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I will be pulling 4/0 4/0 2/0 or 4/0 triplex service cable though 2 1/2 in conduit. All straight except at end with sweeps. Likely will put sweeps on after pull. What size mule tape would be the best to use? Thanks Dean

George Anderson
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Dean
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2 Answers2

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I only use 1” mule tape and poly string for the most part if I am pulling in a larger service using a tugger I will use double braided rope.

I would suggest rope for a diy pull as I have not seen “small spools” of mule tape or poly pull string.

If this is a long pull you would be better off with some pull lube, in the old days we used dawn dish soap but it drys out and if you ever need to get it out of the pipe it can be a pain, today I use poly water, And other lubes.

A straight pull some one pushing and someone pulling you should not need much strength, the reason I use wider tape is to keep from cutting through gloves and hands AND through conduit I have had small tape cut through a sweep with pvc even with lube.

a rope may be your most cost effective method unless a big box store has smaller spools I buy pull string in buckets that are over a mile and I believe the mule tape 1000’ is a small spool but there may be smaller ones out there. But you can buy 3/8 rope much cheaper.

Ed Beal
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  • I will get some light weight poly pull string and draw it though with a vacuum. I found some Polypropylene Rope Monofilament 1/4" x 200 Feet I 1,125 lbs. Tensile Strength, that should work with Poly gel. All three on amazon for 60.00. – Dean May 23 '21 at 18:43
  • 1/4” should plenty strong, I would wear gloves even with 1/4” I have had hang ups with poly and had it cut through gloves and into my hands before I realized it had cut the gloves. If pulling gets hard I wrap the line around a piece of wood or a tool handle. If you have someone unrolling and pushing while pulling this should not be a bad pull even if a couple hundred feet because it is a “straight run. – Ed Beal May 23 '21 at 19:06
  • Ed Beal's presence in this question automatically gets an upvote. – Harper - Reinstate Monica May 23 '21 at 19:43
  • @Dean any old rope/string will do, and, there's nothing wrong with building conduit around a pull string :) Though I'd use it to pull in fresh pull string, just in case PVC cement weakens it. – Harper - Reinstate Monica May 23 '21 at 19:47
  • @Harper - Reinstate Monica - Ok thanks Harper. So you think it's a easy pull going 175ft with poly gel and any strong rope? I will feed a small pull line while assembling and pull new one rope though after clued as you suggested. – Dean May 23 '21 at 20:06
  • You want rope with good characteristics, strong enough obviously, not too springy... non-metallic is good if anything will be energized... grabbable by a come-along if things get hot and heavy... – Harper - Reinstate Monica May 23 '21 at 21:36
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Where I have bought the stuff the smallest quantity of all sizes was the same size bucket at about the same cost per bucket. Thicker tape was shorter. 1/4" would probably do it if you deburred and fit you conduit together well, but if you don't have use for the extra mile of tape when you buy a 6000 ft. bucket you might as well buy the bucket of 1/2" or 3/4", it's easier to untie and re-use.

NoSparksPlease
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