powerlines

[mattfr12]

what are your guys thoughts on working around power lines.

how ive always done it was i cut them down as long as they where not grown through unisulated high tension you know the ones on the top of the poles.

i have never had a problem working around the lower insulated lines a tree i took down 2 days ago was grown through the botom wire. i just cut them on each side causing them to fall out.

is this crazy or severarly dangerous as i have done it for alot of the companies i work for. when i do this im in a fiberglass boom on my bucket truck.

what do you guys think? should i change my ways?

 

[lone wolf]

are you using a hydraulic stick saw made of fiberglass and linemans gloves?

 

[mattfr12]

i do use a fiberglass pole saw hydralic one that hooks into my bucket.

 

[lone wolf]

i do use a fiberglass pole saw hydralic one that hooks into my bucket.

i cut right through a 220 line with one no gloves it saved my ass.

 

[pdqdl]

Yep, that's probably safe alright.

But the fact that you have to ask means that you are both untraind and unqualified to work near powerlines. Don't worry about it, I'm not trained or qualified either.

When I am near high voltage, I call the power company. I have lost a number of jobs in the last couple of years because the silly bastards won't come do the work they say they will, either. Oh well! I'm not dead yet, either.

When I am near 240 or less (running from the pole to the house), I don't worry about the electricity, I worry about pulling the box off the house.

A few years ago I was in my fiberglass bucket truck, violating the 10' rule, thinking I was safe. After all, those are just low voltage, insulated lines, right? That single little uninsulated top wire only 15" above the insulated wires must be a ground wire or something, because high voltage always comes down the line in 3 wires right?

Nope, not at all! When I accidentally swept a little green switch across that top wire, I felt a prominent tingle from the electricity. I was clearly electrified for 1/2 second, and it might have been fatal to me, or possibly someone touching the truck.

It turns out that it was a single phase primary serving the neighborhood, and probably had 7,000 volts on it, directly connected to my hand with a green stick of elm tree.

Ooops. Won't do that again! Let the guys trained for that work do the branches in the wires.

Yes! Change your ways, before you start logging in at the fifth forum, instead of the first one. Read all about it here: http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=133775

 

[treeclimber101]

what are your guys thoughts on working around power lines.

how ive always done it was i cut them down as long as they where not grown through unisulated high tension you know the ones on the top of the poles.

i have never had a problem working around the lower insulated lines a tree i took down 2 days ago was grown through the botom wire. i just cut them on each side causing them to fall out.

is this crazy or severarly dangerous as i have done it for alot of the companies i work for. when i do this im in a fiberglass boom on my bucket truck.

what do you guys think? should i change my ways?

I think you should take a EHAP course , bottom line its just one :censored: up and your bacon ... Call the underground markout # they can assist you in connection to up and coming courses

 

[plowboy]

richmond va.

guy today got fried on the job only 15 min. was subposted to be exsperes i just stay back 15 ft my self

 

[Rftreeman]

Here's my thoughts, watch this (WARNING, IT'S GRAPHIC)


That could be your someday............

 

[johninky]

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought only uninsulated wires on utility poles carry electricity and the insulated lines are telephone/cable TV lines.

 

[treeclimber101]

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought only uninsulated wires on utility poles carry electricity and the insulated lines are telephone/cable TV lines.

What are you serious , I guess you never looked at transmission lines up close

 

[Jumper]

I would not trust the insulation on electric wires for a minute. Only way yould get me near power lines would be if they are switched off by the hydro guys, or maybe with proper training, rubber gloves, sleeves and overshoes.

 

[pdqdl]

Here's my thoughts, watch this (WARNING, IT'S GRAPHIC)


That could be your someday............

WOW !

I have never seen anything like that. Notice that all the muscles in the poor fellow went into total tetany. He went stiff as a board, even after he fell. "Graphic" is not an adequate description. That was morbidly graphic; I think "grisly" would be the word of preference here.

Much like a lightning strike on an airplane, notice that the RR car seemed to dissipate the entire shock without a problem.

 

[pdqdl]

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought only uninsulated wires on utility poles carry electricity and the insulated lines are telephone/cable TV lines.

Ok! Here is the correction!

WRONG! Every ampere of electricity you ever enjoyed in your life came to you through insulated wires. ALL the wires are insulated after they are stepped down in voltage, as delivered to the user from the transformer.

I have swatted old 3-phase insulated wires (probably carrying 480 volts) with falling branches, and the insulation was old and falling off. The wires crossed and burned off the insulation and blew the local circuit after the wires got glowing red hot. If you were careless and connected a branch to that wire with one you were holding on to, it would probably have been a very unpleasant ending.

 

[lone wolf]

WOW !

I have never seen anything like that. Notice that all the muscles in the poor fellow went into total tetany. He went stiff as a board, even after he fell. "Graphic" is not an adequate description. That was morbidly graphic; I think "grisly" would be the word of preference here.

Much like a lightning strike on an airplane, notice that the RR car seemed to dissipate the entire shock without a problem.

I have and i can tell you it will get you, think and pay attention don't have the chipper running so you have communications open ,watch aluminum poles forget about when it is wet out and don't think you know everything.

 

[ropensaddle]

Ok! Here is the correction!

WRONG! Every ampere of electricity you ever enjoyed in your life came to you through insulated wires. ALL the wires are insulated after they are stepped down in voltage, as delivered to the user from the transformer.

I have swatted old 3-phase insulated wires (probably carrying 480 volts) with falling branches, and the insulation was old and falling off. The wires crossed and burned off the insulation and blew the local circuit after the wires got glowing red hot. If you were careless and connected a branch to that wire with one you were holding on to, it would probably have been a very unpleasant ending.

Actually no, the service drops have merely a protective sheath that isolates the two hots from the ground neutral. It is against law for non Qualified personal to get within ten foot of any overhead energized conductors. I am qualified after supervising and performing line clearance many years.

 

[ropensaddle]

What are you serious , I guess you never looked at transmission lines up close

Transmission lines are those that usually are explained as carrying minimum 134 kv and run ungrounded from generation or nuclear to feed sub station. These wires have minimum separations greater than any overhead conductors. I was working on 500 kv lines with fifteen foot minimum separation these lines can arc and turn you into a human spark plug:monkey:
Sometimes 69 kv running from one sub to another are referred to as transmission too

 

[PaulPollard]

Never had an experience with electricity and tree work myself but have seen a few incidents. The service drops to the house are about 240 volts and rated for about 100 amps or whatever the fuse box - that is plenty to kill you. The guy I was working with had a handsaw and fiberglass ladder hacking into a cedar hedge and POP! - so loud a neighbor 6 houses down asked if everything was OK. There was a puff of smoke and he was frozen for a second. He said he didn't get a shock but the handsaw was cooked - burnt steel and parts of the wooden handle were smoked. I think it might have even been a bit wet or in the morning? I think he got zapped myself.

Another job with a willow tree about 25 feet away at the base from a single primary running down the street and a 1/4 inch branch 4 feet long - a twig - falling from about 20 feet broke it. Thing is we didn't even know until the homeowners started showing up, the whole street was out. It broke at the pole and it was obvious why after looking at it, the whole attachment was falling apart and rusted out. We watched the hydro guys fix it in about 10 minutes.

I've also seen a tree grown right into a live house drop with burn marks everywhere.

I've only done line clearance a few times but yeah, you should be wearing lineman's gloves and following the limits - they are pasted on every truck that works around lines as far as I know. The secondary and primary lines that usually run along the backyard property lines in suburbia are the ones you just won't get a second chance with if you make good contact!

Maybe ropensaddle knows the correct terms. Also, weather stripping is often mistaken for insulation, you can see it peeling off.

 

[ddhlakebound]

Actually no, the service drops have merely a protective sheath that isolates the two hots from the ground neutral. It is against law for non Qualified personal to get within ten foot of any overhead energized conductors. I am qualified after supervising and performing line clearance many years.

I could be wrong, but I interpreted pdqdl's post as referring to the old open secondary low voltage systems, which have mostly been replaced by tri-plex service drops.

I looked at a house a week or so ago still being fed from the old open secondary system. Hopefully (for the HO's sake) when they drop it so I can do the job the utility will change it out to a triplex service.

The open secondaries are only weathercoated, and definately not insulated, but the tri-plex is insulated. I've seen the tri-plex severed from rubbing on limbs, and I've seen a pole saw head penetrate the insulation on a tri-plex drop (with a big bright flash and a melted saw head...my old partner was not bitten, thanks to a fairly new and clean fiberglass Jameson pole.)

Around here the utilities will not do any trimming around low voltage. They'll drop the line so a contractor can do it safely, or we just have to work around the low voltage.

I've done a few 7.6k clearances for people who didn't want the utility trimmers touching their trees since I left line clearance, but there have been many, many others I wouldn't touch until the utility gave me enough clearance. Had to check all the nooks and crannies in my wallet to find my EHAP card, but it's still there. Even having it, I know that trained is only half the equation....still supposed to be authorized to work near the HV.

 

[pdqdl]

Actually no, the service drops have merely a protective sheath that isolates the two hots from the ground neutral. It is against law for non Qualified personal to get within ten foot of any overhead energized conductors. I am qualified after supervising and performing line clearance many years.

AHHH! Nit-picker! I knew you would be weighing in on this thread before too long. Welcome to the thread.

All of the amps that get delivered still are going through the insulated hot wires to the end user. I wasn't trying to say that the service lines and secondaries are not dangerous, I was trying to point out the error of considering an insulated wire to be "non-electrical", as suggested in one of the previous posts. Around here, it is pretty common to have insulated wires running pole-to-pole in 2-3 single strands, rather than as a twisted single line.

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What do the regulations say about private contractors with adequate experience (like yourself), who are not working for a utility or other "approved" contractor? Is that a self-regulating sort of thing, or can the utility company come by and tell you to get out of the work zone?

I imagine everybody leaves it alone until disaster strikes, then the government comes in handing out fines.

 

[pdqdl]

My thoughts highlighted in boldface

I could be wrong, but I interpreted pdqdl's post as referring to the old open secondary low voltage systems, which have mostly been replaced by tri-plex service drops. Thank you; that is exactly what I was referring to.

I looked at a house a week or so ago still being fed from the old open secondary system. Hopefully (for the HO's sake) when they drop it so I can do the job the utility will change it out to a triplex service.

The open secondaries are only weathercoated, and definately not insulated, but the tri-plex is insulated. I've seen the tri-plex severed from rubbing on limbs, and I've seen a pole saw head penetrate the insulation on a tri-plex drop (with a big bright flash and a melted saw head...my old partner was not bitten, thanks to a fairly new and clean fiberglass Jameson pole.) Huh! I always thought it was insulation that was just cracked, old, and falling off. SEE! I told you I was unqualified.

Around here the utilities will not do any trimming around low voltage. They'll drop the line so a contractor can do it safely, or we just have to work around the low voltage. We get pole-to-pole trimming by the utilities, but the service lines are all ours.

I've done a few 7.6k clearances for people who didn't want the utility trimmers touching their trees since I left line clearance, but there have been many, many others I wouldn't touch until the utility gave me enough clearance. Had to check all the nooks and crannies in my wallet to find my EHAP card, but it's still there. Even having it, I know that trained is only half the equation....still supposed to be authorized to work near the HV. I'm a good boy now, and I stay away from primaries, having learned my lesson