conduit puller
Karl Townsend
The hoops are made of tubing and the ends have been drove in the ground.
Pulling these out without crushing will be a trick. I've got to do it 50
times. Worth making some sort of contraption. I know the O.D. is nominally
1.6" but not sure of exact number.
I could drill the O.D. between two steel blocks and then use 1/4" bolts to
clamp together. Then a loop of light chain to go around a long 2x4 for a pry
bar. This would work but it would be slow.
Better ideas?
_
Is the hoop one piece?
If the bit in the ground can be seperated, make a fitting to allow water to
be pumped down the pipe.
Otherwise, for your clamp idea, get some bicycle quick-release skewers.
They make them for both wheels (about 5" long) and seatpins (about 1 1/2"
long. the latter would work, drill & tap 5mm for the fixed side, or drill
a pin (for each skewer) and set that crossways in the fixed side; lets you
make slots in the free side so getting the clamp on & off is easier. Use
as many skewers as you need to grab hold of the pipe.
The skewers with a steel internal cam are much better than those with an
aluminium external one.
KD7HB
wrote:
You are probably already working at pulling the tubing, but here would
be my choice.
I would make the whole device out of 2X4 wood. Bolt two pieces
together on the 4 inch sides, then drill a 2" hole centered where the
sides meet. Then line the hole with layers of rubber inner tube
material so it is well compressed when the blocks are clamped around
the tube. Then use your lifter on the block.
Paul
Roger Shoaf
"Karl Townsend" <karltown...@embarqmail.com> wrote in message
news:4ad1e2b2$0$77540$892e...@auth.newsreader.octanews.com...
How deep are the tubes in the ground?
What kind of soil?
My thought would be to use a shovel and pry up from the bottom if it is not
too deep and the soil is not hard pan.
Another alternative would be to use a tubing cutter to lop off the tubes,
and then make short sections to replace the ends. A circumstance that this
might be your best bet is if the ends of the tubes are set into concrete
below ground level.
Not sure if these ideas are any better so they are submitted for what there
worth.
--
Roger Shoaf
About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.
Larry Jaques
<karltown...@embarqmail.com> scrawled the following:
>I'm probably buying a used high tunnel or greenhouse this week...
Is it cheaper and better to buy used and spend days removing, or to
buy a new bender and poles, then do it yourself?
http://tinyurl.com/yjxfthn 20' bender
<http://cgi.ebay.com/Greenhouse-Tubing-Bender-dy-20_W0QQitemZ110136478232QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item19a4a54a18&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116>
>The hoops are made of tubing and the ends have been drove in the ground.
>Pulling these out without crushing will be a trick. I've got to do it 50
>times. Worth making some sort of contraption. I know the O.D. is nominally
>1.6" but not sure of exact number.
If it's chain link rail tubing, it's 1-5/8" (1.625)
>I could drill the O.D. between two steel blocks and then use 1/4" bolts to
>clamp together. Then a loop of light chain to go around a long 2x4 for a pry
>bar. This would work but it would be slow.
>
>Better ideas?
Yours works, but I'd go beefier.
Drill a 1.625" hole in a block of purest BILLET aluminum by hand, and
make is sloppy. Slit it, glue pieces of truck tube on the hole sides,
or just drape it over. Use 3/8" bolts (each pointed opposite from the
other to even out the tension when pulling) through the two pieces at
90 degrees to the first hole. Mount a pulling chain between these and
tighten them to pull the posts.
Now use a farm jack on the new clamp-on unit. Well, unless you're
really precise with a backhoe or loader bucket.
Alternatively, if they aren't in the ground all that stiffly, just
wrap the pipe with truck tire tubing or sheet rubber, wrap chain
around it several times, and pull up. That could save time.
--
Seen on a bumper sticker: ARM THE HOMELESS
Denis G.
wrote:
Some ideas:
* On Mar. 4th, Winston described modifying a hydraulic lift table to
do a similar job: http://tinyurl.com/ylcwvv8
* There are some designs of “fence post pullers” described on the web.
* If the supports disassemble in sections, you might have access to
the inside of the conduit to allow you to put a chain inside it with
an expanding anchor (or plug) and be able to pull it out with a
backhoe.
Bob La Londe
news:4ad1e2b2$0$77540$892e...@auth.newsreader.octanews.com...
>
> The hoops are made of tubing and the ends have been drove in the ground.
Back hoe?
Shovel?
David Lesher
I know just what to pull it with....
A ham friend [long dead] was friends with a rather famous ham, Sam Harris
[W1FZJ] who went on to do multiple firsts. Sandy needed a tower pulled
out; and Sam said he'd found the right tool in the weeds along the road.
It was a streetcar jack..... and the tower was no challenge.
I agree the blocks lined with tube approach. I'd glue the rubber
in.
But I'd suggest you use bolts sized so you could use a air rachet or
small impact wrench to install remove the bolts. If wood; weld the
needed nut to a scrap so you can screw it to the wood. That way it's
a 2 hand, not 3 hand, job.
--
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433
RoyJ
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_13224_13224
with the jaws replaced by some aluminum blocks bored to the diameter of
the conduit. Bore the hole, saw in half, bolt to the puller.
Karl Townsend
My best idea, right now, is to waste an old vice grip welding clamp and
replace the jaws with pipe clamp. Then I'll make this northern tool lever
suggestion out of a couple scraps of tubing.
I won't build till Tuesday, so I got a couple days to sleep on it.
Karl
dca...@krl.org
wrote:
I came up with some ideas based on the clamps used on the tubing used
in the oil fields. But way too complicated to build for pulling just
50 tubes.
So instead suggest you use something which has no metalworking
content.
Consider making a loop of rope or webbing. Tie a prussic knot around
the tubing. Pull with a Farm jack or a long ram hydraulic jack. Tying
a Prussic knot will take less time than bolting some blocks
together. I pulled about 4 feet of 1/2 inch rebar out of the ground
using this method.
Use Google to see what a Prussic knot is.
Dan
BQ340
No ideas on a puller, but I've found that if you can spin the post while
still in the ground with a pipe wrench first it will greatly reduce the
force required to pull it out. The hoop houses I've seen use a separate
ground post with a socket the hoop slips into so make a plug to insert
to prevent collapsing while wrenching.
MikeB
Karl Townsend
Consider making a loop of rope or webbing. Tie a prussic knot around
the tubing. Pull with a Farm jack or a long ram hydraulic jack. Tying
a Prussic knot will take less time than bolting some blocks
together. I pulled about 4 feet of 1/2 inch rebar out of the ground
using this method.
Use Google to see what a Prussic knot is.
Now, there's a GOOD idea. I didn't know of this knot. I'll try this first.
I'll be bummed if it don't work, cause the unit is 40 miles away. Here's a u
tube of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDU4sSkXrIM
Karl
dca...@krl.org
> Now, there's a GOOD idea. I didn't know of this knot. I'll try this first.
> I'll be bummed if it don't work, cause the unit is 40 miles away.
I am pretty sure it will work for you. With it forty miles away, you
might want to drive some tubing into the ground and try it out before
you go. I used a short piece of 2 by 4 under the jack to keep the
jack from sinking into the ground. Would have worked better with two
pieces of 2 by 4 so the jack could be more centered next to the rebar
that I was pulling.
I used to go caving in Alabama, which is where I learned about Prussic
knots.
Dan
James Waldby
http://www.animatedknots.com/prusik/index.php illustrates
the Prusik knot (correct spelling) but also mentions two
others, Klemheist and Bachmann knots, which it says are
better when loads are applied in only one direction. With
a bit of practice, I imagine you could do a Klemheist a lot
faster than a Prusik ... eg, maybe 15 seconds instead of 30.
See http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/FAQ_Self_belay.htm
about 1/3 down page for better Bachmann pictures.
By "try this first", do you mean at home, or at the worksite?
If you have a few bits of pipe around your place like the stuff
you'll be pulling, you could try it out in advance. Maybe take
along a few square feet of 1/4" steel plate to lay on the ground
under the base of the jack or pry-blocks, and a few odds and ends
of wood blocking. If using a wooden prybar, I'd choose a 2x6 or
4x4 instead of a 2x4, but in preference to wood, would use a 5'
prybar, possibly with a couple yards of cheater pipe as well.
--
jiw
Ivan Vegvary
"Karl Townsend" <karltown...@embarqmail.com> wrote in message
news:4ad1e2b2$0$77540$892e...@auth.newsreader.octanews.com...
the ground. Simply take a long pipe wrench, hook it on to the pipe, rotate
the pipe in the ground while you are pulling up on the handle. If you pull
upward on the very end of the pipe wrench, it will wedge and not pull off of
the pipe. To save your back, install the pipe wrench about 3-4 inches below
where your hands normally hang. This way your torso can be vertical (you're
not bent over), your knees slightly bent and you can lift with your legs. I
have pulled 12 feet of imbedded ground rod using this method. Pulled
thousands of rebar (property corners) which are more difficult due to the
deformations.
Ivan Vegvary