I have a pole barn about 180 feet from my breaker box in my house. I want to run electric to the barn to run a compressor and misc. tools, maybe a small welder. I need to run it from the house because it will be much more expensive to have another line run from the pole, new meeter, etc. I get a VERY good price break 8 months of the year for having an all electric home. If I put a new meeter on the barn, I would have to pay a much higher rate and at least $15 a month in admin charges.

That said, I have a Wadsworth breaker box in the house which has one open slot. I am looking for someplace to steal one more slot so I can put in a double pole 60AMP breaker. That will be my supply for the barn.

Now the questions [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Question 1: In the barn, do I need a "main lug" or a "main breaker" breaker box. My understanding is that the "main lug" box doesn't have a main breaker in it and would rely on the 60AMP breaker in the house to act as the main for the barn. I'm thinking I would want a main breaker in the barn, maybe for code compliance, but also for when the breaker does pop, I can reset it right there without a trip to the house [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] I just don't remember seeing a 60A main breaker box the last time I was at the box stores, I'll look again.

Question 2: After some research, I was thinking the wire size should be 4AWG copper to reduce voltage drop to a minimum and to carry the 50 amps. Does this sound right? Also, if that's the right size, what do I look for exactly, is it 3 or 4 seperate wires, all in one, etc? Is copper the best choice for this?

Question 3: Do I need to run it in any kind of conduit? Or just bury it? How deep?

Thanks for any help!!! I have been trying to figure this out from reading other stuff on and off line. Just when I think I know what I need, I find something else that makes me second guess myself. [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

Chuck