Abstract: A method and apparatus for installing a padmount transformer using a buried support frame is provided wherein the transformer is mounted adjacent a trench about the underground cable, the frame includes a pair of telescopically extendable legs which rest on the trench bottom. Each of those legs reaches to the top of the trench and is removably attached at that upper end to one of a pair of arms that rest on the surface of the ground under where the floater pad is to be placed. A stabilizing bar is removably attached to each of the legs to secure them in a desired relative position. The position of each of these frame elements can be adjusted to permit the top of the frame to be made level. The relatively compact ground at the bottom of the trench and the surface adjacent the trench secures the frame against significant or uneven changes in vertical position over time.