DCD has received a number of questions on our product over the years and recently we’ve decided to provide more information on our expanding Duct Pullers. The main eye on the product, used for pulling the conduit itself, has a load rating specified in our catalog, based on a 3:1 safe working load. The small eye on the back of the puller, however, is the less mentioned part of the tool. This smaller eye sits inside the duct being pulled, and is generally used to attach bull line that will be used inside the duct for pulling cable through at a later time. This eye bolt is much smaller, so naturally it has a lower safe working load.

00616 Duct Puller with Twine

For example, the 00616-200 duct puller can pull 2” conduit up to a safe working load of 5,600lbs, while the rear eye on the back of unit can only sustain 450lbs safely. In addition, the load on the rear eye adds to the load on the main eye, so the sum of these two loads should not exceed the main safe working load of the product.

Example: If 5,500lbs of tension is applied to the conduit during pulling, only another additional 100lbs should be applied to the rear eye (not the full 450lbs). To take advantage of the full 450lb safe working load on the rear eye, the load on the main eye should be limited to 5,150lbs (5,150lbs + 450lbs = 5,600lb total load).

Please see the Duct Installation section of our online catalog for a full listing of safe working loads for the rear pulling eye and for the main eye.