of bends --- straight thru pull box to relubricate the wire half way through the run with a greenlee super tugger. it was all that it could do to pull it. it was actually eating the aluminum off the head of the puller at the end of the run. we used the designed 3/4" greenlee rope and i had it wrapped around the head six times at the end of the pull. and half the pull was vertical pulling down -- the other half was horizontal into a tunnel.................... i was hidding behind a column in case the rope broke!!!
 
Re: Wire Pulling with Greenlee 6805 Ultra Tugger

sunelectricbx said:
I am doing a job that has 4-500' runs of 3 1/2" rigid galvanized conduit with no manhole. We need to pull in 4 sets of 500MCM THHN. I own a Greenlee 6805 Ultra Tugger. Can this be done?
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When do I start?

Sure it can be done.
Get some "Sampson" rope, a few buckets of "polywater" (stay far away from the yellow 77), some rags, a couple of radios, a few extra bodies and a "bullet".

After setting it all up - properly - you'll be breaking the head down in about an hour.
 
Long runs with larger conductors require several key elements. You need the correct pulling rope, pulling machine, connection between the rope and conductors, and most importantly the pull needs to be set up in a way that it won't rip something off of the wall or pull the conduit through a panel. Certainly with the proper equipment and setup an Ultratugger is very capable of this pull.
 
While the equipment may be able to make this pull without any trouble, it is possible that you will exceed the maximum permitted sidewall pressure on the insulation and you risk damage to the cable. If the conduit was installed using standard radius 90's, it is very likely that you would exceed the permitted sidewall pressure.
Don
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
... it is very likely that you would exceed the permitted sidewall pressure.
Don
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....and that sidewall pressure chart is located?
Manufac. website/material/literature?
 
I have the Tugger, the correct rope, the bullet, baskets (I will probably purchase the pulling fingers) and all the correct parts. I never had to pull wire this far without some kind of pull point in the run. When I install the conduit I will use large sweep 90's and as few bends as possible. I would use 4" conduit, but the specs call for 3 1/2". Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it. Keep it coming, this forum rules :D
 
sunelectricbx said:
I will probably purchase the pulling fingers
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I despise any sort of fingers.

I prefer to make my own heads....no parts to buy (and then lose or break).

I have never lost a pull due to a poor head being manually made...I've also never lost a pull due to a poor attachment to a purchased "head"(fingers).

Just my preference.
 
celtic said:
sunelectricbx said:
I will probably purchase the pulling fingers
Click to expand...

I despise any sort of fingers.

I prefer to make my own heads....no parts to buy (and then lose or break).

I have never lost a pull due to a poor head being manually made...I've also never lost a pull due to a poor attachment to a purchased "head"(fingers).

Just my preference.
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How do you make the connection? Do you take about 6 of the outer strands and fold them over the rope? Do you take bailing wire and make a sock with it? I take a few strands myself and this always seems to work fine for me.
I think there are some projects that if you do not use a pulling sock they can say you stressed the outer strands and make you replace the wire.
We have several pulling machines but it seems that the fastest way is with a pickup. We also have a digger truck that we pull with the winch sometimes.
 
we used the proper greenlee wire baskets connected to the rope by the greenlee brass pulling eye to the rope. there is a reason that greenlee doesn't sell the puller without the prescribed rope!!! if your gonna do the job -- have the tools to do it..................................
 
We have several ropes, I think only two are Greenlee. Their ropes are no better than the other ropes we have. The ropes we buy from Pelican Rope are made for Greenlee. We get the rope designed for pulling with a tugger only they are about half the price if you buy the rope from Greenlee.
 
sunelectricbx said:
I love the pulling baskets. I never lost a pull using them. One of my friends swares by the pulling fingers. I have also pulled in a 2800' run with a diesel dualie pickup truck.
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We use both types. One advantage of the basket is that it requires less setup time, but it has that unknown variable of requiring friction to stay on. We always put friction tape around the conductors before the basket goes on with a few turns of tie wire at the end. The fingers allow you to more closely engineer the pull. When properly installed you'll know beforehand the maximum strength of their connection to the conductors. A lot more precise than relying on tape, tie wire and friction with a basket. When pulling straight risers up, we always use fingers. A simple calculation will tell you the approximate weight of the conductors and the pulling force required to go from point A to point B. This allows you to properly size the rope, rope clevis, fingers and the puller.[/code]
 
Preparation is the key to making this pull successfully.

My journeyman taught me that the key to pulling wire is the guy feeding it into the pipe, and he was right. Have some radios and a lot of soap handy.

Make sure you have a straight feed going into the pipe. This may require hanging a sheave somewhere to get the correct angle.

I always had success using the Greenlee set-screw pulling grips (a 624L and 624S). Also, use a pulling swivel to keep things from twisting (Greenlee has them too). I liked these better that baskets or simply folding the conductors through the eye of the rope.

Get your reels set up on a stable, level surface and then start pulling.
 
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