Power Lines and Climbing

bonner1040

bonner1040

Nick from Ohio
Joined
Nov 25, 2011
Messages
5,853
Location
Indianapolis / Cleveland
I know all about the MAD tables, and honestly when it comes to electricity I just dont mess around. I walked from a job the other day and I have thought about it alot since then.

treetrim_pge_equipment492px.jpg

Looking at that picture assuming the trunk of the tree goes up right next to it and the canopy is twice that height how close is too close to climb past the top primaries. In the situation I was in I couldnt have ascended the rope, as the tree was crispy dead and it had a narrow canopy to begin with and considerable lean to the left. I would have had to spike it and the stem was about 3' off the primary 2' off the secondary distribution wires, I could have climbed up on the far side which would have put me about 4' from the primary and 3' from the secondary distribution wires in total.

I never considered climbing it, and its doubtful anyone could convince me to in the future, but I am curious as to your tolerances. I have heard some crazy stories from less than credible sources but wanted your guys input.

I made he right call right?
 
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  • #3
Sorry, thats just a stock picture but it illustrates exactly how the lines were configured... With the secondary distribution and the horizontally oriented primary lines. For our discussion you can assume the tree was right in between the house and the lines...

I have the address still I wonder if I could pull up a satellite picture.
 
Hey Nick, look at the Bird's Eye in Bing Maps (looking west). It looks close to the lines there but leaning away. Is that the tree you're referring to?
 
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  • #8
its on milbrook 2 houses north of cannon on the right.

the tree was definitely leaning away but from my stance even if its 5 feet from the top primary its a no go to me. Ill climb a dead tree, or a cracked tree, or all sorts of dangerous. House drops and such dont bother me at all but the primaries get me. I dont understand electricity and for the money I charge it isnt worth it. Even at twice my best rates I still wouldnt do it, a big scaredy cat when it comes to volts and amps.

Duane told me a story form when he was a safety director at our company. A line clearance guy in the bucket dropped a sizeable imb on a primary, yelled to the groundie to grab a pruner from the truck. As he came under the line it fell and hit the pruner... all that was left was half the pruner pole. no boots no nothing. the company hid the photos from even the safet dept.. he had to go to the insurance company to get them.
 
Not enough room to flop it toward the back yard, parallel to the wires?

I did one very close to the wires once. Davey had arranged for the power to be shut off for an hour. I was halfway through the top and the homeowner came out and said "Hey, did you know the power was back on?" I was about 12" from the distribution line with my back to it. Pissed me off to no end, and I let the boss know I wasn't playing those games ever again. :X
 
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  • #10
There is a house drop running parralel to the primary on the other side :(

My solution was either a bucket truck and someone other than me; drop the house drop to the ground and flop it (which although not totaly kosher I have done); or pull the fence and try and drop it towards the street.
 
Yeah that's the view toward the East which best shows how close it is to the line. It looks like it might be dropped in the backyard, toward the other tree in the middle of the yard. But, that being said, I wouldn't do it, either.
 
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  • #14
it is impossible to drop backwards away from the street without taking down the house drop. from the trunk of the tree back to the pole in the back yard the lines taper from 10 or so feet apart to a point at the pole. Even dropping the stick alone that way would be a an AMAZING feat requiring as much skill as stupidty and luck.

If he takes the house drop down I will drop it perpendicular to the lines and parallel to the back deck.
 
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  • #15
If I smashed a deck I could fix that, but being uninsured taking down a primary, if It didnt kill me would probly wreck me financially.
 
Same up here. Free. Just did it for a 100'+ lombardi this week. Half dead major pita to do with the lines in place, fell between the pole and the house with the service line dropped. I'll schedule it in a heartbeat if it makes my life easier.
 
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  • #18
It aint my job... This was for the landscaper I was trying to work for. I told him to take care of it and call me. If it was my job I would have done it myself taped the line to the trunk and been done. But not for the money he was thinking.
 
I have had the power company do a few line drops here, too. The homeowner/business owner has to call the power co. and request the drop. They have always come on time to do the drop, we call them when we are done and they put it back up...it has made several jobs doable, way easier.
 
Sheet, I've had transmission lines cut and dropped for some jobs. My hat's off to those Lineman that do that stuff! :rockon:
 
One of my competitors locally dropped some transmission lines to do a job here a couple of years ago. Unscheduled though, didn't work out so well for them. Huge area without power. I heard the CUA on that job lost his ticket.
 
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