cable tuggers

[kaffine]

I am looking for recommendations for a small cable tugger for pulling comm/alarm type cables. Ease of setup and lightweight are top priorities as often the pull points are above the ceiling. Not too concerned about powered or manual just something better than pulling the string by hand. Getting tired of tearing up my hands and wearing myself out pulling cable all day.

I am also looking for cable lube systems typically it is 3/4 to 2 inch conduit. I have seen some for larger conduit but not much for smaller conduit.

Thanks.

 

[rockwithjason]

you aren't going to find much for 1 inch and under. the cost and set up time versus pulling by hand just don't pay off. if you are really wanting something like that you may be able to set up a greenlee tugger with some sheaves but again the cost and time will kill you. sometimes gloves are the best solution. if you are using a fish tape or even rope or string you can use lineman's pliers to grip the line. for fish tape, grab the tape in the special jaw just below the pivot pin (closest to the handles). if you like you can stop by and i will show you what i am talking about. for 1 1/2 and 2 inch i would look at the maxis puller.

http://www.southwiretools.com/tools/tools/M6K-M

i have used them for years and it's the best solution i have found for smaller pulls like what you describe. above ceiling may be a problem but i would imagine there is an extension bar available or you could have one fabbed. i wouldn't be scared of a modification because the nature of the cable you want to pull is fragile. if you apply anywhere near the force this machine will apply you have probably destroyed the cable.

 

[the gypsy]

Have you thought of using a hand operated boat winch. Instead of winding the rope on the drum you only put a couple of turns on the drum and use it as a capstan. With one hand turning the handle and with the other hand pulling and keeping the rope tight to assure friction.

 

[Beemer533]

I buy a lot of stuff from this place, I think this might be what you want;


http://www.licensedelectrician.com/Store/ME/Power-Pull-it.htm

 

[kaffine]

Thanks. Looks like Maxis has a 1k unit that would work for the larger pulls and the Power Pull-it would work for smaller pulls. The boat capstan winch would work but I need to figure out an easy way to mount the winch to the end of the conduit. And get it past our purchasing department.

Of course if they would install the conduit correctly it would be a lot easier. Last 2 runs have had 400 degrees of bends between pull points and around 50% fill. At least it was emt this time. I pulled out some old flex the person that installed it apparently didn't know you could cut it to length instead they just crammed all the extra into a nearby stud cavity and called it good. I don't know how they got the cable in it the first time.

 

[Thumper68]

I would be really concerned pulling comm cables with any of those suggestions, cat5/cat6 is not supposed to have any more than 25 pounds of force used to pull and to meet code no more than 180 degrees of bends between pull points.

I can't count the number of pull points I have installed in older emt runs so I could use them instead of running new.

 

[kaffine]

I can't even get them to keep the bends under 360 degree which is code forget about getting them to use 180 degree TIA 569 standard. Often times there is no access to the conduit to add additional pull points. Not sure are saddles and offsets counted in the bend calculations? I assumed they are if not then they are complying with the 360 degree of bend.

I looked up the cables we pull the cat6 cable we use says 40 lbf on pulls. That is the lowest of the cables we pull. The most common cable for use to use is allowed up to 148lbf with some rated up to 200lbf.

How do you calculate max allowed tension when the cables are so different in allowed force? The one I found was adding up the allowed force of the cable then multiplied by a safety factor of 0.8. Since ours range from 40 to 200 lbf not sure if I would need to use a larger safety factor or use the cable with the lowest rating then multiple that by the number of cables and safety factor.

I'm not used to doing pull calculations. The one I found it seemed they used a 0.8 safety factor so that would mean my last pull would have been 398 lbf max. 7 cables on the pull 3 at 59 , 3 at 72, 1 at 104. While still well under the 1000 pounds the small tugger is capable of not so much under that I consider it way overkill either. Of course this assumes my calculations are somewhat close.

 

[PaulyC]

i just wrap the string around the handle of my screw driver and use it as a handle. then tape a short piece of 1/2'' or 3/4" pipe to the studs above the ceiling and i can pull just about anything standing on the ground.

 

[toplessHO]

Ideal makes 77 in aerosol cans. neat and easy but not cheap
Ive used the maxis small and large they are ok but not as fast as pulling by hand
until you get into larger cable. Also use a pulling sock sized for your conduit and cable size,so get a few different sizes. They also make mini pulleys that fit in conduit boxes for angle pulls