Indirect contact

Norm, looks to me as if the line is actually a single phase (Very top Line) with an open wire secondary on arms rather than a 3 phase as you stated earlier. Very wierd construction.
None the less sorry he passed.
 
I worked line clearance for two years. Twice I experienced trickled shocks from indirect contact with the lines. The last time was really scary. The tree absorbed the current. I could feel every hair on my body standing up. I placed my feet away from the trunk (thinking the electricity was grounding out through the trunk), leaned far into my lanyard (further away from the trunk), and had my groundies hit a throw shot on the primary. They pulled the primary and I repelled out of the ponderosa pine faster than any primate out there.

Long story short. 9 years (which is 3 trim cycles) of neglected line clearance in the mountains. Other lazy employees left us with a dangerous situation to be in.

I didn't like that at all!
 
i have atwo ficus in the primaries and the utility hasnt called me back in a month and the city i contract for asked the clearance contractor to do it and they wont either,
its just below, touching the primary, and the tips are burned, so they want us to do it, pole prune from a bucket i guess or top radically and spear the green down,
what say you fellow buzzers?
 
Man I can`t beleive that a power co. would let that grow over the primary that far. Out here with Xcel Energy we have a strick policy that there is NO overhang.They are very strict about anything like that.
 
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i have atwo ficus in the primaries and the utility hasnt called me back in a month and the city i contract for asked the clearance contractor to do it and they wont either,
its just below, touching the primary, and the tips are burned, so they want us to do it, pole prune from a bucket i guess or top radically and spear the green down,
what say you fellow buzzers?

[/ QUOTE ]

Your best approach is die-electric pole pruner from a bucket(like you said) /forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif. Then spear cut them after you have clearance.
 
What a nasty mess. I'd like to think that I would have postponed doing any work on that tree if it were wet.... But then again I stayed in a big Walnut yesterday afternoon even though I could hear thunder. I just wanted to get finished and not have to climb it again and blow half a day in travel and set up etc. when another half hour would "gitRdone".
 
"Your best approach is to let someone that's qualified, properly trained and equipped do the job."

That's with any job . Sorry about your friend Norm . I personally would not have worked on that tree unless they were covered , or the power was off . Weather coating on a wire gives some people a false sense of security . A moment of silence ...
 
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just a regular joe bag of dounuts?

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Callous alright. Downright cold. No need for name calling.
I knew this arborist and he was my friend. Granted he shouldn't have been there, just putting food on the table for his wife and 4 children.

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wasn't being cold in calling him regular joe bag of dounuts. its just an expression for a regular working class guy. but now i'll be cold, i think of my wife and kid before i go up the tree everyday and make [what???] sure i will be home the same way i left that morning. that means never taking undo risks and knowing where the dangers are at all times.
 
Let's be realistic here- no one ever thinks they are really going to die from something they are about to do or they wouldn't do it. If he thought he would, I'm sure he wouldn't have made the same moves. We sometimes take risks that are far more risky than we originally thought. Even very experienced line clearance arborists get killed performing their job. It is always a tradgedy that could've been avoided. This poor brother of ours died in a way that could happen to many of us. So let's try to learn from this, say a prayer for his family and his soul and not talk about what has unfortunately occured as if it was a ridiculous accident.

BTW, this reply isn't directed to anyone in particular.
 
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Kevin, have you ever worked line clearance?

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Every day for comm cables.
I refer anything joint use to the Power forestry crew.

Just knowing what the danger is, isn't enough.
Your tools and equipment must be dielectric and you must know what the voltages are prior to working near the lines.
There's much more to it, stay away from it if you aren't trained and equipped.
 
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Good call Mark. I think what you typed can apply for all sorts of accidents we see posted.--Humbled. /forum/images/graemlins/blush.gif

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That wasn't directed to you. I just can't help but think of all of the very experienced workers that I knew that were also killed at work. It happens. Everyday breeds a new situation that you've never tackled before. Many days are similar or run of the mill. Still, I can think of numerous times where I could've been on the unlucky side. So, for me, it doesn't seem too absurd that it could possibly happen to any of us (I pray not), no matter how trained we are or how alert we are. It only takes one wrong move or just bad timing.
 
Mark;
Accidents like this should never happen.
There's usually more than one mistake that leads to a serious accident like this.
If people are being sent into situations to clear tees in and around high voltage lines without proper training, experience and the mandatory equipment necessary to do the job safely then it's no accident.
The utility forestry crews here shut the power down in many situations here to clear lines, it's not uncommon.
I trained with the utility foresters for a week and it opened my eyes, because of that we don't use general contractors for joint use line clearing anymore and as of last week we are entering into a new joint use line clearing agreement with the two local power utilities.
A one week course does not make anyone proficient to work around power and I stay well away from it.
Send your people home at the end of the day by keeping them out of situations that are beyond their control.
 

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That may be true Kevin, but the fact is that if you don't do this job and get the more "qualified" person to do it, that person is still human and could make a fatal error.

Almost all of the line work we do is done with the wires live. The power company only shuts it down when there is no other way out. It is probably 99% live work.
 
Not more qualified, qualified.
Doesn't your state require that you be competent workers?
You can't legally do that work here unless you're competent as defined by the Occupational Health & Safety Act.
If tree workers are clearing inside the safe limits of approach without proper training and equipment then these senseless deaths will continue to happen but lets not call them accidents because most if not all are preventable.
 
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