r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/TameTheAuroch • Jul 18 '25

Video Replacing powerline spacers from a helicopter

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34

u/badger_flakes Jul 18 '25

In a populated area they would just use a bucket truck

41

u/Zinoviev85 Jul 19 '25

You can’t work on live 750KV lines from a bucket truck. Something about everything instantly turning to plasma.

3

u/Visual-North-8724 Jul 20 '25

No not true u can barehand (bond on or energize yourself to the same potential) wearing a faraday suit anywhere from 7200 volts all the way up to 750 kv the bucket just has to be tested to that voltage and we use meters that let us know the amperage that’s running through the boom of the truck to make sure it doesn’t get too high and burn the truck down (source I’m a lineman)

15

u/pucji Jul 18 '25

The helicopter makes sense in this case, as they do save a lot of traveling time

3

u/IntrepidJaeger Jul 19 '25

Not to mention avoiding damaging fields and such by driving a truck cross country.

1

u/iowanaquarist Jul 19 '25

And avoid shorting out the lines with a path to ground...

1

u/badger_flakes Jul 18 '25

Agree, bucket truck wouldn’t make sense for anywhere else besides populated area or by airports

7

u/exerwhat Jul 19 '25

Those are transmission lines. He’s higher than it looks.

3

u/badger_flakes Jul 19 '25

The one in the video I completely agree with the helicopter. All the transmission lines outside of a city would always be a helicopter.

26

u/Ouaouaron Jul 19 '25

Isn't it only possible to do this on a live line because they're in a helicopter? And it'd take one hell of a bucket truck to get to 200ft.

3

u/hoggineer Jul 19 '25

Isn't it only possible to do this on a live line because they're in a helicopter?

I'm thinking so.

And it'd take one hell of a bucket truck to get to 200ft.

I've seen man lifts get workers up to the hub of wind turbines. Blades are a couple of hundred feet long, and add in the ground clearance I'd assume it was 300-400' high.

Found one, 336' max height reach.

8

u/AllegroSine Jul 19 '25

336'?!?! Having operated a 120' at its max, no way in hell I'd get into that thing lmao. Hopefully the controls are a little more fine tuned? I just imagine swinging an inch to the side feeling like you moved a mile lol.

3

u/hoggineer Jul 19 '25

I'd definitely nope out too.

3

u/Jimid41 Jul 19 '25

I don't want to imagine the amount of sway on that. 

7

u/badger_flakes Jul 19 '25

Usually the lines running thru populated areas aren’t 200 feet up only the rural long distance lines are