Buckaroos Insulators: Handbook

For example, while official manuals said to de-energize a line to replace a cracked disc, the Buckaroos handbook described a two-man hot-stick method using a "C-clamp bridge" that could bypass a single failed unit in under 15 minutes. It wasn't OSHA-approved. It worked.

But do this instead: That’s where the real handbook lives. Do you have a memory of the Buckaroos or a similar field guide? Share it in the comments below — especially if you’ve ever tapped an insulator to hear its ring. buckaroos insulators handbook

The group called themselves the Buckaroos — a nod to the cowboy-like independence of traveling high-voltage linemen who lived out of trucks and climbed wooden poles and steel towers hundreds of feet in the air. For example, while official manuals said to de-energize