Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

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Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by New_Windsor_NY »

36 of my 40 years with Ma Bell were as an outside technician. These climbers (the whole item) are probably the only original piece of equipment that was issued to me that was still being used by me up until I retired (I earned them, I kept them). Anyone who thinks that these climbers are not sharp, think again. The point (gaff) had to penetrate to a depth of at least 1/2 inch into the pole and support your weight plus the weight of any tools or equipment that you might have on you. Most utility poles are made of wood, pressure-treated with some type of preservative for protection against rot, fungi and insects. Southern yellow pine is the most widely used species in the United States; however, many species of long straight trees are used to make utility poles, including Douglas fir, jack pine, lodgepole pine, western red cedar, and Pacific silver fir. Traditionally, the preservative used was creosote, but due to environmental concerns, alternatives such as pentachlorophenol, copper naphthenate and borates are becoming widespread in the United States. In the United States, standards for wood preservative materials and wood preservation processes, along with test criteria, are set by ANSI, ASTM, and American Wood Protection Association (AWPA) specifications. Despite the preservatives, wood poles decay and have a life of approximately 25 to 50 years depending on climate and soil conditions, therefore requiring regular inspection and remedial preservative treatments. Woodpecker damage to wood poles is the most significant cause of pole deterioration in the U.S. If you "gaffed out" there wasn't much you could do. As you went down, you ended up with a chest and forearms filled with splinters. When you hit the ground, if you didn't break one or both of your legs, you probably stabbed your other foot or leg with the opposite climber. Of course, it also depended on how tall the pole was and how high up on it you were. I was very fortunate not to have experienced any of that. Here they are in all their sharp, pointed glory.
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by eveled »

Thanks for the glimpse into your world. My job is physical but not to that extreme. It takes a toll on your body for sure.
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by New_Windsor_NY »

eveled wrote:Thanks for the glimpse into your world. My job is physical but not to that extreme. It takes a toll on your body for sure.
Thank you for reading this. Luckily, it's not my world anymore. It hasn't been for 5 very relaxing years. ::tu:: ::handshake::
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by eveled »

New_Windsor_NY wrote:
eveled wrote:Thanks for the glimpse into your world. My job is physical but not to that extreme. It takes a toll on your body for sure.
Thank you for reading this. Luckily, it's not my world anymore. It hasn't been for 5 very relaxing years. ::tu:: ::handshake::
No thanks needed. It was a pleasure to read it. You earned some relaxing time. I was wondering were you keep your climbers? Hidden away in storage? Or on display in the man cage?
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by eveled »

Lol! Supposed to be man cave not cage!
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

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Brooks Hooks!! :) :)
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by Doc B »

Interesting! Dumb question...but, do you ever have to sharpen them? Or do you just get a new pair, as they wear?
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by Quick Steel »

N W N, Fascinating reading. Telephone poles are one of those objects which are around us but which we give little, if any, thought to. Types of trees used, woodpeckers, gaffing out: very good stuff. Thanks.
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by doglegg »

I saw a lady linesman slide down the pole once. She was tough and appeared to have no major injuries. Thanks for the explanation. ::tu::
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by New_Windsor_NY »

eveled wrote:No thanks needed. It was a pleasure to read it. You earned some relaxing time. I was wondering were you keep your climbers? Hidden away in storage? Or on display in the man cage?
I keep them in my tool shed. I may break them out some day to trim the trees on my property. ::handshake::
Doc B wrote:Interesting! Dumb question...but, do you ever have to sharpen them? Or do you just get a new pair, as they wear?
C'mon Doc B, there's no such thing as a dumb question. We sharpened them with a regular sharpening stone that was approximately 4 inches long, 1 inch wide and 1/4 inch thick. There was no set usage time to sharpen the gaffs, just when you felt that they needed sharpening. ::handshake::
Quick Steel wrote:N W N, Fascinating reading. Telephone poles are one of those objects which are around us but which we give little, if any, thought to. Types of trees used, woodpeckers, gaffing out: very good stuff. Thanks.
When I retired, they were starting to replace the really old, "defective" wooden poles with fiberglass poles. I never got to climb one. Oh, by the way, my name is Skip. ::handshake::
mariacrow44 wrote:Brooks Hooks!! :) :)
Sorry, I've been out of the game for awhile, Brooks Hooks?
I don't know what you mean, but my climbers were manufactured by Klein Tools. ::handshake::
**EDIT** I looked it up. Brooks made/makes adjustable climbers. Again, mine were manufactured by Klein Tools. ::tu::
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by buddyie22 »

Thanks for the memories. I worked for Ma Bell as a Toll repeaterman, residential repair and worked in Specials in Kansas for 32years retired in 2001. Short story, about two weeks out of pole climbing school was working repair. Coming down a pole close to the bottom missed the pole with the left hook. Left hook went into the right foot just above the heel. Bled like a stick hog. Did not let anybody know, but I still have a 3prong scar on right foot.
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by New_Windsor_NY »

buddyie22 wrote:Thanks for the memories. I worked for Ma Bell as a Toll repeaterman, residential repair and worked in Specials in Kansas for 32years retired in 2001. Short story, about two weeks out of pole climbing school was working repair. Coming down a pole close to the bottom missed the pole with the left hook. Left hook went into the right foot just above the heel. Bled like a stick hog. Did not let anybody know, but I still have a 3prong scar on right foot.
OUCH!! That hurts just reading it. Glad you survived. ::tu:: I know about not reporting an injury. The company would suspend you for X amount of days THEN ask you what happened. ::td::
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by treefarmer »

I haven't seen a telephone man on a pole in years. Around here they have the small bucket trucks to reach the overhead phone lines. It has also been a long while since I've seen a power company man using a pair of hooks. My retired buddies from Gulf Power and West Florida Electric are so grateful for the bucket trucks that were not as common when they started their careers back in the day. There was quite a bit of pole climbing during the Hurricane Michael rebuild, lots of places they had to ride a boat out to the pole, then hook up and climb.
There is a big transmission line with wooden poles that runs through our lease with a lot of the poles having been repaired then wrapped with hardware cloth due to the woodpeckers. Thankfully they are able to reach those with a High Ranger truck.
Skip, glad you made it with out an accident for those years. ::tu::
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by New_Windsor_NY »

treefarmer wrote:I haven't seen a telephone man on a pole in years. Around here they have the small bucket trucks to reach the overhead phone lines. It has also been a long while since I've seen a power company man using a pair of hooks. My retired buddies from Gulf Power and West Florida Electric are so grateful for the bucket trucks that were not as common when they started their careers back in the day. There was quite a bit of pole climbing during the Hurricane Michael rebuild, lots of places they had to ride a boat out to the pole, then hook up and climb.
There is a big transmission line with wooden poles that runs through our lease with a lot of the poles having been repaired then wrapped with hardware cloth due to the woodpeckers. Thankfully they are able to reach those with a High Ranger truck.
Skip, glad you made it with out an accident for those years. ::tu::
Treefarmer
Thank you Treefarmer. ::handshake:: I actually turned it down when I was offered a bucket/tower truck. Oh I had a few motor vehicle accidents (company vehicles) and injuries (nothing permanent) over the years, but never due to a pole climbing mishap. I also worked in underground facilities (manholes) as much as I worked above ground, on poles. Each had it's own set of challenges. But overall, I came out of it unscathed and healthy. ::tu::
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by eveled »

I don’t want to sidetrack the thread but I was reminded of a picture I saw in a museum in DC. It shows the climbers in use.

The picture won the Pulitzer in 1968. When I saw the pictures I was moved to tears. The man survived.
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by jerryd6818 »

Pole line was part of the training in Construction Electrician school at the Seabee base at Port Hueneme, CA. The training was broken up into theory, structure wiring, motor-generators, multi-pair cable splicing and pole line (not in that sequence).

We learned how to set poles and climb poles. One of our exercises was to climb a 100' pole, strap off and then play catch with a ball. If you missed it or dropped it you had to go down and get it and return to the top of the pole. David Bridges (from Texas) one of the six Marines in the class, gaffed out at about 8-10 feet up and his climber caught at about 2 feet up jerking his knee into the pole. He was walking wounded for a few weeks.

I never used any of that training during my enlistment. Out of school, I went from Port Hueneme to MCB 29 Palms where I ended up in a HAWK Missile Battery working as a diesel generator operator, changing oil and batteries. Bleh ::barf:: Was only there for about 3 months before extending my enlistment for a year in order to go to Basic Electronics School at MCRD San Diego. One of the best things I ever did!!
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by New_Windsor_NY »

eveled wrote:I don’t want to sidetrack the thread but I was reminded of a picture I saw in a museum in DC. It shows the climbers in use. The picture won the Pulitzer in 1968. When I saw the pictures I was moved to tears. The man survived.
They appear to be electric/power company workers because of the transformer mounted on the pole and the lack of a phone terminal. The two wires that are near the one worker's waist ARE telephone wires. They are called "drop wires" or "drop service wires." They would bring the dial tone from the pole mounted, serving terminal, to your house or whatever structure had the phone service. It appears that in the picture, the serving terminal is somewhere down the street on a different pole because of the way the "drop wires" are placed or "running." In rural areas, it is not uncommon for the serving terminal to be a great distance away and many, many, many hundreds of feet of "drop wire" have to be placed to bring the dial tone to the customer. At that time it was one phone line "dial tone" per "drop wire." Today, when you look up and see the wires running between the poles, this is the pecking order. Telephone wires/cables are on the bottom, or the lowest. Next up is your cable tv wire/cable. Everything else above those two cables are low voltage and high voltage power lines. Sometimes there aren't three utilities using the pole(s), that would change the order. Of course there are many areas where the utilities are run underground, that's a whole different animal. Thank you for sharing the picture. I'm glad the worker survived.
::tu:: ::handshake:: Click to ENLARGE the picture.
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by New_Windsor_NY »

jerryd6818 wrote:Pole line was part of the training in Construction Electrician school at the Seabee base at Port Hueneme, CA. The training was broken up into theory, structure wiring, motor-generators, multi-pair cable splicing and pole line (not in that sequence).

We learned how to set poles and climb poles. One of our exercises was to climb a 100' pole, strap off and then play catch with a ball. If you missed it or dropped it you had to go down and get it and return to the top of the pole. David Bridges (from Texas) one of the six Marines in the class, gaffed out at about 8-10 feet up and his climber caught at about 2 feet up jerking his knee into the pole. He was walking wounded for a few weeks.

I never used any of that training during my enlistment. Out of school, I went from Port Hueneme to MCB 29 Palms where I ended up in a HAWK Missile Battery working as a diesel generator operator, changing oil and batteries. Bleh ::barf:: Was only there for about 3 months before extending my enlistment for a year in order to go to Basic Electronics School at MCRD San Diego. One of the best things I ever did!!
Hi Jerry. We had the same exercise. Climb the pole, strap in and play catch. At our pole climbing school, all the poles were set in one particular area. That area was covered with wood chips that acted as a cushion for anyone who gaffed out and hit the ground.
I never had the "pleasure" of experiencing that sensation. :D
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by rarefish383 »

I'm 63 and retired too. I still have my Dad's Bashlin aluminum hooks with the longer tree gaffs. When he retired in 86, I kept using them until I got my left knee replaced 4 years ago. Got my right one replaced last year. Tried them on not long ago, and they felt pretty good.
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by rarefish383 »

Geeze, just wrote a big reply, added pics, hit submit, and every thing vanished. Will try the pics again.
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by rarefish383 »

For some reason it's only letting me post one pic at a time?
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by rarefish383 »

I had the story of my Dad in WWII as a line man, running line in the Sierra Madres on 70' spliced poles. Not going to redo the whole thing. He returned from the war and went back in the family Tree Business. He bought this set of hooks in the 60's. Sometime in the 70's he was blocking down a big Tulip Poplar, at an Historic House in Washington DC. There were gardens with Azaleas and Rhododendron over 100 years old, and we couldn't crush them. We were allowed to dig up one plant for a drop zone. Dad was pushing big blocks off the trunk when one of the hooks snapped in half. They were expensive, so he got a machine shop to heli arc them back together. They survived the rest of his career, until he retired in 86, then I used them into until a few years ago when I got my left knee replaced, Joe.

You can see the weld on the one hook.
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Re: Ma Bell Utility Pole Climbers/Gaffs

Post by Phaeton »

This takes me back. 1962, I was ten and my big brother and I were wearing what we called 'spurs' to climb the Cottonwood trees that had no branches for the first 15 feet. Thick bark and soft wood.
I was a dozen feet up when my feet gave way, the point had not penetrated the bark and pushed right through when pulling up the lower leg. Being young and light I managed to squeeze hard enough to stop the drop. No scars over four inches, stomach as well as inside the legs. I was lucky.
I did not quit using them, I just became much more cautious.
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