Power Line question

[SmokinDodge]

I've got a Silver Maple in my yard that needs some triming done on it. I've got a stihl extendable pole saw to do the work with (not ready to get in the trees yet) The power service for my house passes by this tree about 15' away from the trunk and there are no limbs closer than 10' to the service lines. What is the safe distance to maintain from the power lines with the polesaw? I don't want to get closer than I should while holding an excellent conductor.

Thanks

 

[clearance]

As long as it is really the service wire (triplex, two insulated 120v wires wrapped around an aluminum wire with a steel strand) that comes from the transformer or secondaries it shoudn't be a problem. High voltage starts at above 750v, here anyways. Don't hesitate to call your utility, they should be happy to talk to you, no one likes to see someone get zapped.

 

[SmokinDodge]

Thanks clearance. Could you suggest a definate amount of feet of "clearance" to maintain? The brother in law works at a saw shop and knows plenty of ROW cutters. He feels compeled to tell us the stories from these guys working around High Transmission lines and getting zapped from the arc gap. Needless to say my better half has her reservations about any cutting around any lines period.

 

[JJackson]

I agree with Clearance, it you get into a situation that you may hit the line, you can always call the utility before you do the work to arrange for a temporary disconnect. These are usually at no cost to the customer.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

I've got a Silver Maple in my yard that needs some triming done on it. I've got a stihl extendable pole saw to do the work with (not ready to get in the trees yet) The power service for my house passes by this tree about 15' away from the trunk and there are no limbs closer than 10' to the service lines. What is the safe distance to maintain from the power lines with the polesaw? I don't want to get closer than I should while holding an excellent conductor.

clearance is The Pro on this, smokin', and if you search his posts you'll find he's not careless about this stuff. If you had a problem, he'd tell you.

While I'll be the first to tell you that clearance knows a lot more about working around power than I do, I'm not completely ignorant on the subject, as electrical engineering is my field.

For myself, my service drop runs alongside my driveway, and was quite overgrown when I moved in a year ago. Cleaning that up was an early priority. I had branches & vines intertwined in the service drop, phone, and cable TV lines, and had lots of fun getting it all cleaned out. Did it all with a pole saw, and I'm still here to tell about it. That included a lot of work just inches from the service drop.

But when in doubt, don't.

 

[clearance]

101, there is no limit on triplex service drops here, I have bounced branches off them many times, but I am trained. Sometimes if the service is rubbing on a tree for a while the insulation can be worn off, then it has no insulating value at all. People have been electrocuted from 120v, many times. Something to think about. Call your utility, it will make your woman happy.

 

[SmokinDodge]

I agree with Clearance, it you get into a situation that you may hit the line, you can always call the utility before you do the work to arrange for a temporary disconnect. These are usually at no cost to the customer.

I'm not concerned about hitting the line, there is enough distance on most all the work it is a not issue. I just wanted to know how far to keep the parts of the saw from the line. Obviously I'm not going to try to lay the saw on the line but I didn't know if I got within 3 feet if I would be safe.

I respect and value the opinion of all the professionals here that is why I came here to ask my questions. Thanks to all

 

[JJackson]

Like Clearance said, dont touch it and you will be alright, that is the rule my guys follow and they have not been shocked yet, we have even used clean dry ropes to pull them out of the way.

 

[oldugly]

On this question, Clearance definitely knows his stuff. If you do not touch the line you should have little to no arc factor on a triplex, but if you have the slightest doubt, call the utility company. And if you are in doubt that it IS a triplex, or a service....call the utility company. On many service drops here they run a primary to within 10 feet of the house, and then the transformer. I even saw a straight jump from a 69 kv to single phase primary, to transformer, to triplex...all within about a 100 feet.

But the utility company in this area is made up of a bunch of blind clueless fools.

 

[rebelman]

Keep in mind that a branch may be much longer than you noticed. WHen you cut it, it could reach much further than you anticipated, and fall across wires. Just a thought.

 

[jrizman]

I worked for a utility in CA for a while.

Service drops (from transformer or 2ndary to house) can be safely trimmed around. I will say my disclaimer - dont touch the line. "Care should be taken by anyone clearing trees near service drops, because, although the lines may be low voltage, an electrical contact and injury or death may still occur."
as long as its not High voltage (the lines at the top of the pole) you really dont have to worry about limbs touching it. We looked for strain and abraision on the secondary (your house voltage, would be below the hv line and above the comm lines), but limbs and trees touching them isnt an issue. If you have 10ft clear from your service drop and u dont have a hazard (tree mite take out the lines) i would just let it be.
go to your utilities website and see what they say, they should have a veg management dept or something that could help you with this.
here is one from the company i worked with and some general info that should help:
http://pge.com/field_work_projects/vegetation_mgmt/education/

u know that sticker that says "call before you dig"? well "call before you trim" should be another one!

 

[Treeblitzer]

Power Lines

Check with the power co. and ask them if a service drop is free.Out here they are charging for it now,I think its 125.00 Hey Oldguy is that xcel energy up there your talking about? thats what we have here in Colorado

 

[tarzan]

Here in the UK I think Health & Safety say that unless trained, with low vlotage power cables you shouldn't work closer than 6m, and with high voltage powerline you shouldn't work closer than 18m because the electricity will jump from the wires to you.

 

[Mike Cantolina]

ANSI standards say unqualified trimmers min 10 ft no matter what voltage. Qualified trimmers avoid contact up to 1Kv



Mike