In walks the voice of caution.....
Very good points.
One thing I did not see mentioned was old telegraph or telephone lines. These often went through areas that are no longer inhabited. Old telephone wire is usually about #9 steel wire. It is good if you need heavy steel wire for anything, kind of the big brother of haywire.
Three reasons to reconsider the old telegraph/telephone lines:
1) Believe it or not, some of the ancient open wire lines (especially near RR tracks) are still in use and it can be high voltage. (I was knocked off an 18' pole once. 480VAC HURTS)
2) The old open wire picks up induction current better that almost any other wire on a pole. If it does not have a path to ground, it has spent years picking up a charge and is waiting for you to be a path to ground.
3) The old open wire sometimes holds a memory of the coil it was in. When cut, it will recoil and could whip you.
Again, just be careful.
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