anyone have a tip on keeping the wire on the spool?

Reel set up inline with feed point,set up level,and slow steady pulls instead of yanking on wire and causing reel to overspin.

[This message has been edited by txsparky (edited 09-30-2002).]

Yep, straight as possible, slow and gentle pulls, and try to keep the cardboard edges of the reel from getting too battered about so that they get bent out of shape (yes, sometimes hard to avoid in the field, I know!).

An assistant works wonders too, but I won't let the GC I work with reguarly help in this respect anymore. He just lays the reel flat and pulls the cable upwards, leaving a nice long spiral of kinks! Grrrrr!

make sure the reels are spinning with the wire coming over the top. that combined with txsparky's post should keep ya smilin(till the head breaks on that long hard pull) just kiddin.

When pulling #14, 12, or 10 THHN on 500' spools, I orient the spools to rotate in opposite directions of each other. It adds to the resistance of the pull, but if you're alone, it will actually save time.

<disclaimer>
Sometimes it works well, and sometimes it doesn't!
</disclaimer>

huh!
i came to that same conclusion a while back........but if it does tangle it'll tangle when..... (insert worst place or circumstance for your boo-boo list here)

Feed wire off the top.
Feed toilet paper off the bottom.
Slow steady pulles with both.
It keeps the pain off your backside in both situations.
That's my rules.

Bottoms Up,
Doc

[This message has been edited by The Watt Doctor (edited 10-06-2002).]

I wish they would make the wire spools with SIDES!

That would help.