looking for a clamp type electric cable puller

[fishhead]

Can anyone tell me where I might find a electric cable puller like the electric companies use to tighten overhead electric lines?

I'm not sure what to call it other than a wedge type puller. It can be attached anywhere in the line and is pulled by a hand winch. It has a wedge that tightens the harder it is pulled.

Also, I'm running a 200' span with a pole in the center for support. I don't want it loose but I don't want to pull the aluminum ground wire apart either.

How much tension can be put on the cable?

[John Hill]

Sorry I cant advise you on the wedge gripper but when we pull stranded cables at our radio transmitter site (Pictures here) we use the bolt on type of cable clamp which consists of two pieces of steel about 6 inches long which bolt together and have the shape of the twisted cable moulded into them. These clamps avoid crushing or distorting the cable in any way.

[farminghandyman]

http://www.google.com/products?sourc...=1&sa=N&tab=wf

http://www.google.com/products?q=wire+stretcher&show=dd

http://www.google.com/products?q=wire+grips&show=dd

[ninny]

Might stop by your local power distribution location and see if they might sell you one. There are several different types so they will want to know what type of wire you're going to be pulling. They may have one they consider worn out but will still work for you as you're not going to be doing as much wire pulling as they do.

[fishhead]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I looked at how the electric company attached the wire to my house and it looks like they took about 3-4 strands of twisted ground wire and slipped it through the insulator and then wrapped each end around the incoming ground in the same direction as the twist. No clamps or anything to hold it on. Evidently it acts like one of those finger traps that get tighter the harder you pull.

A few years ago I watched an electric company employee drop a 50+ pound limb on the wire and it held so it must work.

[moopups]

What is your cable diameter? If it is small enough a barb wire clamp will work, available at a feed and farm store.

[Ozarka]

The termination at the insulator at your service is actually a separate component that is called a "preformed line tie" it is very hard wire that is coated with some kind of grit to help it stay on the line. What you need is to go to an electric wholesale house and ask for 4 aluminum wedge clamps. One on each end, two in the middle with some slack in a loop. The idea of asking the local power company guy if you can borrow his is a good idea. The wedge clamps could be used to pull your span tight but they are a bugger to get off later.
The bare center conductor is the Neutral wire, not the ground. they are different. That bare wire has a steel center conductor that will take hundreds of pounds of tension. What are you attempting to do that you need to run 200 feet of overhead line? what is the load? are you feeding this from a main breaker at your service? Been there, done that, have the license...

[farminghandyman]

are you looking for "wedge clamps" that clamp on to the wire and then to an insulator?

http://www.google.com/products?sourc...=1&sa=N&tab=wf


http://electrical.hardwarestore.com/...ELAID=42473295

[Ozarka]

Those are designed to hold the cable ends in service, not to be used to pull the initial tension. Klein makes the type of pulling clamp with a sliding shoe that presses the cable into a groove in the fixed shoe, these are the types of clamps one might be able to borrow from the poco guys.

[fishhead]

The wedge clamp shown is what I will use on the insulators once I get it pulled. Home Depot has those in stock.

My wire is #4 aluminum and I'm running power from the main to a remote location. Total distance is under 300'. I only need to run a small motor and if I have to I can use 220V.

If that bare wire is the neutral does that mean I will need a ground rod at the destination disconnect box? I hadn't figured on that because I assumed it would be no different than the small breaker panels and GFI plugins I installed out on the dikes.

I also thought I could let the wire slide through the middle insulator since I'm only going 200' from anchor to anchor. Is that okay?

[farminghandyman]

If you can pull from behind the last pole, (hopefully, you have a cable longer then you need), and if you need a mechanical puller, loop the end and put a wire rope clamp on it, and pull, when tight, hook the wedge clamp on the bare wire, and hook to the insulator, release the puller and cut off the loop and hook up the wire,

but on many of the triplex wires I have put up, I got on the back side of the pole and jsut pulled it tight by hand, and for no more tension I think you will need, using one of the wedge clamps that you hook up to the insulator will work to attach to. and if you hit them on the back side you can unlock them.

you would want to hook the center with the wedge clamps from the Neutral, as the insulation may wear and short if left to slide in an insulator, there may be another type of connector for the center, but not familiar with it.

[fishhead]

Thanks again. It's a good thing I asked. I hadn't considered friction taking the insulation off the wire and with expansion/contraction, birds, and wind it probably does move quite a bit.

I think I'll make the loop on the center pole and pull from both ends since they have a support wire and the center pole doesn't.

Can I just use a disconnect at the end or do I need breakers? I plan on putting a 110V and 220V plug-in.

[farminghandyman]

I would treat it as a new panel in a new building and wire it appropriately,
not as an extended permanent extension cord. (if not in a building use the proper exterior boxes),

you may want to consult with a electrician especially if this is to be inspected. Offer him a consulting fee.
to make sure you get the grounding and bonding done appropriately,

use a wire heavy enough to account for voltage drop,

now I not seeing it if you wrote it for what your planing on using it for, but you said both 110 an 220 loads, I would strongly sugest to over size the wire. To take on future loads as well. (more than likey if there is power there you will find a uses for it there.)


A number 4 alumium wire on 300' is only good for about 20 amps at the end with the voltage drop figured in.

Voltage Drop caculators:
both top urls will give you a recomended wire size for the amps entered,
http://www.elec-toolbox.com/calculators/voltdrop.htm
or
http://www.southwire.com/voltagedropcalculator.jsp
or
http://www.electrician2.com/vd_calculator.htm

NEC RECOMMENDATIONS

The National Electrical Code contains six Fine Print Notes to alert the Code user that equipment can have improved efficiency of operation if conductor voltage drop is taken into consideration.

1. Branch Circuits – This FPN recommends that branch circuit conductors be sized to prevent a maximum voltage drop of 3%. The maximum total voltage drop for a combination of both branch circuit and feeder should not exceed 5%. [210-19(a) FPN No. 4], Figure 2.

2. Feeders – This FPN recommends that feeder conductors be sized to prevent a maximum voltage drop of 3%. The maximum total voltage drop for a combination of both branch circuit and feeder should not exceed 5%. [215-2(d) FPN No. 2], Figure 2.

http://www.mikeholt.com/technical.ph...calvoltagedrop

[fishhead]

I used one of those on-line calculators to be sure I had plenty. I'm using it to power a fixed 1/2 hp paddlewheel and some small pumps occassionally so there should be plenty of power.

My biggest portable 110V pump only draws 7 amps so I'll have plenty of amps to spare.

Thanks for the help.

[Ozarka]

A very important consideration is to purchase "quadraplex" wire with 3 insulated conductors and the bare "messenger" The bare wire is your ground and one of the insulated conductors is your neutral. The Code says that after the main you must run seperate neutral and ground, PERIOD. Never mind what works, the NEC is the law in most states. Costs a bit more, but the safety is worth the expense. Don't forget to use oxide inhibitor on your splices. Go to a used bookstore and search for any wiring books written by Richter.
ZZzzaaP! Good luck.

[farminghandyman]

Some farms can fall under some different rules.
As most farms use a distribution system on the farm,
Depending on situations there may be a Isolation disconnect at the meter pole and not a service disconnect, and off of that you normally have a distribution system, wires distributing power to each of the buildings or groups of buildings, each with there own service disconnect,

If he is going off of a distribution system it may be treated as service, and if it pig tailed off as a branch circuit it would be a sub panel, and the 4 wire rule is then in effect, also some is dependent on if there is a parallel grounding path. So with out seeing what he is doing it may require a addition ground wire ran or it may not. And there are a number of factors need to be considered to determine as exactly how to proceed to met the electrical codes.

The best situation is to hire a local electrician for or as a consultant, for the information to what would be needed in his situation.



an excellent book is, "Practical Electrical Wiring"
http://www.google.com/products?sourc...=1&sa=N&tab=wf
The latest edition is based on the 2005 NEC,

[fishhead]

Thanks again.

Since it will already be covered by a breaker at the main panel can I just use a disconnect and a 110V and 220V plug-in at the end of the circuit?

It's only going to be used seasonally for a couple of months each year. Once I turn it on I'll let the motor run until I turn it off.

Also, using 2 wedge clamps on the center pole how do I keep the wire loop from dropping and making contact with the pole?

[Boss Cooker]

You need a preform cable wrap. It will connect to the incoming wire. Your pulling point is the loop on the preform. Once your wire is pulled up to the connection point, the preform is removed.

[fishhead]

Thanks. I see the power company has my house service permanently connected to the house insulator witha preform cable wrap. It also looks like that's how they connect most poles along the road.

[Ozarka]

Fishhead:
Once you leave the main breaker/switch at the service entrance, the code requires that you pull a seperate grounding conductor with every branch circuit or sub feeder. It is difficult to do electrical design with just words because there are several dozen ways to handle a given situation, different materials and equipment for different situations. If you are going to the trouble and expense to haul them amperes that distance, it would be wise to set a panel with breakers appropriate to the receptacles feeding the remote load, at the far end of the aerial run, but without all the info, it's like asking a Dr. to diagnose a medical condition over the telephone; yes, you have a sore throat, but what about the lesions between your toes? and the hair falling out that you didn't mention because you thought it wasn't important or connected...
Handyfarmingman, the NEC is just that, the NATIONAL electric code. Of course, local usage and techniques vary within the code requirements. All my life I have connected the bare ground wire from the rod to the service entrance by terminating it at the meter enclosure, there is even a small lug next to the neutral, yet in Indiana one is required to tie this conductor to the neutral in the main breaker to keep it out of the meter base...and to satisfy code, that is the only point where neutral and ground are tied together.