Wire Removal

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mstrlucky74

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Looking at a job with several sets of duct banks with 500 mcm. Run is about 500'. Wire to be pulled out and conduit abandoned.

Anyone ever have a job like this? Ive heard that sometimes removing wire in this situation could take a lot longer than installing depending on certain factors. How they heck could you anticipate these unforeseen conditions and labor it accurately?

Could someone briefly describe the steps involved to remove wire in this situation? Thanks a lot!!
 
I have done those before sometimes you get lucky sometimes you dont. About 3 weeks ago we pulled an underground feeder about 250' installed in RGS. We used a greenlee super tugger and a 3/4" greenlee rope. Half hitched pulled it in about 5 to 6 foot sections . It was nice because as we pulled we used duct tape to tape the bundles and then cut with a bandsaw in 5' sections made clean up pretty easy as well

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nickelec said:
Where are you located I'll come take that from you gladly!

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NY. But that's not possible at this point. Curious what would you look for? Thinking you wouldn't be able to tell how hard the pull out would be by looking.
 
nickelec said:
I have done those before sometimes you get lucky sometimes you dont. About 3 weeks ago we pulled an underground feeder about 250' installed in RGS. We used a greenlee super tugger and a 3/4" greenlee rope. Half hitched pulled it in about 5 to 6 foot sections . It was nice because as we pulled we used duct tape to tape the bundles and then cut with a bandsaw in 5' sections made clean up pretty easy as well

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So so you saying you pull out and cut in 5-6' sections. Is that th norm for pull out in this situation.

whats half hitched mean? Thanks

right need to included bundle/disposal time. But all that copper is $$$??
 
I don't think there is a normal situation we were pulling out 250' of wire in. 10' room so we kind of had no choice. And a half hitch is a knot Google it works well when marking or ruining the insulation is not an issue

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mstrlucky74 said:
Looking at a job with several sets of duct banks with 500 mcm. Run is about 500'. Wire to be pulled out and conduit abandoned.

Anyone ever have a job like this? Ive heard that sometimes removing wire in this situation could take a lot longer than installing depending on certain factors. How they heck could you anticipate these unforeseen conditions and labor it accurately?

Could someone briefly describe the steps involved to remove wire in this situation? Thanks a lot!!
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A lot of it depends on how much room you have, like can you pull out the 500' in one shot or do you have to pull out a smaller section cut and reset up? Pulling the conductors out with a truck along the ground would be a lot faster than pulling out small sections and cutting them.
 
infinity said:
A lot of it depends on how much room you have, like can you pull out the 500' in one shot or do you have to pull out a smaller section cut and reset up? Pulling the conductors out with a truck along the ground would be a lot faster than pulling out small sections and cutting them.
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Thanks. Remove with a truck, really? What would that setup look like?
 
mstrlucky74 said:
Thanks. Remove with a truck, really? What would that setup look like?
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You really need to see this job or at least some pictures of where you will be pulling from. Someone that understands wire pulling should visit the job site.

And don't assume that the people that want this wire removed are dumb enough to just give away the copper. Depending on the number of runs we could be talking serious money just in scrap.
 
mstrlucky74 said:
Thanks. Remove with a truck, really? What would that setup look like?
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We did a pull with a truck once, I've also done a pull with a scissor lift. We couldn't get the truck in the building, so we did a few changes in directions with large pulleys anchored to a couple roof trusses, a bollard post and a scissor lift. It took a couple hours to get it set up, but the 300' pull only took 30 minutes or so. Ended up pulling the wire out into the parking lot through a service door.

Made some money on that one, plus all the scrap wire!:thumbsup:
 
Wire removal

Wire removal

Used the Chinese finger grip to grab the wires. Ran rope out the window to trailer hitch, drove slow. Wire finally broke loose then pulled right out. Lots of extra stuff was in the pipe; mouse nests, water, rust, old dried pulling grease. 1 boss, couple helpers. Helpers stripped wire. $$$$ nice payday!
 
tshea said:
Used the Chinese finger grip to grab the wires. Ran rope out the window to trailer hitch, drove slow. Wire finally broke loose then pulled right out. Lots of extra stuff was in the pipe; mouse nests, water, rust, old dried pulling grease. 1 boss, couple helpers. Helpers stripped wire. $$$$ nice payday!
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Yup, that's the hardest part. Once it breaks free, you're typically home free. I remember we had to give it a little gas to get it to start moving and then it came out easy. I'm convinced yellow 77 turns to cement as it dries. Scissor lifts work great too if it's a smaller run.
 
growler said:
You really need to see this job or at least some pictures of where you will be pulling from. Someone that understands wire pulling should visit the job site.

And don't assume that the people that want this wire removed are dumb enough to just give away the copper. Depending on the number of runs we could be talking serious money just in scrap.
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a track hoe beats a truck any day.

http://vid470.photobucket.com/albums/rr66/FulThrotl/MH Forum Posts/IMG_2446_zps1ftza5c0.mp4

4 pallets like this:

 
So here's a kicker. If you have to pull new feeders through the existing conduits you just removed feeders from you have to run brush and mandrel through it correct or is there another way? Thanks
 
mstrlucky74 said:
So here's a kicker. If you have to pull new feeders through the existing conduits you just removed feeders from you have to run brush and mandrel through it correct or is there another way? Thanks
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That's the best way IMO to ensure that the raceway is clean and not crushed or in some other way obstructed.
 
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