Hey Shakey what is this gin used for in the line trade? I know it is used in transmission work and I'm guessing for stringing conductor on a string of glass. Is the gin attached on the X arm and how?

Looks like an old school gin for replacing transformers n stuff.
I’ve only used these, and ones that are a bit bigger. These have the loop for the rope blocks higher to make it a bit easier to man handle the TR as it’s coming up and getting around the neutral or services. They strap to the pole above the transformer.


I’ve done very little transmission stringing, but when I’ve done it, the glass is already hanging with a big dolly at the bottom. The structure is pretty much built complete ready for stringing. Then the chopper comes in and pulls the P line through each dolly to get ready to pull in the conductor. It’s too easy now a days…….lol. Here, the bull work is in sub trans line construction. Not quite heavy enough for heavy equipment and just light enough for some guys to muscle the stuff together. That’s going the way of the dodo bird too though. For now, Mb Hydro linemen take pride in being able to build anything off the stick with no help from buckets, but there’s fewer and fewer that are good on their hooks.

Our old union president retired and went to California to work. He had one of these gins slip sideways and he got between the fall line and the transformer, so the weight went across his belt, legs and spurs. You can imagine the outcome and how fast it happens. He’s not climbing anymore.
Something that’s good to drive into your brain, stay out of the bit zone. This applies to a lot of things outside of work……lol

Ditto to your response Shakey. I have hung many tubs off hooks with a gin like you have shown but only they had a chain for going around the pole. I have done some Transmission work and all stringing off of hooks, old school!!

I picked this old school gin out of a transmission pile of material and equipment from a Gov. transmission job over 35 years ago. I have had it all these years and I know it was a gin for stringing but wasn't sure how it attached and for what the purpose was.

Thanks Shakey!

Looks to me like a lever lift that a 2” or 3” lift stick would fit into then raise it with a set of blocks to get slack enough to pull the cotter key on the conductor shoe then lower it back into the pole and let the conductor out aways to clear the bells( insulators) with wire tong hot stick and another set of blocks or a hot hoist then you are clear to replace the insulator string or if you have cleared all 3 phases change the cross arm or whatever we changed hundreds of cross arms on 230 kv and 161 kv that way it does look like something home made on the bottom however not something from AB Chance

Some of our older ones still have the chains. I hated fooling around with those stupid things with class 2 gloves on as a trainee.
These new Ox Blox kits are wicked! Never been easier replacing a 50kva, the shives and rope are so smooth. They finally outlawed our old school heavy rope blocks after one failed changing a regulator a few years ago. I’ll bet that set hadn’t been used in 20 years…..lol

Sounds about right. There’s a lot of slick tools out there that a guy will never know about unless he travels.

Yep that is it!!!! Thanks Squirt!

I know the linemen here pretty well and we had a bad set of three phase transformers so the had to replace them I looked at the Forman and told him to just put on the spikes and change them out with a block and tackle, they all just laughed at me.

Blocks still have their place especially in hot work the ground men can raise and lower them under the direction of the guys in the air and the rope is not shocking you from the induction especially on 230 kv and 345 kv the induction could really be nasty on hot dry days in areas like Wyoming and Montana with the low humidity

The old guys used to get the TR sent up the handline and muscle it onto the bolts……….lol

Lol!! The world has changed for sure. We had one bucket truck and it was used for hot work only. A three phase bank was done off of hooks 95% of the time. That was just it was done because of old timers were lead men and that was how it was done. I'm glad to have been old school and now they have to use all the fall protection and is a whole different game.

Cool thing is, you look at some of the gear, and it hasn’t changed much in over a century.
Milwaukee has some cool stuff.

True!! Squared headed nuts and bolts and they still have a purpose for the trade though. Hardly anything has square head bolt/nut any more. The trade really hasn't changed how things are built and the way you do them. Most change has been in new material made.

Crazy part is that electricity hasn’t been around very long and we think we got a pretty good handle on it. I think there’s more to what’s going on in the physics.
At out museum at work, there’s an old lineman’s hand book from the 30s. The first sentence is…..
“Electricity. We don’t know exactly what it is, but we know what it can do”…….lol

LOL!!!
In those early years they went by the seat of their pant. Not much experience, went by the gut, and learn what not to do, all on instinct, no plan because they learned on the fly. I beleive it was totally an education everyday for the ones starting the trade/industry.