The idea behind these improvised things is to have a "quick and dirty" device to help you pull wire....especially long, heavy runs, or where the position is awkward.
I will be the first to admit that my frame is of very, limited use, and for that reason doesn't get used very often.
Sure, you could try to rig a "Hole Hawg" to a gearbox and brace it against the pipe itself...but Maxis does just that....it costs about $400...and you need a power source for the motor.
You could get a truck with a winch....but those cost $$$$, and you're still limited to places where your truck will go.
Or- maybe get a battery, motor, and mount it on some sort of frame, with a pulley you can position to pull in different directions? Express Technology (
www.dcwireexpress.com ) has such a rig...I'm afraid of how much it costs.
The old standby, Greenlee, has a couple of wonderful pullers - which are probably over-kill for most pulls - but at a cost in the thousands of dollars.
I think it was General Patton who said "Don't let a perfect plan become the enemy of a good plan....a good plan executed today beats a perfect plan that won't be ready until tomorrow!"
I must confess that is one of the things I really like about electric work....in a variety of jobs, I have never before been among such a bunch of creative, inventive folks. An amazing number of our parts, methods, and tools came from the trade- and not some pencil-neck geek sitting at a drafting table!
