Saturday, September 19, 2009

Power pole raising.

In mid August Scott and I took on the task of erecting our power pole on our Alaska property. First we had to dig 5 feet down into some very rocky, silty earth. since we had no machinery, we then had to construct a block and tackle out of the little bit of lumber we had on hand. When we actually started pulling it up, we were easily strong enough to do it but one side or another of our tripod would start lifting off the ground, so Scott would have to run and tie each side off while I held on until we finally used every bit of rope we had!


After the pole went in we had only to make it plumb, backfill, and compact.

The kerplunk of the pole going in was truly a wonderful sound after various moments of doubting whether we could do it, and kicking ourselves for not buying beer and enlisting the help of friends. Friends did help later with hanging the box and other tasks. They didn't even get beer! Thanks Tomi, Chris, and Rick.

The atv was only used to tie it off to. Here you can also see the shallow foundation we started working on.


1 comment:

Jeff said...

You guys rock! I can't wait to see the photos of Scotty trying to get the electrical wires up on that pole, don't forget to use rubber gloves! Bell is getting so big, she definitely looks like Jenn now. Glad to see you are doing well.