Mike Holt again helps the little guy... Here's a story that we feel is worth sharing.
I had literally spent my entire life in the electrical trade. My father was a union electrician his entire life and I followed suit working for the same company as my father. As soon as I was eligible, I apprenticed at his local IBEW. Now in my fifties, the career that had been very good to me for so long became more challenging. The physical demands from a professional life pulling wires, lifting piping, connecting junction boxes and moving large cable reels had already taken a toll. Five shoulder surgeries couldn’t repair the long term damage I was facing and a shoulder replacement surgery was scheduled.
I had always been physically active outside of work. Strong and fit, I thought the last thing I would face at this stage of my career would be a condition that could reduce my effectiveness as a professional. I wondered first, how much of my professional life had contributed to my physical problems; and second, what could be done about it. So I began searching, and in my research, I discovered just how ergonomically bad wire pulling was for the body.
The placement of junction boxes in ceilings, conduits in gutters & panels, light standards, and underground conduits puts your body in an awkward, unnatural position when trying to pull. This causes excessive strain on the shoulders, arms, back and wrists.
According to the US Department of Labor, over 31,000 workers are injured each year from stress and strain injuries caused by lifting, reaching, pulling and bending. This is such an important issue that OSHA has even provided very specific guidelines. Often with the pressures of the job, guidelines are pushed aside as impractical.
Up until now, the only options for wire circuit pulling have been either:
• Pulling by hand with rope, fish tape or string or
• Using a big, bulky puller not really engineered for branch circuits and time consuming to manage
Ultimately, they are both poor choices in an environment where both efficiency and safety are important. Very often space constraints also make simple pulling nearly impossible. I had used very large tuggers in large projects before. I wondered whether there was a smaller, portable and compact puller for branch circuit wire. Although 80% of all wire pulled on a job site is branch circuit wire, there actually wasn’t a tool available.
So I got to work.
I knew the tool had to be convenient and easy enough to use so that the time for setup and engagement didn’t take longer than the pull itself.
It had to be powerful. Wire pulling becomes increasingly difficult as the wire moves through the conduit. Each pull adds more weight to the successive pull…every pull harder than the next. Gearing for maximum torque would be critical.
For months I explored different design ideas with unique gearing ratios. Hand cranking wasn’t practical and was physically demanding. The basic design idea still made sense but it needed power and would be best if it was handheld. Then I came up with the idea of having the basic cordless drill motor power the puller. Could a typical drill motor generate enough torque in combination with the winch-like process to provide a continuous pulling pressure?
The gearing was critical.
After extensive search and experimentation I discovered the perfect combination of speed, torque and energy transfer. I had a working prototype. But I was far from finished. Working with my partner Joe Gerardo, a long time electrical product engineer, we realized that the winding process is only part of the solution. The puller needed stability to handle the back strain of heavy wire. Much like a fishing rod does. So we began experimenting with various extension arms – straight, articulating, short and long – finally landing on the right combination to give the user the highest confidence and stability…and greatest results.
Field tests had to follow so we shared it around the electrical community.
A game changer.
Most guys thought it was a good idea but were skeptical at first. That was until Joe threw a rope to a 250 pound electrician, told him to sit on the floor, and then pulled him across the room using just the puller!
It worked! And they believed.
After field tests and minor modifications, the tool did exactly what it was supposed to do and even more. I discovered that the gearing would deliver up to 1000# of torque and could easily handle multiple combined homeruns of branch circuit, as well as smaller to medium sized feeder circuits.
I knew I had a game changer with the potential to rethink how the trade handles wire pulling. I knew it would help my fellow electricians extend their careers and lessen injuries. I also believed it would help contractors reduce the EMR rates that have been growing and providing greater financial pressure on the bottom line.
Many decisions followed. How to manufacture? How to market and distribute?
With a commitment to manufacture and produce in the US, I selected a local machine and tooling manufacturer that maintains a strong commitment to vocational and technical training. I believe in keeping and growing US manufacturing, knowing full well if I went overseas the product cost would likely be reduced, but so might quality and responsiveness.
As a young start-up company, it’s all hands on deck. My wife Trish and I are the ones gluing the company logo patches onto the carry bags from our home in Canyon Lake California. Our partner Joe is shipping materials out of his garage.
Brother Mark is handling our Marketing and Communication needs. Up to now everything has been self-financed. Credit cards are maxed out and we are using our life savings to fund this business. It’s a labor of love that is now a family’s commitment. 
