Tying mainline to wire

[abbott]

So far this week i've run 5000' of new mainline and wire, but haven't hooked anything up yet. Should i wire tie the tubing to the wire and then pull them both tight with side-pulls, or should i get my wire tight and then tie my mainline to it?

Feel free to direct me to any old threads where this has been discussed.

Steve

[Randy Brutkoski]

I always hang and tighten my high tension and then tie my mainline to it. I feel doing it that way keeps less sags in the line. But other poeple might do it different.

[red maples]

I just hung my first 700' and I 'M a rookie but I put up the wire tightened it up. then tied on the tubing loose the started from the middle and worked my way to the ends tightening as I went. then I tied it to several trees through out to tighten it even more. and eliminate any sags from the wieght of the tubbing. and so far so good and no sagsa at this point.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I run the wire first and get it tight and then install the mainline.

[JoeJ]

Most of the suppliers around here in Vermont sell mainline tension grips for 1/2" pipe to 2" to pipe. I learned that the hard way. When I started I just put up my mainline wire and hung the 3/4" pipe with wire ties. The next summer, 75% of the pipe was snaking along the wire. Then I found out about the tension grips and how you should really hang your mainline. Install your wire, side tie, then layout your mainline, clamp one end of the mainline to your wire and then put a tension grip on the other end of the mainline hooked to a come along. Tighten up the come along, the wire tie the mainline to your wire. I use 2 SS clamps on each end to hold mainline in place. This method reduces snaking to almost zero.

I wish that some one had told me about the tension grips before I hung my first pipe. I spent a lot of time going back and restretching all the pipe that snaked along the wire because it was not tight enough.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Also, make sure you roll out your mainline and not uncoil it. You can roll it out like a ball and prevent most of the snaking.

[lpakiz]

I just did 1500 feet of 3/4 30P mainline (first time ever) and here's what worked great for me. I ran and sidetied the wire, getting it fiddle string tight. Then I ran the mainline out and tied one end to the double loop of wire next to one of the anchor trees. I went to the other end with a piece of small (1/4- 3/8?) nylon rope about 12 feet long. I put a couple half-hitches into the rope around the pipe and hooked to the last tree (or near the last tree). Then another small loop near the half hitch. Pass the rope around the anchor tree (or the anchor itself) and then thru the small loop. Now you can pull the tube tight, temporarily anchor with a simple knot thru the small loop. Go back along the line, raising it and stretching as you go. I put a few real loose ties (loops of plain wire, really) to hold the pipe near the wire around curves. On a real long stretch or around a curve, I used two ropes-one near the curve and one at the end. Return to the rope(s) and re-tighten. Repeat as necessary. I fear only that I have the pipe too tight. I wired about every 18 inches.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

In general, I stretch and side tie my wire then attach the pipe. Pipe is unrolled under the wire (sometimes it is easier to unroll it somewhere in the open and then drag the length in under the wire) and then attached loosely with wire ties at about 8 foot intervals along the length. I attach one end to the wire using a ss clamp and then pull as much slack out as possible from the opposite end. I then proceed to wire tie, placing ties at about 10 to 12 inch intervals. Where the wire has been side tied there will be angles that the pipe will be pulled towards thus tightening the pipe further. It is not always necessary or possible to draw the pipe all the way to these angles. These will make a place where further tightening can be accomplished if necessary later.
Pipe that is suspended out of reach in the air over a long distance may be attached to the wire and then both suspended at once and side tied. I am not as comfortable with this method as I never feel that my pipe is as tight.

[JoeJ]

Poly pipe has a huge temperature expansion (contraction) coefficient
The formula to figure the expansion / contraction is expansion coefficient times the temperature change times the length of pipe. .67 x (T2 - T1)divided by 100 x length of pipe divided by 100. If you hang pipe at 45 degrees and your low temperature is -15 degrees your temp change is 60.
So in 500' of pipe it figures out to be .67 x (60 :- 100) x 500 :- 100 = 20.1"
Your 500' pipe will shrink 20.1". Then if your temperature goes up to 100 degrees, your pipe will expand 20", thus the snaking effect. So it is kind of critical to strike a balance when hanging your pipe not to hang it too loose but also not to hang it too tight. ( I hate the look of pipe snaking along the wire).

When I tighten my pipe with my come along, I try to use some judgement in how tight to pull the pipe depending on the temperature. I install the pipe a lot tighter at 30 degrees than at 80 degrees. Since I have used the come along method for three years, I have not had any pipe pull off fittings because it was too tight and also I have eliminated 99% of the snakeing.

I also loosely wire tie my pipe every 20' before I put the come along on it.

[caseyssugarshack93]

i run my wire then just put a little tencion on it with a wire rachet thenm i run my pipe and twist tie it and then side tie, i never had any problems yet, but we will see. ill have to try it some differnt way to see what one i like best