A cable puller for underground duct hires for roughly $100 to $250 a day in the 4,000 to 8,000 pound class, and $300 to $700 a day for the 20,000 pound trailer and truck mounted machines used on primary feeders. Sizing is a tension question rather than a cable size question, so the counter will ask about the run before it quotes you anything.
Size it to the tension, not to the cable
What loads the rope is the weight of cable in the duct, the friction along it and every bend it turns. A short straight run of heavy cable can pull easier than a long run of light cable through four sweeps. Give the yard the length, the number and angle of bends, the cable weight and the duct size.
The kit that has to come with it
A tugger alone pulls nothing. You need rods or a fish tape to get a line in, pulling rope rated well above the expected tension, a swivel and basket grip on the cable end, feeding sheaves and a duct entry protector at the manhole, and lubricant. Most of that is hired or bought beside the machine and is quoted separately.
Small tuggers against the trailer machines
A capstan style tugger of 4,000 to 8,000 pounds handles service laterals, building feeders and most commercial duct work, and two people can set it up. Beyond that you are into trailer mounted pullers with a tensioner readout and a reel trailer to match, which is a different day and usually a different crew.
Watch the tension, not the rope
Pulling until something moves is how cable gets damaged inside the jacket where nobody sees it. Machines with a tension readout let you stop at the cable maker's limit; without one you are guessing. If the pull stalls, add lubricant or open an intermediate pit rather than adding force.
Questions people ask about underground cable puller rental
Can I just pull it with a truck?
No. A vehicle gives you no tension control and no way to stop at the cable's limit, and a rope failure under that load is dangerous to everyone at both ends. It also tends to overstretch conductors in ways that show up as a fault months later.
Do yards rent the rodders too?
Most rental counters that stock a puller also stock duct rodders, fish tapes, blowers and reel stands, because nobody uses one without the others. Book them together in one conversation, since a puller arriving without a way to get the line in wastes the day.
How much rope do I need?
Enough for the full run plus slack at both ends for the machine and the sheaves, so order well over the measured length. Rope is a consumable on this hire and is billed on what you use or what you damage, which is worth confirming when you book.
Is the electrical work part of the hire?
No. The yard rents machinery, not labor or design, and terminations and energizing are for a qualified electrician working to the job's own permits. The puller only gets the cable from one hole to the next.