It’s that time again my fellow Hivers... wait this is the first time so how can it be presented as again?? Great now I am already confused and I did it to myself this time. Okay let’s try this again....

Welcome the first edition of A Day With A Lineman here on Hive. This time around there wasn’t a big storm or car smashing a pole or an act of total destruction. I admit, I like those the best. Don’t you dare act like you don’t enjoy seeing something that has been totally destroyed and mangled... Okay it might be just me then.

As many of you know I am a Lineman and no I don’t play American Football. I am High Voltage Journeyman Lineman and I spent the first 13 Years of my career working with a crew. Where everyone watches everyone’s back, ensuring we all go home safely to our families every night. “Be Your Brothers Keeper” After taking a job as a Serviceman, I now work alone 90% of the time. With nobody watching your back or an extra set of eyes that may catch something I don’t see, it’s up to me. Dangerous??? No, because I know what I can and can’t do safely and I don’t take chances or shortcuts. If there is any question in my mind, I call for backup. I always spend an extra few moments analyzing the situation in front of me. So when a customer calls in and says there is a branch on the line, “Piece of Cake I got this”
Which brings me to....

The First Hive Edition of

A Day With A Lineman

You Call That A Branch?

When outage calls come in or a customer has an “issue” I am typically the first to arrive onsite. I have come to discover that most often these “issues” are exaggerated. Could be a way to get us to respond as if the whole world is burning down, or simply just a lack of knowledge on how things work. I also think the exaggeration when it involves to high voltage electrical lines isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Error on the side of caution”

Now I don’t know if living in the woods or running his own sawmill has anything to do with it...

But I guess his definition of a branch and mine differ quite a bit. Yet we both agree on one thing, that is was on the neutral wire.

I had no idea how long this tree... oops I mean branch had been laying on the wire. That thought was soon cleared up when I walked over and saw the root ball of the tree was on the bank of the creek that had been washed away from the recent flood. So ya, it is safe to say that this tree had been on there for a couple months. I did it again... branch this is a branch!! Nope that isn’t going to work, it’s a damn tree. There now it’s settled. This tree hadn’t caused any problems, so it is dang near impossible for us to know it was laying on the line without someone calling it in or when we performed line inspections.

It’s not a “Big” tree and it seems to be toward contacting wire close to the top of the tree. I got this one no problemo. I head over to my bucket truck and grab a few tools to be able to get this done safely.

Now I need to find a way to get across this creek. I don’t have my speedo in the truck so swimming across is out of the question. Plus it is a little shallow and cold at that. As I climbed down the bank to get a better look I quickly noticed there wasn’t an easy way across the creek where I was at. Looking up and down the creek I noticed a bridge up the creek a little way.

I climbed up the bank with my tools and headed toward the bridge. As I passed by a little building something inside was startled. A pig... that would explain the nice fragrance in the air. A little further and I found the bridge. WOW This is a nice looking bridge. The last one must have gotten washed away in the flood. I guess is helps to have your own sawmill when you need to build a new bridge to be able to access your house.

This tree had the neutral pushed down to where it was only 8-10 feet off the ground. I tried my best to show the wire pinned down by the tree with the blue line. The red is the energized phase. It’s a bit of an optical illusion but there is probably 15-20 feet of separation between the two where the tree is. Behind the trees there is a pole that the wire is attached to. It’s tough to see also but it is there trust me.

So the plan to get this tree cleared is to use my rope that I have in my kangaroo pouch of my hooded sweatshirt... wait... where in the world did it go?? Oh that’s nice...

Sitting on the bank of the creek right where I climb up. Perfect... just perfect. So I walked my happy little A... over there and retrieved my rope that I needed to hold the wire down.

Okay now back to business. What I first need to do is get a “hold-down” on the wire. That is where the rope and anchor rod attachment come into play. The anchor rod attachment just acts as a weight to bring the rope to the ground after I tie the rope to it and toss it over the wire.

The wire maybe small but the amount of tension it can handle is pretty crazy. So in order to hold it down I need something strong to tie it down with also something strong to attach it to. The rope I have is good for 1,500 lbs and this tree right here... ya it will hold. So I take my rope around the tree and back through my anchor rod attachment. My rope was just long enough to reach and the curved eye on the attachment worked great to allow the rope to slide through it as I cinched it down nice and tight. I pulled down enough to see the wire mining and also the tree. Then I gave it another tug and tied it off.

With the wire tied down to prevent it from “sling-shotting” up into the energized phase, it’s time to fire up the chainsaw a clean this tree off the line.

I ain’t no tree trimmer or lumberjack but I have removed a tree or two from the powerlines in my career. So please, I repeat, please don’t attempt to do this on your own. Just call your local utility and have them come out and take care of it. It doesn’t cost you anything, it is all part of maintaining the power grid. If I was to go and just start hacking and slashing at that tree things could have gotten ugly really fast. So just leave it to the professionals to do their job. That is what they are there for.

All that is left is to untie my rope from the tree and gently let the wire rise back up where it is suppose to be. Instead of trying to pull the “weight” up and over the wire, just let it hit the ground and pull the rope over. That way there is no fighting it. The rope just slides right over the wire with ease.

Welp, that looks better now doesn’t it? Off to the next one.

Until Next Time...

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Hive On
and

Stay Safe
Don’t attempt to clear trees or branches from the powerlines
Leave that to the professionals