What Makes a Lineman

[parashooter]

If you're a lineman, you'll know what I mean when I say it's in the blood. Once you become part of the trade, it becomes an indelible part of your life, like a birthmark, or tattoo. So ingrained in the man, it becomes part of the persona. I have yet to meet a man who is/was a lineman that doesn't live and breathe the trade every waking minute.

When forced to leave the trade, like myself, a grieving process begins and continues until the last breath is drawn.

There are many small ingredients in the daily life of a lineman, most of which never even come to mind, until they're gone. Some things never leave the mind. Like how you look at a pole from the ground to determine the best path of ascent. How the eye automatically scans every pole passed, noting loose hardware, broken or chipped insulators, or out of sag conductors. Always looking down line to see how straight the pole line is and if any poles are leaning out.

Even the things a lineman dislikes when in the hooks becomes an item that is lost and grieved for. Like the ache in your feet after being on the same pole for hours. Like the burn in your hips from your tool belt rubbing. Like the crick in your neck from looking straight up for hours on end. Like the feeling you get when you see a severe storm on the way through your territory. Like the scabs on your arms from cutting out.

Then the good things come to mind. Like the smell of a beautiful, calm spring day. Like the feeling of being on top of a pole on a day like that. The smell of the wood, and leather. The creak of the wood under the weight of your hooks. The feel of your favorite belt and hooks and how they are like old friends, worn and comfortable. The feeling of satisfaction after completing a job and knowing it will stand the test of time and the scrutiny of your peers.

[Court]

I may print that and put it on my wall.

My Grandfather was a Lineman, Dad was a Lineman and I was riding around on the floor of a Power Constructors International Travel-All before I was 5.

Nothing but fabulous memories.

[squarewasher]

I always tell the new apprentices "You either love it or you hate it there is no middle ground". I also think you hit it right on the nail...SQW

[Edge]

Well said, Sir. Well said.

^^^This^^^

fuggin solid bub...

Welcome to the boards

Edge

[Edge]

I removed it just for you. Don't you remember gettin' into a fuggin' pissin' contest a year or year and a half a ago ??? I drink, U drink, alot of people drink. Had a few, then got on here? Fine. No problem. No need for another pissin' contest. Not in the mood. I just witnessed today one of the worst fires I've ever seen on a 12kv line, reconductoring a static/neutral from #2 acsr to #3/0 acsr with Sherman Reilly's (tensioner tuggers) and the new wire got down into one phase and went phase to ground; then phase to phase. This is shielded (high neutral) crossarm construction. To boot, my leadman (line foreman) used my driven ground from my bucket truck to ground down the machine he was on, along with the running (traveling) ground on the new conductor all tied in to my truck ground, with the fault going through ALL 6 of my tires and baking the driven ground before the feeder finally locked out, even with non-reclose (one-shot). Maybe cut me a little slack? Thanks. I thought his post was well put. That's all. Stay safe everyone.
Proud to be IBEW - Local #1464

yessir I do remember.. all to well... I removed those posts I made because they were uncalled for and didn't need to be on this site... I also recall apologizing for shooting off at ya...
that apology still stands...
Eric,
that sounds like a horrific accident... was there absolutely no way to bond to the system neutral at all??? (insulated "mac coupled to a "drop ground or something?) damed glad you and yours are ok... fu(k that truck and the tired it rode up on... all that shit can be replaced...

my quoteing you with the ^^^This^^^ simply meant that I thought you had said it all...
there was no ill intent there bub...

again hope everyone is well...

for what it's worth

Edge



edit... btw man the only reason I went on that drunken rampage was because I found out my "kid" brother was going to Iraq... I lost the brother that was between us in 'Nam... which is why they sent me home... my "kid" brother was born 18 months later... guess Pops had his own way of greavin...

you want slack you got it bro

[Edge]

Sheets to the wind now... Lil whiskey drink, ...... Not the the usual brewhaw ... Some good ol' country. Lil Merle, some ol' George, and a little Hank. Maybe figure it out. Sorry Edge. Funny, after talkin' to the Miss, she gets right to the point and wonders w.t.f. happened and why. After explaining it to her it seems logical. "Supposedly" one of the machines wasn't working right, although it wasn't turned in / reported. Figure out more tomorrow. So we were doin' our thing and covered ALL the bases as far as Safety goes. But then everything went to $hit. The more i think about it, the more she hounds me, the more i wonder if it could have been prevented. Maybe find out more later. God willing, NEVER again. I always said I hope to GOD i never have to rescue someone OR ever see someone rescued, I never want to be in an accident. Traffic stopped and people asked if we were ok, we were right in front of a Casey's goddamned gas station. Thankful everyone was ok. Seemed like forever before she locked out, but so happy when she did. Maybe wrong forum for this posting. Sorry if so. George is singing about Yesterday's Wine, and how he stopped loving her today, and them him and Merle are singing about C C Waterback; things of that nature. Vern says "Set 'em up Joe, and play walkin' the floor". Be careful now brothers. :cool:

Take your time man... get you shit together... I've been there... many of us have

just remember when your wife says "your job might be more physically demanding but my job is more mentally stressful" at least thats the shit I've had to listen to for years...

once you get your head straight... and you can dig whats going down... drop a post... maybe we can Monday QB this thing...

"have a drink on me"

Edge

[mainline]

I had the same thing happen 2 years ago. We relied on a driven ground, my fault, rather than go to the system neutral. The pline was wrapped mid-run around the center conductor. The guy following in the bird didn't see it because of obstructions. Long story short, the grounded conductor reached the energized phase. It energized the bull wheel tensioning trailer and burned a bunch of tires. Even with the recloser on one shot it didn't open. It took one of us ten minutes to get to the recloser and open it manually. I can tell you it was the longest ten minutes I have ever spent on a piece of equipment. Now we always go to the system neutral, even if we have to run conductor through the trees to get to it. I am glad to hear that you and the guys you work with are all right. Accidents happen, what is important is that we learn from them.

[johnbellamy]

.......................

[Edge]

Eric...

I noticed you droped your posts... I can dig that... if you don't mind put something in the safety board... if you aint up to it that cool too...

hope everythings going well...

Edge

[Pootnaigle]

Eric, thanks for shareing, glad everybody was alright. System neut. is alway's best, Reclosure's one shot or not, can't trust them to do there thing, it's all about the setting's, all places are different. Some engineer's don't set them up properly, then the tech's that work on them don't know what they are doing.

As far as driven ground rod's to ground truck's, or equipment, I have never worked on a system that didn't have a system neut to ground to on distribution, so we would have our puller and tensioner grounded, tied to the system neut, but never our truck's.

As far as transmission, if I didn't have a grounding switch at one of my open's, or no underbuild to tie to, I would use a down guy if available, if not I would just shunt the phases, driving a ground rod seem's like a more hazzardous for those on the ground, alot of time's where I have worked the ground is rocky or extremely hard so your unable to drive them in far enough anyway.

I have tried to pin down the grounding guru's I have had at grounding program's, they are alot of thing's they can't seem to answer, maybe some of you guy's here got some input, here's another, working in transmission alley's, the circuit you are working on is de-energized, but because of the other circuit's, everything you touch is hotter than a two dollar pistol, your crane operator is getting ate up and driving ground rods and bonding your equipment seem's to make it worse. Any idea's.

Mainline, I hope you wern't on that puller for 10 min. waitin for someone to get to the reclosure, glad noone was hurt.

Sorry to take the thread off track.

We always used the static for a transmission ground. Its more for strenght than a conductor but is is grounded at every structure thru a pole to earth ground, and will protect you from induced voltages when working on parallel circuits, as long as you are working between 2 sets,..... get outside em and it'll bite ya nuff to make ya move em a lil farther apart . We only had grounding switches on 230 and above.Should also protect the operator too as long as he keeps his boom inside the grounded section.

[johnbellamy]

.......................

[Edge]

As far as transmission, if I didn't have a grounding switch at one of my open's, or no underbuild to tie to, I would use a down guy if available, if not I would just shunt the phases, driving a ground rod seem's like a more hazzardous for those on the ground, alot of time's where I have worked the ground is rocky or extremely hard so your unable to drive them in far enough anyway.

I have tried to pin down the grounding guru's I have had at grounding program's, they are alot of thing's they can't seem to answer, maybe some of you guy's here got some input, here's another, working in transmission alley's, the circuit you are working on is de-energized, but because of the other circuit's, everything you touch is hotter than a two dollar pistol, your crane operator is getting ate up and driving ground rods and bonding your equipment seem's to make it worse. Any idea's.



Sorry to take the thread off track.


well JB heres a few for ya man... alot of 'mission systems are corner grounded delta... find witch corner if this is the case where your at.... use some aluminum fencing bonded together with crimp ons to make you a mat for you truck (crane digger) and bond that bugger to your drop ground... (think equal potential) bond to your corner first the proceed like you'd normally ground... same thing works if you've got a under-built sys neu or bonded static... check you static guys some places don't ground it! they have pole grounds that are attached but with a johnny ball in them or just run up to the top and that's it... it acts like a poor mans lightening arrester that rips off alittle bit of the million volts at a time while the lighting bolt is running the line

I wouldn't trust a driven or screw ground as far as I could throw a road crane seen them shoot outa the fuggin ground like rockets WAY to many times...

JB I wouldn't use a down guy either... seem them burn down before... ground rod's prolly better if you absolutely HAD to...but I imagine they could do the same as a driven ground if the shit hit the fan..

Mainline... thank you for sharin your story bro... glad no one was hurt...

For what it's worth...

Edge

hey remember to JB some one stepping on or off of the "mat"'s gonna get their dick knocked into the dirt or worse!!!

[johnbellamy]

...............

[Edge]

Yeah JB.. I won't trying to insult your intelligence just posting a little more info for cats that might not have run into it or are unfamiliar with it..

we still use the old mat from time to time here at Dominion... I'll look around though for something with a "stamp" for ya...

as for the stories...

Well I got plenty... We can share them another time maybe another thread...

Edge

[johnbellamy]

Yeah JB.. I won't trying to insult your intelligence just posting a little more info for cats that might not have run into it or are unfamiliar with it..

we still use the old mat from time to time here at Dominion... I'll look around though for something with a "stamp" for ya...

as for the stories...

Well I got plenty... We can share them another time maybe another thread...

Edge

.................

[Edge]

Ya Edge, I know, sometimes I write thing's that dosen't come across the way I want, I know you wern't insulting me, and I do appriciate the suggestion's, I consider you the highline guru here, so know I got alot of question's, particulary grounding method's and not gettin ate up all day with induction. Or how do ya single point ground when workin midspan out of a bucket?

highline guru thats fuggin funny... and not really me... I'm just and old bastard thats done a bit of linework....

grounding methods are kinda crazy... persoally I beleive in bird on a wire or equal potential... there's discussion on this but I'm grounding for me not equipment... I could give a piss about a piece of equipment burning up... I don't want to burn up... if your a bird on the wire.... you might feel it happen but it aint gonna kill ya... single point grounding? who's feeding you that horseshit? prolly some engineer in an office... single point grounding is something that can happen in a perfect world but macing out to the structure ground or the tower or the structure grid is NOT single point grounding...

TRUE single point grounding would mean you would have to have a lead that went to the SOURCE ground... and there's no where in hell or earth you could find a reel big enuff to prop up that much wire...

I'd like to do the same thing with your people that I would like to do with mine...

give them a month... and laugh at them while they try and do this job...

hell put them in the bucket and SHOW them...

theres a difference between people that can do and know how to do... it's rarer still today that we have both...

(Damn did I just get Zen?)

For what it's worth...

Edge

[johnbellamy]

......................

[old lineman]

Ya Edge, I know, sometimes I write thing's that dosen't come across the way I want, I know you wern't insulting me, and I do appriciate the suggestion's, I consider you the highline guru here, so know I got alot of question's, particulary grounding method's and not gettin ate up all day with induction. Or how do ya single point ground when workin midspan out of a bucket?


What would you be doing mid span?
My guess is that your changing a spacer or putting armor tape over a shot up conductor. Surely your not opening the conductor.
Induction won't harm you because you won't be contacting another potential.
First of all your boom must be proven non-conductive. That's achieved by monitoring for boom leakage. Then you should be standing on a grid in the bottom of the bucket that is bonded to the conductor.
Your boots should be conductive sole so that your body is the same potential as the conductor and your positively isolated from any other potential. Equipotential zone.
Mention has been made of grounding switches once the EHV line has been isolated. All they do is prove that the line is separated from the source. You must use point of work grounds to control induction and also prove isolation after a potential test.
On EHV lines you may be 20-30 miles or more from any grounding switch.
The Old Lineman

[old lineman]

If you're a lineman, you'll know what I mean when I say it's in the blood. Once you become part of the trade, it becomes an indelible part of your life, like a birthmark, or tattoo. So ingrained in the man, it becomes part of the persona. I have yet to meet a man who is/was a lineman that doesn't live and breathe the trade every waking minute.

When forced to leave the trade, like myself, a grieving process begins and continues until the last breath is drawn.

There are many small ingredients in the daily life of a lineman, most of which never even come to mind, until they're gone. Some things never leave the mind. Like how you look at a pole from the ground to determine the best path of ascent. How the eye automatically scans every pole passed, noting loose hardware, broken or chipped insulators, or out of sag conductors. Always looking down line to see how straight the pole line is and if any poles are leaning out.

Even the things a lineman dislikes when in the hooks becomes an item that is lost and grieved for. Like the ache in your feet after being on the same pole for hours. Like the burn in your hips from your tool belt rubbing. Like the crick in your neck from looking straight up for hours on end. Like the feeling you get when you see a severe storm on the way through your territory. Like the scabs on your arms from cutting out.

Then the good things come to mind. Like the smell of a beautiful, calm spring day. Like the feeling of being on top of a pole on a day like that. The smell of the wood, and leather. The creak of the wood under the weight of your hooks. The feel of your favorite belt and hooks and how they are like old friends, worn and comfortable. The feeling of satisfaction after completing a job and knowing it will stand the test of time and the scrutiny of your peers.

I love the way you wrote your post Parashooter!
One little thing I'd like to add is that if your all of the above then to complete the circle you should be willing to mentor the apprentices because some day they will replace you. This trade has to have responsible craftsmen who care otherwise the newbies will suffer accidents and the system will eventually appear shoddy.
No lineman worth his salt wants to see lousy workmanship. We are a proud lot and hopefully it will always be that way.
The Old Lineman

[johnbellamy]

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Edge]

well I guess this thread is now officially derailed sorry Para...

Holy SHIT the old Safety man has spoken!!!... armor tape on a bullet hole?... how 1971 of you... for fu(ks sake man... there have been preformed armor rod style style bullet hole sleeves available for transmission repair for a LONG time... and since JB is in a sticking state he could prolly eyeloop one of those fuggers on in his sleep...

further more he wouldn't need the line dead to do it...

and since the line is dead the nonconductivity of the bucket is a non issue... it also makes the chance of getting your dick knocked into the dirt all the more likely cuz the static will eat you alive regardless of how ya ground it... even more so if it's miles of line...

when I was a road whore (contractor) we usually worked dead lines with a condor... metal bucket and boom... 4/o ground to bond the bitch to the conductor.... boom theres your equal potential...

all that jabber aside I will say old saftey man I like your barehader approach with the bucket mat boots and bonding... but thats usually a barehander set up and not a normal set up for trouble...(boom leakage I swear man... on a DEADLINE?)

with lock out and tag out... testing... and grounds in place...... either sweep into the conductor with a wrench (so it gets the static) and leave one hand on it... or use the ole piece of tie wire trick to bond your self to the conductor with a bracelet... remember this aint about been more safe it's about ergonomics.... just making yourself a little more comfortable to do your job... you've already done your safety with all the ground switches and l&T testing grounding and the rest.... your just making it to where you can work on it without static eating your ass up.... like a damned clock killer with a lumbar chair and a spoungy mouse pad to keep thier back from hurting or thier wrist from hurting...

whats wrong with that???

and really old safty man why would you want to open a transmission line mid span? you done much transmission work or are you just saying? just asking?

looking for that tall glass and the special rope for ya...

Edge

[old lineman]

well I guess this thread is now officially derailed sorry Para...

Holy SHIT the old Safety man has spoken!!!... armor tape on a bullet hole?... how 1971 of you... for fu(ks sake man... there have been preformed armor rod style style bullet hole sleeves available for transmission repair for a LONG time... and since JB is in a sticking state he could prolly eyeloop one of those fuggers on in his sleep...

further more he wouldn't need the line dead to do it...

and since the line is dead the nonconductivity of the bucket is a non issue... it also makes the chance of getting your dick knocked into the dirt all the more likely cuz the static will eat you alive regardless of how ya ground it... even more so if it's miles of line...

when I was a road whore (contractor) we usually worked dead lines with a condor... metal bucket and boom... 4/o ground to bond the bitch to the conductor.... boom theres your equal potential...

all that jabber aside I will say old saftey man I like your barehader approach with the bucket mat boots and bonding... but thats usually a barehander set up and not a normal set up for trouble...(boom leakage I swear man... on a DEADLINE?)

with lock out and tag out... testing... and grounds in place...... either sweep into the conductor with a wrench (so it gets the static) and leave one hand on it... or use the ole piece of tie wire trick to bond your self to the conductor with a bracelet... remember this aint about been more safe it's about ergonomics.... just making yourself a little more comfortable to do your job... you've already done your safety with all the ground switches and l&T testing grounding and the rest.... your just making it to where you can work on it without static eating your ass up.... like a damned clock killer with a lumbar chair and a spoungy mouse pad to keep thier back from hurting or thier wrist from hurting...

whats wrong with that???

and really old safty man why would you want to open a transmission line mid span? you done much transmission work or are you just saying? just asking?

looking for that tall glass and the special rope for ya...

Edge

I meant to say armor rod, not tape. Excuuuuse me. We used to call them wiggly wires. Their pre-forms.
I knew he wasn't opening the conductor.
As you said 'bonding on' eliminates the nuisance pricks from induction. That can also be achieved with conductive sole footware on a grid and a wand.
If this is a common practice it is most efficient.
Yea, I guess current leakage testing is over kill. I used one of them Condors to with a steel boom. Worked well.
Special rope, how cheeky.
The Old lineman

[Koga]

Kill it, ground it, climb down a ladder onto the bundle and scoot out mid span. put on the rods. Then scoot your ass back, up the ladder, unground and go home !

Koga

[old lineman]

Kill it, ground it, climb down a ladder onto the bundle and scoot out mid span. put on the rods. Then scoot your ass back, up the ladder, unground and go home !

Koga



Sounds like the way we used to do it in the 60's.
I thought that it had progressed from there.
We had a crew join us from Mass. while working in Vermont and the super asked the new crew to do what we had been doing all along.
The foreman of the new crew walked over to the truck they just arrived in and said, "you see what's written on the door"?
It says, "New England Power Service Company, NOT Barnamun Bailey Circus".
That was the end of that. Candy asses.
So you'd do that? I'm amazed.
Go for it, that's my kind of lineman.
The Old Lineman

[Edge]

Yeah Koga if your just doing a bullet repair I see no problem walking the wire... not sure why though unless you're not set up to 'hand it or stick it... I think JB was talking about more substantial damage that would require sleeving the conductor... yeah a bullet could do that... but not normally... usually a bullet won't harm the steel core that bad... but JB might have some 4/0 cu or bigger on his system that would warrant sleeving... not many preform repairs for that hehe... glad theirs not much cu left on 'mission lines though we still have some here at Dominion... should be illegal to work it any way but dead imho...

Nice post Koga... glad your still getting your boots in the breeze... gets harder and harder for me to even put mine on in the am

Edge

post script
BTW Old Safety man... I actually like the "circus" comment... why do you wanna do linework like a bunch of clowns?... yeah I know he was prolly talking about the tightrope walkers... but I found it hilarious in a different context...

keep posting old safety man... though you and I have different opinions... I still respect yours

[Koga]

Maybe 15. 500 line over a big pond and wasnt any other way to do it. Now we dont even do transmission anymore which is a cryin shame. I miss it and even at this late time I would give it hell again.

Koga

[Edge]

Cryin shame indeed... I'd cuss them everyday if I was denied the bigsky.....

Edge