Pole Saw for use around wires?

[clearance]

I have 12 years of experience as a qualified line clearance tree trimmer. We have completed countless contracts for Boston Edison, Mass Electric and municipal light Dept's. as little as 100 amps can kill you instantly, most service wires are 200amps, and the insulation on a 200 amp tri-plex was designed to prevent outages from squirrels and trees, not to provide any type of electrocution protection. As a qualified line trimmer you learn that all wires are to be considered live, even telephone and cable and that defiantly includes secondary. There are many documented cases of people killing themselves trimming around service wires. Anyone here that suggests working around service wires is completely safe is feeding you grave mis-information.

Never once did I say this was completly safe, Mark actually has a pretty good take on this subject here, one of the better ones, and he isn't even qualified. As little as 1/10 of an amp can kill you I hear, never mind 100. Anyways, bottom line, if you don't know, stay away.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

as little as 100 amps can kill you instantly,

Actually, it only takes about a quarter amp to kill. It's just a matter of getting it in the right place.

most service wires are 200amps, and the insulation on a 200 amp tri-plex was designed to prevent outages from squirrels and trees, not to provide any type of electrocution protection.

No, it's purpose is to electrically separate two energized wires from each other (since they are 180 degrees out of phase), and from ground. If you didn't have that insulation, you would have a transformer go kaboom. Ever see a transformer go up? Lots of fun!


Squirrel protection is also considered in the construction, in order to avoid the aforementioned kaboom.

You are quite correct that electrocution protection is NOT its purpose.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Anyways, bottom line, if you don't know, stay away.

And THAT is the definitive word on the subject!

 

[diltree]

Maybe I should have been more clear....an old 100 amp service can kill you instantly, while the new triplex service wires are now 200 amps.

Mark, yes I understand the point of the triplex design, but you need to understand why utility's prefer triplex as well as tree-hendrix, to the older style of open three-phase. The purpose of the design is less outages and transformers going kaboom! and the two major traditional causes of power outages...squirrels and trees.......

The bottom line is in the united states only a qualified line clearance tree trimmer can work within 10 beets of any utility wires including telephone because telephone wires are to be treated as if they are live. Interesting fact; no certification program can make you qualified to work around the wires....the only way to become a Qualified Line Clearance Tree Trimmer is through documented training from an employer that has a utility contract.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

The purpose of the design is less outages and transformers going kaboom! and the two major traditional causes of power outages...squirrels and trees.......

Yep, and that's from shorting the two phases. Hence, the INSULATION.

The bottom line is in the united states only a qualified line clearance tree trimmer can work within 10 beets of any utility wires

Ten "beets"? Beets?




How did vegatables get into this?





Yeah, I know it was a typo. Just having fun.

including telephone because telephone wires are to be treated as if they are live.

Yessir. Why? Neither a telephone line nor a TV cable is going to hurt you! But too many people can't tell the difference, so the guidelines err on the side of caution and simply say STAY AWAY FROM EVERYTHING. If you never go near ANY wire, it follows that you'll never go near a primary wire.


Which goes back to clearance's point: If you have to ask, stay away.


So our original poster should probably stay away, and I'll keep trimming my trees along my service drop, while wishing I could afford to put it underground. <sigh>



And the beet goes on....

 

[diltree]

"Neither a telephone line nor a TV cable is going to hurt you!"

This is incorrect, both a cable wire and a telephone wire can become live and kill you. We had a linemen here in Worcester killed working on a telephone wire not realizing that the wire had become live do to a downed primary several sections up the street.

"beet that story"

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Point well taken, Dil!


Hmmm. Diltree. Dilltree. Pickles on trees?

 

[Rftreeman]

a little note on how little it takes too kill a person, in my study class many years ago before I started line clearance (18 years ago) I learned that only 1/10 of an amp can kill you, so guys stay away from the lines and let qualified people clear the lines for you, as I stated before, the power company will send in a crew too clear the lines for you free of charge if you give them notice, I have done it many times, I ran a ticket crew and we did that for people every week.

 

[BostonBull]

Just to quiet you ALL up.

ALL house services carry electricity!! I was a linesman in Telecom, Fire Alarm, and electrical for a total of 5 years.

Phone carries 24V
CATV carries between 76V-92V...depending on the power supplies used and what the nodes call for.
FA carries between 20-50V
Secondary Electricity 50V-999V
Primary Distribtion 1KV-35KV....depending on the area some people consider this to be sub transmission lines.

The point is stay away. If you are on the job and ask your self the question I wonder if thats hot? You probably shouldn't be working anywhere near the lines.

Now as for Amps....all these systems mentioned above carry amps. I have seen phone systems carry as much as 50amps. Cable systems I have built have been as high as 100amps.

Think about this next time your near a line of ANY kind!!!

 

[BostonBull]

And once again I must say there is ABSOLUTELY NO wire made in the Electrical industry that you as a trimmer will be anywhere near that the manufacturer has stated is INSULATED...NONE!!!!

I don't care what your buddy billy or bobby or chuck has told you, NONE....got it?


Stay Safe!

 

[BostonBull]

Sally, might that be because triplex house drops are WELL INSULATED? Yeah, that just might be why.

No, I'm not a lineman. I'm an engineer, and I understand electricity. It's what I do. I know what insulation is, and anyone who says house drops are not insulated needs to go back to school.

You are wrong. Show me where the manufacturer says its insulated.......

Ill buy lunch if you can show me an AERIAL wire that the manufacturer says is insulated.

As a matter of fact Ill grab a piece of Triplex from the yard cut it in half, take a pic post it and you can put a red arrow pointing to the insulation. Interested? No your not because there is none there. There is however a thick plastic coating that gives the hot legs and the neutral enough protection to not arc out. BUT go out on a rainy day and listen to the line real close. In areas where there is room between the phases, or where the coating has worn a little thin you will hear it arcing out. When you can hear arcing, it is VERY bad. The MINUTE sparks created are slowly burning through that jacket and will cause problems down the road.


Hope this helps!

 

[diltree]

Maybe its our engineer friend blueridgeMark that needs to go back to school!

 

[clearance]

On time this guy I worked with who is a utility guy, the real deal not ISA bunk, was working near a secondaries (triplex) on a res. job. The customer lady was mouthing off, "you'd better not touch that wire, it will kill you, blah,blah,blah...." Buddy said "no it won't" and grabbed it. Then he screamed and yelled out "ahhhhhhhh, ahhhh, I can't let go, ahhhhhh!!!" The lady freaked, the guys were just howling. Anyways, if you are not sure, not trained, stay away.

 

[talcott]

I Am A Lineman

how do

i started line work in 1967 and i am still at it. i presently cut trees daily and work alone most of the time. i had to trim around 14,400 volts to ground today out of a bucket truck. i was wearing ppe includeing 20,000 volt rubber gloves.

i have used up quite a few of my chances in about 40 years of this work.

i am still learning.

something can always go wrong.

when it involves power lines...any kind of power lines.

call the power company.

SAFETY COMES FIRST

bestest ree guards

talcott

 

[ropensaddle]

Only line clearance professionals are allowed closer than
10 feet to energized conductors.
Separation will be greater the higher the voltage as on a 500kv
line I worked you could not even get tree limb within 15 ft because
static or wild voltage as I call it would arc! The hollow poles are
not for conductor work as residue can build up and moisture as
well. If you call power company inform them you are trimming a tree
and has a powerline close they will drop or send trained personal
out to trim back away from lines. I have pulled overhang fifteen
feet and all kinds of wires and the most dangerous are drops
professionals have been killed by thinking the coating lets them
get away with more but the coating often rubs off as limbs
are touching them! I once climbed a tree that was fine was
trimming three phase and then a misting rain developed.
I had already cleared the phase and was removing stubs to
laterals when all the sudden everything I touched shocked me!
This puzzled me! phase clear, I looked around and the drop was
burning below me and I was getting indirect contact! I hollered
at the ground man to get the dry pole pruner out of the bin
and throw it up to me and was able to break limb back and
remove the problem. I had climbed over five thousand trees
to find the one that acted this way. And my practice toward
drops changed in an instant to always checking them before
going aloft. Another time I had a fellow worker drop a pole saw
accidentally and on its way down blade grazed drop and we
had 4th of July early as it kept burning all the way up the pole.

 

[ropensaddle]

On time this guy I worked with who is a utility guy, the real deal not ISA bunk, was working near a secondaries (triplex) on a res. job. The customer lady was mouthing off, "you'd better not touch that wire, it will kill you, blah,blah,blah...." Buddy said "no it won't" and grabbed it. Then he screamed and yelled out "ahhhhhhhh, ahhhh, I can't let go, ahhhhhh!!!" The lady freaked, the guys were just howling. Anyways, if you are not sure, not trained, stay away.

I would have fired that man immediately that is not the
real deal that is a moron headed for the casket!!!!!!

 

[ropensaddle]

And once again I must say there is ABSOLUTELY NO wire made in the Electrical industry that you as a trimmer will be anywhere near that the manufacturer has stated is INSULATED...NONE!!!!

I don't care what your buddy billy or bobby or chuck has told you, NONE....got it?


Stay Safe!

while that is correct utilities have a spray on rubber and rubber blankets
that will offer protection

 

[ropensaddle]

Just to quiet you ALL up.

ALL house services carry electricity!! I was a linesman in Telecom, Fire Alarm, and electrical for a total of 5 years.

Phone carries 24V
CATV carries between 76V-92V...depending on the power supplies used and what the nodes call for.
FA carries between 20-50V
Secondary Electricity 50V-999V
Primary Distribtion 1KV-35KV....depending on the area some people consider this to be sub transmission lines.

The point is stay away. If you are on the job and ask your self the question I wonder if thats hot? You probably shouldn't be working anywhere near the lines.

Now as for Amps....all these systems mentioned above carry amps. I have seen phone systems carry as much as 50amps. Cable systems I have built have been as high as 100amps.

Think about this next time your near a line of ANY kind!!!

Any fixture
or apparatus should be considered energized and that includes guy wires
as they can become energized as well as the lines you have mentioned
I witnessed a cable tv wire heat up from a car that broke a pole a quarter
mile away It had 7200 volts briefly but that would have killed anyone contacting it at the time. 1/10th of one volt in 12 volts dc can kill a human

 

[clearance]

I would have fired that man immediately that is not the
real deal that is a moron headed for the casket!!!!!!

Relax buddy. Here in B.C. you have to take 4 weeks of school, work 1200 hours supervised around high voltage primaries, back to school for 2 weeks during this 1200 hours and then write a govt. test and then a test for the utility (B.C. Hydro, usually) to be able to work around power. There are no limits or rules for anyone to do treework around triplex here, none. Once I wrapped a triplex with black tape where the tree I removed had rubbed through the insulation on one side, call the power pigs I guess, no big deal. But I do caution the untrained and unsure to stay away.

 

[ropensaddle]

Relax buddy. Here in B.C. you have to take 4 weeks of school, work 1200 hours supervised around high voltage primaries, back to school for 2 weeks during this 1200 hours and then write a govt. test and then a test for the utility (B.C. Hydro, usually) to be able to work around power. There are no limits or rules for anyone to do treework around triplex here, none. Once I wrapped a triplex with black tape where the tree I removed had rubbed through the insulation on one side, call the power pigs I guess, no big deal. But I do caution the untrained and unsure to stay away.

I have twenty years
of training and experience around conductors that does not, I repeat not
give me or anyone else the right to grab a wire that has not been isolated proper according to osha specs! It also does not give some one the right
to scare the public what if the lady had a heart attack? I am sorry you
can not see the severity of horseplay, but around energized lines there is not room for it, and that was very unprofessional in my professional opinion!