A fiber lineman spends his work days high in the air and on a utility pole. It’s not uncommon for a fiber lineman to work on 15 or more poles in a day. Working that many poles in a day combined with the time spent working busy poles and a bucket truck becomes an invaluable resource to fiber lineman. Without it, you’ll be plenty familiar with your gaffs and climbing belt. Below we’ll go over how fiber lineman use bucket truck controls to get their job done.
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Preparing the bucket truck for the work day
This is my process for starting the day with my bucket truck. First I’ll go get the keys I hid somewhere on the bucket truck because we often park them near the work area (rural area). Our work area changes frequently, I would say every few weeks to a couple months. After I get the keys I’ll unlock the doors and the lever that locks all the storage bins (one on each side of the truck). Then I will put the keys in the ignition and let it prime for a few moments before starting the truck.
While the truck is warming up I will get my bucket cover off the bucket and get my tools setup. That consists of my Klein apron and Klein bucket bag. First I put on the apron on the inside of bucket and I then put the bucket bag on the outside of the bucket. I like doing it this way because a lot of the tools and materials I need are close by and organized in the apron and the bucket bag being on the outside gives me the most space possible inside the bucket. It’s already a small space to work in so putting the bucket bag on the inside would take up more precious space.
After I get those accessories put on I will load them with the materials I need for the day. This will change depending on if we are working on support strand that day or fiber. Sometimes we do both strand and fiber in the same day, but it’s usually a complete day of one or the either. After I get my correct materials loaded up for the day I will get the correct tools; if we are doing strand I will need my lineman impact drill, if we are doing fiber I will need my saw and small impact drill.
By the time I get all of that done the truck is warmed up and ready for the work day. However if I’m still waiting on co workers I will go ahead and do some other tasks that can always be of benefit like cleaning the truck, making straps and spacers, or looking at maps for the work day. I NEVER get on my phone while I wait on others 😉
How does a bucket truck work?
So far throughout my young career I have heavily used 4 bucket trucks and 3 of the 4 have had very similar control systems. 3 of the 4 have been Altec bucket trucks, while the last is a Versalift. If you use the picture above as a reference I’ll go over the controls that are used most often and then the ones that can come in handy in a pinch.
Now the big green handle is what is used most often and is also the most complicated because it controls 4 different movements. If you pull the handle straight up it will raise the upper boom up. It will go quite high just doing this, but it won’t quite be enough to reach most working positions on the pole. Pushing the handle straight down will make the upper boom go straight down. Pretty simple huh.
Now for the push and twist. If you pull the trigger and push the handle to the left it will allow the arm to extend out. This arm extends quite a ways, use safety when fully extending to the side of the truck. I use this movement quite often combined with the previous up and down movement of the upper boom.
The bucket truck controls pictured above are in good condition, but some of the trucks I’ve used the hand controls are held together with tape, zip ties, lock nuts, quarters, and other random objects. So when operating some of these controls keep in mind being gentle with them, because they can and will break. Pulling the trigger and pulling the handle to the right will bring the arm back in.
The next 2 controls are the small blue levers on the left side. Starting with the one on the far left- this control raises the lower boom up and down. It will raise about 8 feet. Push the lever up to raise it and pull it down to lower it.
The second blue lever to the right changes your bucket angle. Push it forward and your bucket will lean forward and pull it back and the bucket will lean back. It’s a handy feature that allows you to work at a level base instead of having to lean forward or backwards while working the pole. Sometimes you can use it in a pinch when you can barely reach the pole.
There is another blue lever above the previous blue lever we just discussed. This control allows you to shut the truck off and restart it. It’s a really handy feature for a couple reasons. Keep in mind these trucks are very loud, especially towards the front of the bucket truck.
- To conserve fuel.
- To be able to hear and communicate more effectively.
There are 2 controls the right of of the lever we just talked about. The black ones. I’m honestly not confident how these controls work, but I think they allow the lineman hydraulic hook up access for certain hydraulic drills. However, I have never used such drills or tools so I’m not familiar with any part of it.
Moving to the far right of the photo you will notice a long red control, along with 2 blue levers, and at the bottom right a control unit that has a plus (+) sign. First we’ll start with that long red control. This is the emergency shut off control. Push it down and it kills all power to everything. Pull it back up and you’ll have power back.
Then there are the 2 blue levers that are at an angle to the left of the red emergency shut off switch. The blue lever to the left I’m not sure what it does, however the one the right right allows your bucket to swivel. I use this function a lot when I need to work the pole from odd angles, such as working back sider poles.
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When the truck is parked on one side of the pole, but I need to work it from the opposite side I will use this feature to turn my bucket almost 180 degrees. Doing this is practically the same as having your truck positioned on the same side of the pole you’re working. It really is an awesome feature and I have grown to appreciate it more and more, especially when I use older trucks and this feature doesn’t work.
Lastly, the plus sign control at the bottom. I have used this control before, but my memory is a bit foggy. I believe it releases the hydraulic pressure and slowly lowers your boom. I have been stuck in the air before with no controls working from the bucket or the truck (the truck has it’s own set of controls just in case). No controls were working and when I twisted the control loose it lowered me to the ground so I wasn’t stuck in the air. It’s another handy safety feature that is much appreciated when you need it.
Final Words
Learning these bucket truck controls doesn’t take much work, just a bit of time. Day after day of using these bucket trucks will jump start your learning curve much quicker than studying these words, because in the end experience is the true teacher. It will be a bit tricky at first, but eventually every lineman gets the hang of it. Hell, I still stow my bucket off level every now and then.
Once you get the bucket truck controls figured out you’ll need some bucket organizers to store all your tools and materials. We’ve covered some of the best organizers here, Lineman Bucket Organizers that Work as Hard as You.