Tailing The Rope - Greenlee 2001 Instruction Manual

Cable Pulling Principles (cont'd)

Tailing the Rope

The rope must be pulled off of the capstan as the pull
progresses. The rope that has left the capstan is the
"tail." The process of pulling the rope off of the capstan
is called tailing the rope .
The resistance of the cable varies throughout the
duration of the cable pull. Changes in resistance are
due to characteristics of the rope, changes in conduit
direction, and changes in the amount of friction. The
"feel" of the rope provides this information about the pull.
This is called tactile feedback . Adjust the tailing force as
necessary to compensate for these changes.
Control of the Pull
Decreasing the tailing force will decrease the pulling
force, until the rope slips on the capstan and the pull
stops. This provides a high level of control over the
progress of the cable pull.
Do not allow the rope to slip on the capstan for more
than a few moments. If it becomes necessary to com-
pletely stop a pull, shut off the puller and maintain
enough tailing force to hold cable in place. Tie the rope
off to hold it in place.
Amount of Tailing Force
While the rope and cable are under tension, it is impor-
tant to maintain the proper amount of tailing force.
Too little tailing force will allow the rope to slip on the
capstan. This will build up excessive heat and accelerate
rope wear, increasing the possibility of breaking the
rope.
The proper amount of tailing force will stop the rope from
slipping on the capstan and produce a sufficient amount
of pulling force to pull in the rope and cable.
Too much tailing force is any amount more than is
necessary to stop the rope from slipping on the capstan.
Excessive tailing force will not increase the pulling force
or pulling speed.
Greenlee / A Textron Company
2001-Series Easy Tugger Cable Pullers
Number of Wraps of Rope Around the Capstan
An experienced operator should choose the number of
times the rope is wrapped around the capstan.
The proper number of wraps allows the operator to
control the progress of the pull with a comfortable
amount of effort.
Using too few wraps requires a large tailing force to
accomplish the pull. Using too few wraps also makes the
rope more likely to slip on the capstan. This builds up
heat and accelerates rope wear.
Using too many wraps causes the rope to grab the
capstan more tightly. This accelerates rope wear,
wastes power, and increases the possibility of a rope
overlap. Using too many wraps also reduces tactile
feedback, so you receive less information about the pull.
You cannot quickly relax the tailing force when there are
too many wraps.
If the rope becomes difficult to tail, add another wrap of
rope. Turn off the puller and release all of the tension in
the rope. Add a wrap and resume pulling. Be aware,
however, that some pulls will require tension to hold the
cables in place. In these cases, do not attempt to
release all of the tension and add a wrap of rope. You
will need to anticipate the number of wraps before
starting the pull.
Preventing Rope Overlap
Do not allow the rope to become overlapped on the
capstan during a pull.
A rope overlap will make it impossible to continue or
back out of the pull.
If the rope becomes overlapped, you will lose control of
the pull—the rope will advance with no tailing force and
will not feed off of the capstan. The capstan will not allow
you to reverse the direction of the rope, so you cannot
back out of an overlap.
Set up the puller properly. The positioning peg, entrap-
ment peg, rope ramp and tapered capstan are intended
to prevent rope overlap. See the instructions in the
Operation section of this manual.
Every wrap of the rope must remain in direct contact with
the capstan. During the pull, take great care to prevent
the incoming rope from riding up and overlapping the
next wrap. If an overlap begins to develop, immediately
relax the tailing force on the rope so that the rope can
feed back toward the conduit or tray. When the rope
resumes its normal path, apply tailing force and continue
the pull.
There is no suggested remedy for a rope overlap.
Do not allow the rope to overlap!
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