mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
That conduit is going to **** to pull throughAnd make feeding it easier by laying it out on the ground.
How to pull a very heavy bundle of cables?
- Thread starter reader2580
- Start date
Apparently, not everyone is in to the same things.
sparky 1971
Well-known member
Forget about the weight of the wire, it's not a hard pull. I've had my 14 year old kid help me with longer pull with more bends.
Use yellow 77 for lube. It makes a mess and is a ***** to clean up but it works, and it works well. The supply house was out of gallon buckets this morning so I settled for Aquagel and it *****. I used about 1/4 of it and threw the rest in the dumpster.
Use yellow 77 for lube. It makes a mess and is a ***** to clean up but it works, and it works well. The supply house was out of gallon buckets this morning so I settled for Aquagel and it *****. I used about 1/4 of it and threw the rest in the dumpster.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
No shaming
fitter30
Well-known member
Hope the conduct doesn't have more than 360° of bends. Lots of lube.
msharley
Well-known member
Shiftless
Well-known member
Wow
$1500 per drum !!!
nadogail
Well-known member
It’s impossible to use too much lube, excess lube is easily wiped up, but is extremely difficult to add after the fact. Slather the conductors up good as you feed them into the conduit.
G
G
Shiftless
Well-known member
That‘s six thousand bucks worth of lube !!
Is that a lot?
It was cheaper then the next option
Passion Natural Water-Based Lubricant - 55 Gallon https://a.co/d/8fdLVJg
Sounds like you've got 150' of pipe. Not a bad pull at all. I've done 1/0 straight vertical and almost that far.
Just get creative. I've used all kinds of equipment or even a pickup to pull wire. I really only ever use a puller indoors.
Just get creative. I've used all kinds of equipment or even a pickup to pull wire. I really only ever use a puller indoors.
Last edited:
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Why does it say "Subscribed: 1 unit every 6 months"?
Can't help you there, I suggest asking "locally"
PelicanPines
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Purchased 4 times
Since January
Shiftless
Well-known member
I wonder what other products will be offered to those who clicked on that Amazon link? 
Slip and slidesI wonder what other products will be offered to those who clicked on that Amazon link?
I gave you the product description, your fault for clicking
eejack
Well-known member
All of the suggestions about using machinery to pull should come with some warnings/advice.
If you are pulling with a machine that cannot instantly stop you risk damaging the wire, or worse, a person if something goes awry. It is very easy to get a finger or hand pulled into the conduit if you are inexperienced and going too fast.
You want to pull slow and steady and predictably. You really want easy communication between both ends of the pull.
That said, you can pull this by hand, one person pulling, one person feeding, at a steady pace in rhythm. Put lots of soap ( lube ) on the beginning of the pull, add soap as you go. I personally don't like yellow 77 as it stains things but it is an excellent lube.
Keep in mind you are not picking up the wire, but really just dragging it through the conduit, so the weight is not that significant.
You also want to make a 'nose' or a 'head' that is tapered and slim if possible as that goes around bends more gently. There are more than a few you tube videos on the topic out there.
Take your time.
If you are pulling with a machine that cannot instantly stop you risk damaging the wire, or worse, a person if something goes awry. It is very easy to get a finger or hand pulled into the conduit if you are inexperienced and going too fast.
You want to pull slow and steady and predictably. You really want easy communication between both ends of the pull.
That said, you can pull this by hand, one person pulling, one person feeding, at a steady pace in rhythm. Put lots of soap ( lube ) on the beginning of the pull, add soap as you go. I personally don't like yellow 77 as it stains things but it is an excellent lube.
Keep in mind you are not picking up the wire, but really just dragging it through the conduit, so the weight is not that significant.
You also want to make a 'nose' or a 'head' that is tapered and slim if possible as that goes around bends more gently. There are more than a few you tube videos on the topic out there.
Take your time.
msharley
Well-known member
FIFY!
alfredeneuman
Well-known member
With most wire types this is true.
I've tested this with THHN/THWN wire. The nylon outer jacket is impervious to glue.
OP
reader2580
Well-known member
The mule tape I bought is this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077Y82DLH?tag=atomicindus08-20
Is this strong enough for this pull? I already used this tape once before to pull three #3 and one #4.
Is this strong enough for this pull? I already used this tape once before to pull three #3 and one #4.
Jim greengo
Well-known member
How many 90s? Ground wire?
NakeDiesel
Well-known member
When we ran cable from my main disconnect to under my house, about 100 or so feet underground, we blew a rope through the conduit using compressed air and a pig made out of an old Gatorade bottle with the rope pushed through the cap and tied off. We then used a winch truck to slowly pull the wire through the 2" conduit 2 hots, ground and neutral wires all bundled together.
I ran a direct burial aluminum wire bundle to my shop and the only conduit I ran it through was where it went under my road and into the shop, so it was much easier, but I had to get a backhoe to dig some of the trench to deal with the rock I had to go through to get it deep enough.
I ran a direct burial aluminum wire bundle to my shop and the only conduit I ran it through was where it went under my road and into the shop, so it was much easier, but I had to get a backhoe to dig some of the trench to deal with the rock I had to go through to get it deep enough.
OP
reader2580
Well-known member
I already mentioned this in previous posts.
One 45, one 22.5, one 90. Yes, there is a #4 ground wire.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I remembered someone posting that previously, which is why i said it can damage. Thanks for posting the specifics.
I wonder if that is just the coating that some (all?) put on thhn now?
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
A shop vac and a piece of a plastic shopping bag work even easier. Takes just a few seconds if the pull string can pay out easily
OP
reader2580
Well-known member
The conduit is already in place so I won't be doing direct burial. I will be using a shop vac with string and a shopping bag.
NakeDiesel
Well-known member
We actually tried that first, couldn't get the bag all the way through. So we went for a tighter seal with the pig and it worked.
The nylon outer coating is present on all thhn/thwn-2. True mtw single rated, does not have this but is not intended to leave the enclosure in raceways.
The nylon coating is very susceptible to damage, another reason I like XHHW-2.
OP
reader2580
Well-known member
I've already done the string and shop vac with this conduit and other conduits previously. It comes through in a second or two unless the string hangs up on something. You just have to be sure the string is laid out in a way so it doesn't hang up. I often lay the string out in a zig zag pattern on the ground so it pulls in nice.
aka Larry
Well-known member
The shop vac + string and bag method worked great for me on a 100'+ run. It's a genius idea ever who came up with it first.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I dont really want to take all the credit, but I will
sparky 1971
Well-known member
The one and only time I used mule tape, it broke about 100' in on a 500'ish pull of four #8 and a #10 through a 2" that had been horizontal bored. I know it was a freak thing, there was a defect in the tape, and it will probably never happen again, but I refuse to trust it. I have 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2" ropes that are all 600' long and those are all I will use from that point forward. The mule tape works really nice for pulling the rope in.
Chuckster in NJ
Well-known member
I saw that Mule Tape and it just looked "good" as far as the reviews go but I would only use the old fashion time tested ways of pulling the wire with rope.…….. I would have no problem using it for pulling a rope in but NOT for pulling wire.
I always use the Greenlee Poly Pro pulling rope that was designed for pulling and had a "green tracer" because I could not afford a failure. I had a Greenlee Super Tugger for large pulls and that puller had some power. NOTHING is worse than a broken rope inside the conduit on a large pulling job especially with well lubed wire on loose dirt or sandy soil. I would always make up my "pulling heads" by staggering the wires because I did not trust pulling baskets. Pulling wire is easy with the proper tools and knowledgeable help.
OP
reader2580
Well-known member
I'm totally confused on using tape versus rope. Several people here, and an electrician I know, have said not to use rope as it can cut into corners inside the conduit.
That Greenlee rope is not particularly inexpensive. $200 plus tax for the 3/8" 300 foot spool. It is not the end of the world if I have a break as I can just pull the wire out and start over.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
The problem with pulling the wire out is that it's covered in lube and will get covered in dirt
sparky 1971
Well-known member
My 1/4 and 3/8 ropes are Ideal, which is what the supply house carries. I don't know what the 1/2" is, it came with everything I purchased from the old boss when he retired. All I know is that it's big and used to be green but there's so much soap on it that it has a yellowish tint to it now. For conduits smaller than 2" I usually make my own heads but if there are two or fewer 90's I might use a basket since I probably have 10 different sizes of them. When I get to 2", I have the Greenlee head with the staggered cables with set screws, includingthe fifth shorter cable when five conductors are required. I think it's limited to 250 MCM being the largest size that will fit but I'm not interested in screwing around with anything larger than that anyway.
I also have a Greenlee tugger but it's the old style with the chains that have to be wrapped around d something and tightened down which can make it a pain to use at times. The tugger only comes out every couple of years, I usually try to find a way to pull without going through the hassle of setting up unless there's a forklift sitting around I can hook it to.