like to hear from people here about their stories dealing with electric lines I think this is going to get interesting guys :jawdrop:
electric hazzards
- Thread starter lone wolf
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outofmytree
Addicted to ArboristSite
Call me victim #1.
I confess to having dropped the power to about 1000 homes when removing a Norfolk Island Pine from a 29metre bucket. I was cut, throw, cut, throw .......you know how that goes, when the operator tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around in time to see the 240v lines which I had clipped with a branch writhing like snakes. Scary as all hell to watch. Then I heard pop, pop, pop, as the pole top fuses blew up the street. I called the utility company and they set up at the end of the street which happened to be the major junction(?) for that area. Ten minutes later there is a boom like distant artillery. The service guy strolls down the street an hour later looking somewhat embarrased and says "all the underground power has blown too". We never got a bill.
:monkey:
I confess to having dropped the power to about 1000 homes when removing a Norfolk Island Pine from a 29metre bucket. I was cut, throw, cut, throw .......you know how that goes, when the operator tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around in time to see the 240v lines which I had clipped with a branch writhing like snakes. Scary as all hell to watch. Then I heard pop, pop, pop, as the pole top fuses blew up the street. I called the utility company and they set up at the end of the street which happened to be the major junction(?) for that area. Ten minutes later there is a boom like distant artillery. The service guy strolls down the street an hour later looking somewhat embarrased and says "all the underground power has blown too". We never got a bill.
:monkey:
TreeW?rx
ArboristSite Member
I guess I will be #2. I was removing a Black Locust (kinda like cutting iron wood, but not as fun) from a guys yard. Nothing wrong with the beautiful tree, he just didnt like picking up the seed pods. He has a 3 phase line running right down the street in front of his house. He wouldnt let us come on the property with the bucket and the branches were to small to climb. I got up as high as I could on the ladder and cut most of the branches off, but I saved the one that I thought would be a problem till last.
Go figure, I had it all set to fall, perfect notch and back cut. It had been calm al day but the wind decided to gust just as we pushed it over. One twig caught the line and strummed it like a string on a bass fiddle. It whipped back and forth till it hit another leg of the line. It made a sound like a 12 gauge and a flash like a thousand cameras all going off at once. Called the power company, they reset the main at the distribution center and re-tensioned the guy wire on the pole. Got a bill for $500 for their time. I wish I could make $500 for 2 minutes of work.
Go figure, I had it all set to fall, perfect notch and back cut. It had been calm al day but the wind decided to gust just as we pushed it over. One twig caught the line and strummed it like a string on a bass fiddle. It whipped back and forth till it hit another leg of the line. It made a sound like a 12 gauge and a flash like a thousand cameras all going off at once. Called the power company, they reset the main at the distribution center and re-tensioned the guy wire on the pole. Got a bill for $500 for their time. I wish I could make $500 for 2 minutes of work.
371groundie
ArboristSite Guru
Episode 1: working as a logger, no clue about powerlines other that "stay away from them". tall spindly cherry tree hooked on me. it hit the neutral wire causing it to bounce up and hit the primary. BANG! 50 residenses out of power. trouble truck found me, i fessed up, no bill.
Episode 2: 1 month experience as a utility line clearance groundman. groundcutting in ROW. misjudged a maple sapling and it laid into the primary. i could hear it arcing, but i didnt get any fuzzy feelings. (got away from it as soon as things started to go awry.) more experienced groundmad working with me cut a 4' chunk and threw it at the maple to knock it off the wire.
theres some scary stories out there, ive been smart/lucky. I cant wait to get out of line clearance and back in the woods.
Episode 2: 1 month experience as a utility line clearance groundman. groundcutting in ROW. misjudged a maple sapling and it laid into the primary. i could hear it arcing, but i didnt get any fuzzy feelings. (got away from it as soon as things started to go awry.) more experienced groundmad working with me cut a 4' chunk and threw it at the maple to knock it off the wire.
theres some scary stories out there, ive been smart/lucky. I cant wait to get out of line clearance and back in the woods.
electric
wouldnt let you on the prop with bucket dont let them tell you how to work thats when stuff happens never again let the owner tell you how to do your job
wouldnt let you on the prop with bucket dont let them tell you how to work thats when stuff happens never again let the owner tell you how to do your job
electric
well groundie i have seen wires melt and whip down from the tension and could land right on, you so run if there is a next time.
well groundie i have seen wires melt and whip down from the tension and could land right on, you so run if there is a next time.
Dalmatian90
Addicted to ArboristSite
I didn't do it but I know who did.
Was his lucky day to walk away from that one. Those are 138kV lines.
He was trying to get one last tree down late in the afternoon. Wind gust got the tree rocking then it fell backwards from the notch.
Wonder if that caused any kerfaffle for CL&P Management...because if they had trees in their ROW that came down with a chainsaw induced event, it means they have trees in their ROW that would do damage in a hurricane or ice storm.
Also brought up while the fire departments & the distribution side of local power company have a very good relationship, their wasn't a good line of communication to the folks who control the transmission side. Made for a nice light show when they re-energized the line to see if the fault had cleared.
TreeW?rx
ArboristSite Member
Lone Wolf. I know that now. I never let a customer tell me how the job is supposed to go. This happened on the 2nd job I ever did. Wanted to be the nice guy and make the customer feel good. Amazing how experience can change your perspective. Now, if I feel that I need to do something that the customer doesnt want to let me do, I dont do the job.
Posted earlier in a different thread.
Hired to take down an alianthus with a power line running amongst the branches. Took it apart piece by piece due to its brittle nature. Got to the trunk and sure enough, tough lean so I tied it off at the top. Plan was to cut the trunk as he applied tension to the rope, guiding it as if fell slowly. The power line to the house was right under the branch.
Cutting starts, he applies the tension and as it starts to drop, sure enough, he slips, looses all tension in the line and the trunk drops on the line. Pulled the line down from the top peak of the house and down to the ground, right to the meter. No sparks so I kept working and then called a friend, an electrician, and he came to repair the wires. Told me 1/2" more and the house would have blown up while the neighborhood went dark.
Lived to tell the story but gotta learn!
Hired to take down an alianthus with a power line running amongst the branches. Took it apart piece by piece due to its brittle nature. Got to the trunk and sure enough, tough lean so I tied it off at the top. Plan was to cut the trunk as he applied tension to the rope, guiding it as if fell slowly. The power line to the house was right under the branch.
Cutting starts, he applies the tension and as it starts to drop, sure enough, he slips, looses all tension in the line and the trunk drops on the line. Pulled the line down from the top peak of the house and down to the ground, right to the meter. No sparks so I kept working and then called a friend, an electrician, and he came to repair the wires. Told me 1/2" more and the house would have blown up while the neighborhood went dark.
Lived to tell the story but gotta learn!
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