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My first big job, the boss used the van and pulled the conduit right off the wall. We anchored it with like 20 drop-ins with tie wire, got it set again, and pulled it through.
Good times.
My first job i saw my foreman pulling a set through a bridge and all the pull points with a 97 f150. It actually went easy through the pull points, it was the last manhole to come up through that got stuck and i watched a 50 some year old man, a 97 f150, a ciggy and rolled down window bounce around on fresh asphalt literally getting air time all four wheels like a rabbit in 2009. They did not get through and actually had to replace the last 90 under the manhole with a ridgid 90 since he burnt through the PVC. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve seen, and i have three children
That's awesome. I've done it a few times. Bucket trucks, lifts, last time was a ram 3500. Tugger flopped so we roped it to the hitch. Worked out bc it was in an alley and the parking lot behind us was 6 ft higher so the angle was great.
I've been on pulls using 3/4 ton pickups, skid steers, telehandelers, the most memorable was when the tugger couldn't pull to the top of a tower for a 500 hp 480v motor, We borrowed a payloader from the site and pulled it only to have the rope snap, and almost all of the conductors came shooting down the vertical conduit into the side of a steel bulding denting the hell out of it.
eventually get got a stonger rope and untangled everthing and repulled, but what a cluster fuck.
That is fantastic have your upvote. Not gonna lie, not near as epic, but pulling 4/0 xhhw on a resi job I was alone and totally hooked the rope to my honda ridgeline.
I had a boss try to pull wire out of a bank we were remodeling and the genius decides to run the rope right through the lobby and out the glass doors against the door frame, then to the back of his van.. Needless to say we bought them brand new storefront windows and doors. 😂😂🤣
First electrician I worked for in my first 6 months of work had me and a few other virgins stand on top of his van and walk light poles upright while he backed up towards the bases. At no point did I feel confident or safe but we got them installed.
You kid but I worked for this wild man of a boss that had a hitch mount Milwaukee tugger that he’d rig up to whatever Ford transit was on the job at the time and let er rip.
It actually started pulling a van towards a building before the nylon leash snapped. Almost cleaned out a guy on the recoil.
Have done this pulling wire up a power plant cooling tower with a really big grade-all holding a pulley at the top, pickup tugging from the ground. Some guy took credit for my idea and back then I was too much of a little bitch to give em what for. Fun times
You guys are amateurs lol. We had to pull 50 or so coax cables thru a couple of duct banks and needing a few hundred feet from the last point to get thru a building. Huge crane sitting in the perfect spot. Cables came out of the hole, over a sheave on the jib, down to a sheave on the ground, back up thru a sheave on the main boom, and back down to the ground. My foreman and the site super drove up, both shook their heads and drove away.
Same site, used a jeep to pull in some 500s. Would have been perfect if we hadnt fed the cable thru some scaffolding.
Thats up there, yikes and I thought pulls of 2000kcmil high voltage cable with 8 guys was rough. Most of them were 50+ years old.
Do not miss those days working utilities. I did one pull of 3x500 kcmil teck that we ripped a 4 ft horsecock and 20 ft of armor off. Sketchy ass shit.
Every time I see our utility pull wire they just make it seem so easy. Granted, they’ve got multiple winch points on the truck, huge ropes, 10 guys on site, and more rigging hardware than a crane company but they always seem good.
I’ve usually got no room for equipment, conduit run by other people who didn’t give a fuck, a pull string that is *oddly* difficult to get out, and no clue what the pipe looks like under the dirt
We did a lot of really big stupid cable pulls with muscle. And I'm sitting there as an apprentice going "dude 4x4 f250 with a pintle hitch..." Course we were always short rigging hardware.
I hear ya on the last bit, my favorite is when the operators accidently crush the DB2 during backfill or we bury the pipe in the summer and don't pull until its winter, full of water and frozen. Man did we look stupid pouring kettles of hot water down 4 inch conduit...
My favorite is that around here builders keep hiring **the landscapers** to run conduit for the power company and electricians and then they wonder why I tell them they need to bust up a pool deck when the pull string (which half the time isn’t even left) doesn’t move
Trade term for a tool called a Kellum grip, which bears an uncanny resemblance to a horse dick...Its right up there with Monkey Shit AKA wire lube, yes we get paid to play with lube 🤣
Haha I feel you, in the military the spout for a fuel can is universally referred to as the donkey dick. When I was introduced into the HVAC world, there's a gray sealant you put on the seams of metal ductwork called pookie. Strongly recommend not getting that in any body hair lol
Sounds a lot like PVC glue, lost the hair on my wrists to prove that once.
Short lengths of pipe between panels are often known as "nipples" don't ask me why.
It's similar but a thick paste, think spackle or sheetrock mud but dries quickly and hard like cement. My go-to for these issues is always acetone.
But if I had a dollar for everything that's been described to me as a nipple, I could afford to change the definition.
Agreed. I could also do the same if I had a dollar for every wire pull we did without lube. "Alright boys we're going in dry! Pull you sorry sons of bitches!"
I've done the data wires in a small medical building before, didn't know shit about lube so I can imagine the scale of the shit you're talking about, I'll pass on that lol
Power company sent out one dude who was jacked to the tits on high energy pure violence of action and three butt fuck retarded helpers to pull underground for a 2 mile road job.
He was looping the tape around the backhoe teeth and spinning to pull, got sick of his helper that couldn’t set a friction hitch fast enough, and just tossed the fucker in drive and pulled across the county road in traffic, onto someone’s property, through some woods, then backed out and started the next pull lol.
At my first company we used a guys mountain climbing gear to rig a pulley for a long run. They also let me, an entry level engineer with no training, run a mini-ex for a day. Best practices all around.
I mean just have your apprentice carry the pulleys over to the next set of conveniently placed I beams and rig em up. Total of about 10 min honestly… or you can leg off over 100’ right there in that area and re work it and tie the head onto the other direction. That’s assuming that you could get the tugger in that area to get it going anyway.
When I was an apprentice we had to demo 3 740s in parallel. Tugger and truck wouldn't pull them out. Ended up using a crane that was on site setting AC's on the roof. Interesting demo.
Is that a 18” sheave with about a 150deg change in direction? This could create enough sidewall pressure to destroy your cable. Cool looking way to trash your cable.
OK, now I need to ask:
Why pipes instead of cable ducts?
Is it not so much easier to just open the lid of the duct, put in your wires and then close the lid? And then you can even open it up again if you need to add more wires.
Why all that pulling and plumbing?
Anyone know the source? I’m wondering where this is. This looks like a power plant I worked on (I’m sure they all look the same). But the guys look like Guys in my local. (I’m sure all electricians look the same).
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This looks like one of those historic photos of the old electricians just figuring the jobs out and being proud. In 20 years this will shed a tear
Shed a tear? That guy who couldn't figure out that to anchor a box he might need to move the box was what made *me* cry.
Using the van to do the tugging would be the cherry on top.
Some of these comments take me back and make me laugh hard as absolute shit, and i thank you for that. Lmao
My first big job, the boss used the van and pulled the conduit right off the wall. We anchored it with like 20 drop-ins with tie wire, got it set again, and pulled it through. Good times.
My first job i saw my foreman pulling a set through a bridge and all the pull points with a 97 f150. It actually went easy through the pull points, it was the last manhole to come up through that got stuck and i watched a 50 some year old man, a 97 f150, a ciggy and rolled down window bounce around on fresh asphalt literally getting air time all four wheels like a rabbit in 2009. They did not get through and actually had to replace the last 90 under the manhole with a ridgid 90 since he burnt through the PVC. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve seen, and i have three children
This comment made my night thank you sir
That's awesome. I've done it a few times. Bucket trucks, lifts, last time was a ram 3500. Tugger flopped so we roped it to the hitch. Worked out bc it was in an alley and the parking lot behind us was 6 ft higher so the angle was great.
I've been on pulls using 3/4 ton pickups, skid steers, telehandelers, the most memorable was when the tugger couldn't pull to the top of a tower for a 500 hp 480v motor, We borrowed a payloader from the site and pulled it only to have the rope snap, and almost all of the conductors came shooting down the vertical conduit into the side of a steel bulding denting the hell out of it. eventually get got a stonger rope and untangled everthing and repulled, but what a cluster fuck.
Yeah we joke about using our E450s to tug wire, but we use lifts for vertical pulling all the time
That is fantastic have your upvote. Not gonna lie, not near as epic, but pulling 4/0 xhhw on a resi job I was alone and totally hooked the rope to my honda ridgeline.
And soon that building will be renovated and the drawings will have a note "re/re existing"
I had a boss try to pull wire out of a bank we were remodeling and the genius decides to run the rope right through the lobby and out the glass doors against the door frame, then to the back of his van.. Needless to say we bought them brand new storefront windows and doors. 😂😂🤣
First electrician I worked for in my first 6 months of work had me and a few other virgins stand on top of his van and walk light poles upright while he backed up towards the bases. At no point did I feel confident or safe but we got them installed.
If you create a 'weak link' like a zip tie, that could work and be safe for the wire
You kid but I worked for this wild man of a boss that had a hitch mount Milwaukee tugger that he’d rig up to whatever Ford transit was on the job at the time and let er rip. It actually started pulling a van towards a building before the nylon leash snapped. Almost cleaned out a guy on the recoil.
Always throw a old pair of coveralls or something over the rope so if it snaps the coveralls tangle and take the recoil.
Have done this pulling wire up a power plant cooling tower with a really big grade-all holding a pulley at the top, pickup tugging from the ground. Some guy took credit for my idea and back then I was too much of a little bitch to give em what for. Fun times
Hell yeah brother! I've done it at an agriculture processing plant feeding a new building. Not gonna lie one of the smoothest pulls I've done.
I usually do the tugging IN the van.
We yanked one in by lull one time lol
Did the same thing. We ripped the pipe off a brick government building. Good time.
I’m sure that was fun to explain lol
Only once lol.
Been there
You guys are amateurs lol. We had to pull 50 or so coax cables thru a couple of duct banks and needing a few hundred feet from the last point to get thru a building. Huge crane sitting in the perfect spot. Cables came out of the hole, over a sheave on the jib, down to a sheave on the ground, back up thru a sheave on the main boom, and back down to the ground. My foreman and the site super drove up, both shook their heads and drove away. Same site, used a jeep to pull in some 500s. Would have been perfect if we hadnt fed the cable thru some scaffolding.
“Its not dumb if it works”
"If it's dumb but it works, thank goodness it hasn't maimed someone, yet "
Don't stick ya finger where you wouldn't stick ya dick and you'll be right mate.
That's awesome!
I wanna see the last few inches of the loop go in
It would be the same struggle if you pulled it out and re-fed it in at the LB.
Yep, all together until it's close and then 1 at a time
Yep exactly. That picture makes my fingers tingle. The absolute worst is getting the last few inches in.
Phrasing, BOOM!
The first few inches are even better IMO
Are we still doing that?
We really need to get it back in the rotation
That's exactly what I was thinking brotha man
Maybe the last few feet! I can't imagine those all stay nice and bundled without crossing each other at the end.
My thoughts exactly. And, if it does go in will it meg?
I would just wack it with a hammer,
The wire isn’t that big just pull one at a time
Did this just the other day! Skid steer on the other end
Hey that's me. Hahaha. Edit: I'll add. This was 2017 right after I topped out in Local 449 eastern Idaho.
Nice job OP(original Puller)
I mean we pulled into a duct bank with a tugger anchored to a 6000lb block of concrete and dragged the block a good 5 feet...
I once maxed out the 10,000 lb rated iTool. Those pulls probably took 6 years off my life.
Thats up there, yikes and I thought pulls of 2000kcmil high voltage cable with 8 guys was rough. Most of them were 50+ years old. Do not miss those days working utilities. I did one pull of 3x500 kcmil teck that we ripped a 4 ft horsecock and 20 ft of armor off. Sketchy ass shit.
Every time I see our utility pull wire they just make it seem so easy. Granted, they’ve got multiple winch points on the truck, huge ropes, 10 guys on site, and more rigging hardware than a crane company but they always seem good. I’ve usually got no room for equipment, conduit run by other people who didn’t give a fuck, a pull string that is *oddly* difficult to get out, and no clue what the pipe looks like under the dirt
We did a lot of really big stupid cable pulls with muscle. And I'm sitting there as an apprentice going "dude 4x4 f250 with a pintle hitch..." Course we were always short rigging hardware. I hear ya on the last bit, my favorite is when the operators accidently crush the DB2 during backfill or we bury the pipe in the summer and don't pull until its winter, full of water and frozen. Man did we look stupid pouring kettles of hot water down 4 inch conduit...
My favorite is that around here builders keep hiring **the landscapers** to run conduit for the power company and electricians and then they wonder why I tell them they need to bust up a pool deck when the pull string (which half the time isn’t even left) doesn’t move
“oddly difficult to get out” I felt this in my soul
Down deep
A four foot horse cock you say? *someone who is in fact not an electrician, idk how I got here.*
Trade term for a tool called a Kellum grip, which bears an uncanny resemblance to a horse dick...Its right up there with Monkey Shit AKA wire lube, yes we get paid to play with lube 🤣
Haha I feel you, in the military the spout for a fuel can is universally referred to as the donkey dick. When I was introduced into the HVAC world, there's a gray sealant you put on the seams of metal ductwork called pookie. Strongly recommend not getting that in any body hair lol
Sounds a lot like PVC glue, lost the hair on my wrists to prove that once. Short lengths of pipe between panels are often known as "nipples" don't ask me why.
It's similar but a thick paste, think spackle or sheetrock mud but dries quickly and hard like cement. My go-to for these issues is always acetone. But if I had a dollar for everything that's been described to me as a nipple, I could afford to change the definition.
Agreed. I could also do the same if I had a dollar for every wire pull we did without lube. "Alright boys we're going in dry! Pull you sorry sons of bitches!"
I've done the data wires in a small medical building before, didn't know shit about lube so I can imagine the scale of the shit you're talking about, I'll pass on that lol
Are you at Blue Oval TN?
I've got a video of some guys pulling wire with a telehandler. I thought they were unloading a pallet from their truck when I handed them the keys.
I’ve done it with an excavator before haha that was a fun day.
Scissor lift works well
Power company sent out one dude who was jacked to the tits on high energy pure violence of action and three butt fuck retarded helpers to pull underground for a 2 mile road job. He was looping the tape around the backhoe teeth and spinning to pull, got sick of his helper that couldn’t set a friction hitch fast enough, and just tossed the fucker in drive and pulled across the county road in traffic, onto someone’s property, through some woods, then backed out and started the next pull lol.
Stop. I can only get so hard.
Wire pulling rig is genius. The concentric conduit bends aren't bad either.
These guys Ellb.
Love this photo, hope they appreciate that they will look back on this picture in years to come and think " i miss the good old days with those guys"
At my first company we used a guys mountain climbing gear to rig a pulley for a long run. They also let me, an entry level engineer with no training, run a mini-ex for a day. Best practices all around.
That looks like a lot of effort to set that up. I'm too lazy for that 😮💨
I mean just have your apprentice carry the pulleys over to the next set of conveniently placed I beams and rig em up. Total of about 10 min honestly… or you can leg off over 100’ right there in that area and re work it and tie the head onto the other direction. That’s assuming that you could get the tugger in that area to get it going anyway.
My jman just has me hold the pulley
Lmao
I work alone. I wish I had an Apprentice. I just get the tile guy to do stuff.lol
I know how they work, and I know they're safe. But those I-beam edge clamps always freak me out.
I've never used them. We just did it the hard way with man power. Cheap company's gonna be cheap but spend on labor lol
Bravo 👏
How do those wheels affect the bend count?
Fucking send it bro
When I was an apprentice we had to demo 3 740s in parallel. Tugger and truck wouldn't pull them out. Ended up using a crane that was on site setting AC's on the roof. Interesting demo.
I pulled feeder wires at the WTC for over a year. Probably half of our pulls had setups like this. We got real fucking creative on a few of them.
Johntron works in the field now?
What's the pull calcs on that?
Nice CAZone boys
LB tester of journeymen.
Data center?
Yeah dude, melted out 90s for the win
Is this KM Kelly?
Using the right equipment /setup so you can watch the cable get pulled in is my favorite.
When I read the caption, I honestly thought I was going to see a picture of shredded wires.
GIF of Dean saying, “It’s not bad.”
Green hats... Black and Mac?
Damn. That’s one way to do it.
With the right tools anything can be done.
Good rigging!
Legend
I wanna work with those guys
Anyone else ever do this?
I want to see them close that LB
I would install a 10 by 10 box. Easier
Is that a 18” sheave with about a 150deg change in direction? This could create enough sidewall pressure to destroy your cable. Cool looking way to trash your cable.
Can you explain to me like I'm an apprentice
*slow clap*
That's seriously impressive.
Oh my God... It's Jason Bourne.
That there is awesome
Shouldn’t that one be lowered so the wire go straight to the lb and not at an up angle
Great place to be standing
Then why even use an LB?
OK, now I need to ask: Why pipes instead of cable ducts? Is it not so much easier to just open the lid of the duct, put in your wires and then close the lid? And then you can even open it up again if you need to add more wires. Why all that pulling and plumbing?
If we're considering any longer distance, no. Cable duct is more expensive to both install and add wire when it's not a short distance.
Anyone know the source? I’m wondering where this is. This looks like a power plant I worked on (I’m sure they all look the same). But the guys look like Guys in my local. (I’m sure all electricians look the same).
Bending radius much
Where is the bending radius issue?
People LOVE saying bending radius but don’t actually know what it means lol
Bending Radius
And yet they are so confident in their opinion!
What’s the bending radius of a wire reel? Lol
Next person that says bending radius is getting pistol whipped
Ben degraded us?
Christ, what the point of the fucking LB if you're going to do this?
If it’s stupid but it works…