tree pole

[STLmo1986]

Dont know if i'll be able to get a picture, its right along a highway. Seen it two weeks ago when i was headin down the highway at work. Caught my eye cause im always watching the lines as i drive. I thought to myself that cant be. I like looking at lines and poles, Always have just something i like doing. Now before ya start i dont watch em to the point of being in attentive. Just take a peak here and there. Anyways i was out thay way again last night and thought ok, ill look this time.

it was cable or phone line. (Theres your first clue) sure enough! They had it strung using a tree as the pole! Seemed funny to me. Ever seen that before? It was run along the backside of residential along a service road. Never seen a live tree used as a pole

[reppy007]

sounds to me that ,that company was in the area,ask swamp what company im talking about......seen that done a couple of times........even with electrical,usually secondarys or drops

[lineman2010]

I have actually seen it a few times out here in Cali. I have seen an entire trap with transformers and all in Yosemite national park. I have some pics of it someplace but not sure where...

[rob8210]

I've done it a couple of times during storm restoration, hung an insulator in a tree to make a line safe, temporarily, of course!!

[Swamprat]

it was cable or phone line. (Theres your first clue) sure enough! They had it strung using a tree as the pole! Seemed funny to me. Ever seen that before? It was run along the backside of residential along a service road. Never seen a live tree used as a pole

Sounds to me like reppy type of work.:D
Half the time, he sounds like a "phone" lineman.

Actually, have seen that done...in Storm situations, to "get the lights on fast".
Unfortunately, when the contractors leave, the locals...never go back and correct the emergency procedure.
AND, BTW...Most of the time, anything that's done like that, is done with the permission of the Bird Dog.

That way, they can blame the "contractor" for shoddy work.

[paul maxwell]

about 10 years ago we where changing a full 11kv line on a wee scottish island and aboot 2/3rds of the way through the line there it was a tree with a channel and insulators on it,now what got me was this,that tree wasnt even on the route of the line so some one actually cut it down trimmed it ,transported it to the location then used it,now i thought why go to alll that fu~#ing hassle just get a new pole.well we later found out that this was done after a big storm totalled most of the island and they used all the stock of poles on the island and couldnt get any more at the time coz the ferries wherent running,and like yous guys said it just got left coz it was ok and worked fine for years.



everydays an adventure in line work:)

[Swamprat]

about 10 years ago we where changing a full 11kv line on a wee scottish island and aboot 2/3rds of the way through the line there it was a tree with a channel and insulators on it,now what got me was this,that tree wasnt even on the route of the line so some one actually cut it down trimmed it ,transported it to the location then used it,now i thought why go to alll that fu~#ing hassle just get a new pole.well we later found out that this was done after a big storm totalled most of the island and they used all the stock of poles on the island and couldnt get any more at the time coz the ferries wherent running,and like yous guys said it just got left coz it was ok and worked fine for years.



everydays an adventure in line work

That's Funny man!!:)
But at least they had a REAL reason. What we're talkin about is "Live trees", used as poles. Least that's what I've run into. Some of that sh%t was really funny too.

The tree had grown so much, there was No way you could get ANY of that hardware off the tree:)!!

[STLmo1986]

Yea, ya see those trees grow around sonething, like a bike or something and that the tree grows around it. Never gettin that bike out

[Swamprat]

Yea, ya see those trees grow around sonething, like a bike or something and that the tree grows around it. Never gettin that bike out

Saw that one about the "Bike", left against the tree, and the Kid went off to WW1 or WW2, can't remember which war it supposidly was. Really Cool story.:cool:
Unfortunately, accordin to Urban Legands...it's not true. Still a cool Story though.

[bren guzzi]

Found this pic. :)
From a Scotish job last year. :)

[reppy007]

Most guys have used that short-cut if you have been doing this awhile,you may not remember doing it..........its alot safer than leaving a hot wire on the ground.

[busman]

I know this situation is probably under the NESC, but from the NEC (225.26), "Vegetation such as trees shall not be used for support of overhead conductor spans."

Mark

[JohnnyBGood]

I know this situation is probably under the NESC, but from the NEC (225.26), "Vegetation such as trees shall not be used for support of overhead conductor spans."

Mark

I know of a of case where the ground is mostly granite and it was easier to connect to the trees than to set poles. This tap serves one customer out in the mountains - ski resort. Used underground conductor hung from the trees, and kept the spans under 100 ft. Need to walk that line every spring/summer though. between the weather and branches falling and weight of the conductor, its hard on the hardware.

[wudwlkr]

I was working as an area supervisor a number of years ago for another utility. Part of my job included handling/investigating general liability insurance claims made against the company by customers in my district. Got a phone call one morning from a gentleman who said that his car had been damaged by one of our "poles". Went out to have a look see and couldn't believe my eyes. About ten years previous during some storm restoration work one of the line crews in order to get this customers power back on as quickly as possible had cut some limbs off a dead tree on the edge of this customer's driveway and hung a transformer and his service on it. Intent, of course, was for this to be temporary and come back later to properly replace the broken pole and move the transformer out of the tree. Apparently later never came and the transformer was forgotten about. Well, ten years older, dead tree has now rotted at the base to the point where it could no longer support itself. So it fell over. With the transformer and service still attached. And landed on his car. Right down the center of the brand new Cadillac he had just purchased the week before. Crushed the roof right down even with the door handles.