How do I eliminate the rope from breaking when pulling with forklift?
Pulling conductors with vehicles is never recommended. This method results in the tension surging and spiking during the pull. These spikes in tension can damage the conductors and exceed the rated tension of the rope or other pulling devices. It is nearly impossible to perform a smooth pull using a vehicle. That’s why recommended practice is a tugger. It never hurts to check rope for wear. Ropes must also have tensile strength greater than the calculated pulling tension– assumes pulling tension is calculated beforehand. Ropes also lose tensile capacity after significant use/abuse. Southwire has worn out more than one rope in our testing of the installation of conductors in conduit. When using a tugger with monitored tension, a rope should have tensile strength greater than maximum possible pulling tension of the tugger.
