Tricks Of The Trade

[dayexco]

i'm 51 years old, my dad started in the excavating biz in 47, i've been either laying pipe, or running heavy equipment since i got out of my stroller. we all have "unique" ways of doing things, handling problems. if any of you have a great idea that you could share that could help any of us, please post it. i know when we go on family vacations, my family got upset because i'd always have to pull over and watch an underground contractor work..and was ALWAYS amazed that there is constantly some new way of doing things i pick up. application of a tool, etc. come on guys, what have you got? i'll give you one of my neat ideas now. for gate valve road boxes, we have a piece of 5" schedule 40 steel pipe 10' long with a plate welded on the end and a square hole cut in the center of it the size of the operating nut of the valve. we assemble our road box, place on valve, slip the 5" pipe down the road box, and square hole onto operating nut of valve...this forces the box to stay straight, centered, and we can either use our excavator with pack wheel or vibratory plate to pack around them without fear of them getting twisted/offcenter. when done, just pull the pipe out of the box, put on the lid. saves us a LOT of time.

 

[RonG]

I like it!!This is a good topic!! Ron

 

[9420pullpan]

trick of the trade

here are a few "tricks of the trade" that i saw in northern california!!

#1 slope board on a D10N with trimble GPS
http://client.webshots.com/photo/295554835/295561622cBVgTx

#2 a unique trenchbox design for back filling the pipe with stone
http://client.webshots.com/photo/295554835/295564977yGkwBn

#3 a different style shank in center to help break up material
http://client.webshots.com/photo/295554835/295565239jOZoqZ#

#4 a bracket for a ripper tooth mounted to trech box, so you dont damage spreader bars
http://client.webshots.com/photo/295554835/295564825iRsQgz#

 

[RonG]

I would love to see that trench box in operation!!!
I have a lot of questions that need answers. LOL
If you were digging in sandy soil where you would need to dig inside of the trench box it would need some modification but it appears to be the cats a** for what they are doing.I love it when somebody steps out of the mainstream to design something to tackle a task or streamline an operation that is repetitive like laying pipe is.A lot of time is lost for the guy in the trench chasing pipe soap,the target etc. and if you have a good operator that you trust it can be one of the easiest jobs in the world.I like laying pipe with a good laborer and the right equipment.
You can see that the hook to move the box was almost neccessary because of the way it was laid out.
I think a tooth on the bucket could be used to move the box forward as well.Again,I would love to see it in operation. :wink2 Ron

 

[9420pullpan]

the job that this box was on was a real hard pan material. well put it this way they were digging with a 750 komatsu with a ripper tooth. i have a pic of the hoe at >>>> http://client.webshots.com/photo/295554835/295565305NKlzCk

and http://client.webshots.com/photo/295554835/295564687rPrCeh#

i dont know if you have ever seen this before but i also saw a bucket with shank for a tooth mounted on the back side of the bucket. so all ya jad to do was roll the bucket to rip th material, then go back to hoggin !!!

Tiegert is the company diggin the pipe on this job has 15,000 employes and ALL of the overhead is covered by finding microscopic gold particles in their quarrys

pretty cool huh !!!

 

[RonG]

Sounds like a first class outfit.

 

[9420pullpan]

they definately have the equipment to save time. but their pace is not as fast as it is here on the east coast.

 

[MSC]

I hear ya on the east coast pace.
6am to 7 or 8pm is a usual day for me.
Rich