Tricks of the Trade

[MI-Lineman]

yeah I've done that... when I was a road whore... I took all the crazy jobs I could get... the higher the better... the crazier... the more I felt at home... sticking and trollyin in the mountains.... taking the tug out to work on the water... it was ans you say from time to time.."all cool"... still remember when that 'mission line got tore down up on the delaware river up[ near philly.... they reeninged it to 420's most guys were skittish at first but after a week we were walking on 2" steel like it was a side walk... maybe your right... maybe we are breed for it... but then again maybe were crazy...

still gotta do it from time to time... hike up the stick to check a dampner or fly over light/marker... moneys tight and my utlity is cracking down... wwe're doing ton's of stuff they used to hire me to do as a contrater... what ever it's just linework... I'll take that over a short stick or URD ANYDAY!!!!

and yeah I do my fair share of that too... just not if I can help it...

and MI I don't trust either... I trust my training... my skills... and my equipment... put those three togeather and you're in good shape... find a missing link and you'll end up in the dirt...

I don't care what youre doing in line work...

6 feet aboves better than 6 feet below...

for what it's worth...

Edge

Well said Edge! That last one of mine was for swimpy....he's the one afraid of heights?

[Edge]

prolly stoped to catch your breath... rofl...

tallest thing I ever climbed was Mt. McKinley... north face in 84 I think it was... now THAT is a hike...

man made was a 1400ft radio tower changin out preforms on the guys... had to change every fu(kin bulb on the way... got paid an extra 25 bucks an hour over the Union wage every 25 ft over 100ft... made a LOT of money those 2 paychecks....

ahhh to be just younger again... not young just younger....

and know what I know now...

ohhh well....

shit in one hand right?

Edge

[Edge]

BTW Swimpy I digg the "faster action" too... nuttin like tryin to get peoples light back on a few hours before even you expected to...

Edge

[TARPLEY]

I'm a third step apprentice for Winter Park Electric. Here's a trick/tool that can be helpful. Take a piece of rope about 2 1/2 ft long and splice an eye in each end. Keep it in your bucket for moving services from old poles to new or any miscellaneous uses. Just wrap the rope around the service put one eye through the other like a grapevine, attach your slack jacks or handline and heave to, no need to pull the service apart to put a grip on it

[lineman1010]

I'm a third step apprentice for Winter Park Electric. Here's a trick/tool that can be helpful. Take a piece of rope about 2 1/2 ft long and splice an eye in each end. Keep it in your bucket for moving services from old poles to new or any miscellaneous uses. Just wrap the rope around the service put one eye through the other like a grapevine, attach your slack jacks or handline and heave to, no need to pull the service apart to put a grip on it

just having a 6 foot rope strap, (which is just a 6 foot peice of rope) that we call rope straps will get you out of a bind alot of times. i have 2 or 3 of them hanging off my bucket and belt at all times just in case i need one.

[Lineman North Florida]

I'm a third step apprentice for Winter Park Electric. Here's a trick/tool that can be helpful. Take a piece of rope about 2 1/2 ft long and splice an eye in each end. Keep it in your bucket for moving services from old poles to new or any miscellaneous uses. Just wrap the rope around the service put one eye through the other like a grapevine, attach your slack jacks or handline and heave to, no need to pull the service apart to put a grip on it

Or you could just split your handline and wrap it around that service a couple of times and snap that snap back to the rope.

[TARPLEY]

That's pretty cool man.
Sorta like a "grip", only with a rope, for small shit.

Tell Jason H...I said "Hay dud!". He was the greatest apprentice I ever had the privliage of workin with.

You got it...Will do

[Edge]

get a bigger hammer...

hey sometime ya got to...

[Edge]

well shit Swimpy... maybe I should paint a picture...

your right us old cats get it...

seen young bucks framing up a pole with a ground one boy had an 8oz ball peen and the other a 3 pound flat faced maul... the boy with the ball peen worked the shit outa himself and only got half the work done... the other kid? work done and busy getting a shovel to clean the auger...

same kids...

one driving a hard head with the toy hammer takes a min and a half and is sweatin... the other a quick tap to set it... 3 or 4 solid hits and he's off to the next gig...

I reckon the "trick" is to get the tools for the job learn them and what they are good for... but most importantly watch how others use them...

you can work the shit outa your self...

or you can get a bigger hammer...

Edge

[Edge]

ahhh hell Swimpy it prolly was a fuggin 32 oz... still a toy imo... I use a 4 pound double flat face one side for steel and crete waffled on the other for wood...

I reckon there is a point though...

I once told JB that while he has Koga as his Zen master I had my old man...

heres some zen from my old man...

I was working out a turn around... the wire had been sagged and we were laying up the jumpers for clippin on some bundle 230... the old 60 ton had jammed up (was low on fluid)... so me being the young badass that I thought I was at the time... whipped out my hawkbill cut the fuggin hoses and airmailed that bitch from 80 ft or so.... well my foreman flew hot.... cuz it was the only hypress on the job and it was gonna be a day to get new hoses...
I gave him the its a piece of shit line and he gave me the if ya don't like my job you know where the highway is line...

so I gave him the finger and bailed... (another trick of the trade always quit them in a bind boys! that way they know the NEED ya!)

well I got home wife told me they had called wanted me back .... whatever... the old man had called me need a hand doing some shit at his place....

so instead of calling Meyers back I called the old man he was home so I said I'd be there in an hour or so... turn out he had some fence down... needed to get it back up... so I went out to the garage got some gloves a few grips a comealong and then jumped in the old powerwagon and off I went...

got to my old man's he's jabbering about how I should be at work I'm jabbering about how he should be at work... he comes back with I'm management I work when I want to... yada yada...

finally we get the damned fence row back up...

and he looks at me as asks point blank..."so why ain't you at work boy?"
so I tell him the story...

he looks at me and says "Boy your my son... and a hell of a good lineman... but your only as good as your tools..."
I say "ohhh really?"
he looked back at me and said "yeah... hand my those sidecutters..." I tossed him my Kliens.
He unrolled some more barbed wire and cut it of then started twisting it around the gate post.
"take that end to the next post and twist it around and cut off whats left"
so I took it over and started twisting it up then asked him for my kliens to cut off the tail..

he promptly threw my sidecutters as far as he could out into the field...

"Pop WTF man thats the only pair of cutters we got!"

he looked at me and grinned...

"Exactly!"

for what it's worth

Edge