Customers asked and MacLean Power Systems listened. MacLean Power Systems now offers brown crossarms in addition to its current line of offerings in gray. Shades of gray are currently an industry standard color for fiberglass crossarms. This suits most applications where fiberglass is used, however, some customers prefer a brown color. Typically, the color is used for aesthetic reasons because it mimics the look of wood in applications such as wood crossarm replacement on wood utility poles or for use on composite poles, which also tend to be brown in color. Other uses can simply be for customer preference to better match the surroundings of the area in which it is being installed to promote a more natural look.

The brown crossarms were first made available to customers in March 2014 when MPS shipped the first orders. Their first widely publicized public debut came at this year’s IEEE show in Chicago in April. The showpiece center display at the MPS booth showcased both brown and gray versions of the current line of crossarms that MPS has to offer. Each color commanded a side of the display with examples of the various types of crossarms MPS offers, from deadend to tangent, and other various options that can be ordered with them. The display was very successful and drew a steady stream of interested customers and attendees at the show. Everyone was, of course, drawn to the brown arms and had a lot of good things to say about how good they looked as well as questions about how they are made. The most popular question being, “how did MPS get them to be brown and would the color wear off?” For those readers who are interested, the arms are pigmented during the manufacturing process so the color runs throughout the arm meaning even if it gets scratched it will still look brown.

In addition to the center display, there was also a crossarms presentation given at the MPS booth during the show, which highlighted not only the brown crossarms, but also the technology behind, continuous improvement, new product, and advantages MPS offers for the entire line of crossarms.

New brown crossarms