what type of benders do you guys have for anything over 1"EMT i noticed some of the bigger contractors around here have racheting greenlee benders. they're a bit pricey aren't they? do they limit your versatility?

and secondly what kind of cable pullers do you guys use? what do they run?

Greenlee 880 hydralic here. Looking for a deal on an 882. Like to get one to do bigger pipe to. I can't understand paying the high price for a new mechanical bender compared to the price of a hydralic.

Tom

We pulled parallel runs of 500mcm today, about 350'. The temperature was right at 20°F.

We used an all terrain forklift that happened to be on the jobsite.
We don't have a tugger.

Greenlee Super Tugger kit...handles anything so far.

Also have the Greenlee cable type for small pulls. Just have to stock-up on shear pins.

Enerpac Electric Bender 1/2 to 2" EMT/RGC/IMC.

Rent the Greenlee Hydraulic for anything >2"

PVC Hotbox...GB up to 2"....rental for anything larger.
John

Golf Junkie, YIKES. That must have been like pulling rebar.

We hit 61F today out here by Chicago.

an ancient greenlee 555 that looks like it was purchased from the jawas' in "Star Wars" for stuff over 1" and

For cable pulling, a greenlee ultra-tugger, and- saw it for the first time in the shop last week- some red-painted dealie that runs off of a super hole hawg. The red painted dealie wins the prize in my book for fitting into odd places, but the greenlee I think could pull an elephant whole, through 1" conduit... For smaller pulls we sometimes use a pulley attached to a rafter or floor joist and our backs.. the worst method in my opinion...

The tugger powered by the Hole Hawg is great for adding some years on your back, Trollog. Very ideal for runs under 2" and for a pull set-up in a tight area. The Greenlee tugger I use has a rope that dosent fit in pipe smaller than 2" but at 10000lbs max torque it is ideal for those long 4" 500mcm pulls.

The red deelie bob....
http://www.maxistools.com/

been thinking of getting one of them too, the 3000 model

I once pulled a "welded to conduit" UG burnout (3-750MCM) out with an elephant.
She broke it loose like it was nothing. This after we tried 2- 3/4Ton service trucks and a Ford tractor at once to no avail.
The Greenlee might meet its match there.

We use a Greenlee Super Tugger.
I wish we had an elephant. They're much more fun

I have a Greenlee super tugger, Greenlee 555 sb bender for up to 2" and a Greenlee 777 for larger pipe. Have a rigid 300 pipe threader and two porta pony threaders with thier own tripod vice stands also. The funny part is I laid off the helpers in 1993 and have gone it alone since, doing mainly residential. Can't bare to part with the equipment though...

From the "Don't Try This At Home" department:

Once had a really long pull of 500MCM's thru a really ugly conduit run, and the Greenlee tugger wouldn't tug any more (wire half way in). So my boss, great guy that he is, got us another Greenlee tugger. Not a super tugger. So what could we do? We used 2 tuggers in-line and finished the pull.

I chained both tuggers to a 4" piece of heavy sprinkler pipe, and mounted that on unistrut standoff's to the concrete deck with about 6 sets of anchors. Pull went OK, but we were overstressing the rope a bit. I had arranged the entire assembly so i could handle the rope from behind a CMU wall (thru a doorway), just in case it all came loose, or the rope broke.

Note to anyone else dumb enough to try something like this: ONE AND ONLY ONE turn of rope around the back tugger's capstan. It was actually fairly easy to control.

Not the smartest thing I've ever done, but it worked.

Radar

We have just recently been pulling cable like this over approx 270' of cable tray outdoors. It's MC with a plastic coating, 3 conductors of 1000 kcmil + a 1/0 ground. It's about 12 pounds per foot, and we used a Greenlee Super Tugger. Biggest wire I ever pulled.

I just got a post card from www.chicagobenders.com

They sell to the public if your shopping.

I'm coming up empty on that link.

Dave

Sorry Dave here's the correct address:
www.chicagobender.com

Radar. In the steel mill and other big facilities that is a standard. I had a pull that the wire was 3 500mcm armored cable 1800 feet. At the end and at a thousand foot I had super tuggers setup. We stopped the pull pulled the rope back used a mares tail to go around the cable. Other than the one stop pulled it right in. This pull was on the side of a mill and the cable hang on messager wire. The conductor on the reel weighed in at 32,000 lbs. It was fun. Also the brackets were 60 ft in the air. Used a greenlee payoff machine to help get the reel turning.

As far as the benders. I have the enerpac. One shoe and bends it 1/2" to 2" emt, imc and rigid. Set angle stops by itself. It is easy. Bender adj horz or vert so when you have big offset you aren't struggling. Downside it's heavy. I prefer it over the 555. As far as bigger pipe goes greenlee can be beat and I rent those.