How hard will it be to pull 250' of 4/0 from 2" conduit

[mike93lx]

Grandparents would think us spoiled or worse.

There have never been grandparents that didn't think of kids as spoiled

 

[bluedog225]

so you think youll get more money than the time money and labor spent to pull it out of the ground? who knows how easy it would even be to pull

We do lots of things not worrying about money. I bet the local 4wd club would accept it as a winch challenge.

 

[Bert_]

I checked with my local scrap yard for pricing today. 78 cents a pound with the insulation still on it. Most online wire weight charts show 4/0 aluminum insulated to weigh about 200 pounds per 1000'. I probably have 1500' or 300 pounds. Looks like $234 scrap amount. I will be sawing it off just below ground level and leaving it there. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Seems light. When I get a 1000' spool of 4/0-4/0-2/0 urd I think it weighs around 1200lbs.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

We do lots of things not worrying about money. I bet the local 4wd club would accept it as a winch challenge.

if youre not worried about money, what are you waiting for? ask the OP for an address and head out there.... let us know how it goes

 

[Codyboy]

We do lots of things not worrying about money. I bet the local 4wd club would accept it as a winch challenge.

Ive never done it myself but I know how they(copper thieves) do it.

There is no challenge to ripping it out of the conduit when the goal is to scrap it.
As I said before, they bust the pvc riser at the utility pole to expose a couple feet or so of wire. They stagger cut the conductors one at a time.
They do kill the load at the building most of the time but sometimes not and they get some nice sparks.
Once it is cut and no longer energized they bust the load end of the conduit at the meter or trough etc.
Wrap a sling or chain around the wire hook it to their bumper on their clapped out Chrysler 300 and hit the gas.
Rips it clean out. They drag it down the road or parking lot behind the building.
Stop, roll it up and gone.
Probably less than a 10 minute job.

The only challenge is the time involved of chaining up, rolling it up, driving to the scrap yard getting a flat , yeah because its a scrapyard. Fix the tire and drive home. Ho next day for a tire patch or new tire.
Hopefully op doesn't have an AWD vehicle.

 

[mike93lx]

Ive never done it myself but I know how they(copper thieves) do it.

There is no challenge to ripping it out of the conduit when the goal is to scrap it.
As I said before, they bust the pvc riser at the utility pole to expose a couple feet or so of wire. They stagger cut the conductors one at a time.
They do kill the load at the building most of the time but sometimes not and they get some nice sparks.
Once it is cut and no longer energized they bust the load end of the conduit at the meter or trough etc.
Wrap a sling or chain around the wire hook it to their bumper on their clapped out Chrysler 300 and hit the gas.
Rips it clean out. They drag it down the road or parking lot behind the building.
Stop, roll it up and gone.
Probably less than a 10 minute job.

The only challenge is the time involved of chaining up, rolling it up, driving to the scrap yard getting a flat , yeah because its a scrapyard. Fix the tire and drive home. Ho next day for a tire patch or new tire.
Hopefully op doesn't have an AWD vehicle.

300? Isn't it usually an off rental 200 or Altima?

 

[PCustoms]

300? Isn't it usually an off rental 200 or Altima?

Copper thieves don't drive clapped out Ridgelines?

 

[Snapped-off]

Maybe 5 years worth. Probably do a couple thousand feet of trenching in a year but I don't really think that's a lot.

This year I took in a bunch of copper/aluminum AC coils. I thought I had them fairly stripped down so I was disappointed when they would only pay "dirty" price for them. Still $385 for the coils plus a little over a ton of shred steel. $556 so the stuff is gone and I got paid decent for my time.

I just took an aluminum AC coil in yesterday. $0.60/lb for clean.

The aluminum breakage were 2 EC motors. They won't pay the motor price on EC stuff. But it beats the trash I guess.

 

[Junkman]

About 50 years ago, we would get a fire going in a 55 gallon barrel, and when the fire was extremely hot, we would put plastic coated copper wire into teh fire. When the plastic had completely melted off, we would use steel rakes to pull it out, and spray it with cold water to cool it. The cooling process had one additional benefit, it gave the copper a clean bright finish, which would bring more money at the scrap yard. It was probably about 35 - 40 cents per pound back then.

 

[rust in the eye]

About 50 years ago, we would get a fire going in a 55 gallon barrel, and when the fire was extremely hot, we would put plastic coated copper wire into teh fire. When the plastic had completely melted off, we would use steel rakes to pull it out, and spray it with cold water to cool it. The cooling process had one additional benefit, it gave the copper a clean bright finish, which would bring more money at the scrap yard. It was probably about 35 - 40 cents per pound back then.

I remember a ********* smoking fire at an auto junkyard when I was a kid. It was a huge pile, the size of a small house, of auto wire harnesses they were burning the insulation off of. I think about this when I want to complain about environmental regulations.
The ******* above was to read b ig black. WTF?
@ O.P.
No reason not to try to pull at least some out. If/when it breaks call it a day

 

[tarbellb]

Choke chain and a bumper
Gun it Cleetus

Kinda nice to pull so somebody down the line doesn't run a backhoe bucket through it and brick their pants

 

[Codyboy]

About 50 years ago, we would get a fire going in a 55 gallon barrel, and when the fire was extremely hot, we would put plastic coated copper wire into teh fire. When the plastic had completely melted off, we would use steel rakes to pull it out, and spray it with cold water to cool it. The cooling process had one additional benefit, it gave the copper a clean bright finish, which would bring more money at the scrap yard. It was probably about 35 - 40 cents per pound back then.

That was my first job at 18 in 1984.
My BIL had a communication company and had a contract with Bell helicopter in Dallas.

Running new phone lines and wrecking out old stuff.
We pulled miles and miles of 25 to 200 pair cables from under the floors , between buildings etc.
We would take pickup loads of it back to his house daily.
On the weekends and days we didnt go to Dallas I would throw loads of cable on top of an old wire mesh gate and build a fire under it to melt off the insulation.
It sucked.

 

[gte718p]

I mean if you are going to cut it off anyway, you might as well give it the old redneck go. Grab a pickup, a chain, and a beer. Get a good run up and I bet you can pull it out, or your bumper off, or both.

 

[Viper98912]

If you want to be a good steward of mother earth, you should leave no trace behind. So that means yes, do not leave that old wire in the ground - do everything you can to get it out. That means if you have to rent a backhoe to dig out a trench to take it every inch out, do so. Then use the backhoe to backfill the trench, and make sure you plant additional grass, foliage, or other native species to the local area to get it to regrow and flourish, as if you were never there.

 

[mike93lx]

If you want to be a good steward of mother earth, you should leave no trace behind. So that means yes, do not leave that old wire in the ground - do everything you can to get it out. That means if you have to rent a backhoe to dig out a trench to take it every inch out, do so. Then use the backhoe to backfill the trench, and make sure you plant additional grass, foliage, or other native species to the local area to get it to regrow and flourish, as if you were never there.

Is this a magical backhoe that runs on hopes and dreams?

Or diesel?

 

[bluedog225]

 

[Chuckster in NJ]

Is this a magical backhoe that runs on hopes and dreams?

Or diesel?

Diesel BAD!……… Hopes and dreams GOOD!

 

[Viper98912]

Is this a magical backhoe that runs on hopes and dreams?

Or diesel?

You're right. Forget the backhoe and go full size pick axe to dig it out by hand!!!

Hopefully you guys noticed I was being facetious in my last post. While I'm all for making sure I pick up my personal trash at our nation's parks and wildlife areas, I would definitely not spend the time nor energy to dig out 250 ft of wire; it's a lost cause with the potential to mess up even more stuff somewhere or somehow.

 

[PCustoms]

Is this a magical backhoe that runs on hopes and dreams?

Is the new Dr. Tow behind released already?