# How to Install Conduit on Utility Pole



## Bird dog (Oct 27, 2015)

POCO does it in a bucket truck or what they call a line truck.


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## funkking (May 27, 2020)

Bird dog said:


> POCO does it in a bucket truck or what they call a line truck.


So the EC just has the mast/head pre-assembled ahead of time and gives to the POCO to install?


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## Signal1 (Feb 10, 2016)

This is also one of those instances that using your level makes you look stupid.
Run with the pole.


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## Bird dog (Oct 27, 2015)

I don't know about your area, but, I'm sure the POCO doesn't want anyone near their 7200volts. :surprise:


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

funkking said:


> So the EC just has the mast/head pre-assembled ahead of time and gives to the POCO to install?


Some power companies do the riser. 

In my area, we only have to bring a conduit 10' up the pole, then allow the conductors to hang out of it. The power company will come and install a cover over the conductors. No riser or weatherhead.


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## funkking (May 27, 2020)

Right. I guess that makes the most sense. I didn't think about that. I just assumed the POCO would only do the final connection. If the POCO handles from the top of the meter can up, that's a pretty good deal, in my opinion.


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## CoolWill (Jan 5, 2019)

My experience has been that I take a conduit 10 up the pole and that is it. The POCO provides and pulls the wire for single phase residential services. The EC provides it for commercial and three phase.


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## Tonedeaf (Nov 26, 2012)

straps...you gota leave them a little loose cause the PVC with move up and down










this was a burn up emergency repair I did last year....pole caught on fire from a squirrel in pole riser molding


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## JoeSparky (Mar 25, 2010)

Last underground I did, local town owned poco required stand offs and for me to install the 1st 10' on the pole in grc. They required me to supply them more stand offs with straps, PVC conduit and a weatherhead to get to the top of the pole. They handled beyond the 10' I stood up.


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## Signal1 (Feb 10, 2016)

HackWork said:


> Some power companies do the riser.
> 
> In my area, we only have to bring a conduit 10' up the pole, then allow the conductors to hang out of it. The power company will come and install a cover over the conductors. No riser or weatherhead.


Same


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

CoolWill said:


> My experience has been that I take a conduit 10 up the pole and that is it. The POCO provides and pulls the wire for single phase residential services. The EC provides it for commercial and three phase.



Same here. We have to go up the pole minimum 8' and no more than 10' max. Leave a pull string in the conduit long enough for them to complete the pipe run up to the cross tee's. Actually now the poco requires mule tape. No more pull string.


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## Forge Boyz (Nov 7, 2014)

I guess I'm lucky. All we have to do is pull the wires to the base of the pole and have the pipe and weather head laying there for them to install. One POCO actually provides everything for on the pole and will even pull the wires for everything 400A single phase and under

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk


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## funkking (May 27, 2020)

Is everyone running PVC underground from the pole to the house? Or using direct burial cable and just stubbing up with conduit at the house and the pole to protect the cable?


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## Coppersmith (Aug 11, 2017)

Interesting. I didn't know any EC had to run to the pole. Around here the meter is always on the house or business. For underground I just have to leave one loose stick of schedule 80 PVC by the meter and the POCO runs the cable from the pole or pad mount to the meter. For overhead, I install a riser, weatherhead, and cable sticking out three feet from the head on the building and the POCO connects to my cable.


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## joebanana (Dec 21, 2010)

Unless it's temp power, the meter goes on the building it serves.


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## Kevin (Feb 14, 2017)

Whenever I work on a pole, I use either a elevated work platform, or my favorite, an extension ladder.

Never had an issue with extension ladder.

I suppose you could use spurs to climb it...


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## mofos be cray (Nov 14, 2016)

If it is a utility owned pole we can't mount a meter on it. But we can install a customer owned pole and put a meter on that. My old boss would plant the pole then install the meter then the riser. Here we have to do everything up to 3 ft past the weatherhead. An extension ladder is what we used. I never liked doing it but I did it. If I have to do a pole now I'm probably looking at doing the same thing. I bought a set of spurs but I never learned how to climb.
I thought somebody on this site built their entire pole in their shop. Thought it was hackwork but maybe I misremember and its somebody else. Maybe macmanmike?


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## Cow (Jan 16, 2008)

mofos be cray said:


> If it is a utility owned pole we can't mount a meter on it. But we can install a customer owned pole and put a meter on that. My old boss would plant the pole then install the meter then the riser. Here we have to do everything up to 3 ft past the weatherhead. An extension ladder is what we used. I never liked doing it but I did it. If I have to do a pole now I'm probably looking at doing the same thing. I bought a set of spurs but I never learned how to climb.
> I thought somebody on this site built their entire pole in their shop. Thought it was hackwork but maybe I misremember and its somebody else. Maybe macmanmike?


We build our poles with services complete at our shop as standard procedure.

We throw them on the pole truck cradle and take them on site, drill the hole and plant them.

We had a windstorm about 3 weeks ago, so we've done (4) 25-30' wood pole services since then, three of them built in the shop.

It makes them hard to do onsite, once you've done them at the shop with the pole laying horizontally at a comfortable working height(usually on the forks of the forklift.)


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