Riverina Horizontal Boring (RHB) has added a new TRACTO horizontal directional drill (HDD) to its stocks.
The GRUNDODRILL 20ACS is the latest generation HDD rig and the first TRACTO purchased by the Wodonga-based business.
Founded in 1987 by HDD pioneer Keith Suter, the company has a large fleet of equipment that includes seven horizontal directional drills.
With an increased torque of 9,000Nm on the outer rods, the 20-tonne HDD GRUNDODRILL 20ACS excels in mixed and hard rock conditions.
TRACTO had been on the radar for several years according to Managing Director Brandon Suter and with a number of upcoming projects defined by hard rock conditions on the books it paved the way for the purchase.
“That helped us pull the trigger because it often comes down to what you’re comfortable with and that’s going to be what you’re ultimately used to,” said Suter.
“We have other machines we love but it we felt it was time to do something different considering the projects we had coming up and we know TRACTO machines are well known to handle different rock conditions, well.”
The 20ACS debuted on a sandstone ridge running through a farmer’s paddock and acquitted itself brilliantly.
”It just blitzed through sandstone,” said Suter.
“It was easy going compared to the Hume Freeway which was our next job and it was complex work.”
That was an approximately 360-metre bore under the arterial that featured significant ten-metre cutouts on each side.
“We drilled under the road and then brought the head back up on a sharp incline and then we sort of switched the bore around to the right of the road reserve and then it came out perfect on the other side,” said Suter.
“The TRACTO annihilated the rock. It went straight through. It’s a very impressive machine.”
Featuring a dual-tube rod system, the GRUNDODRILL 20ACS delivers 200kN of thrust and pullback to maximise drilling efficiency while at the same time minimising bentonite consumption.
“On the tray in front, the bentonite runs down the channels, and it will go into your plate at the front of the rig where they’ve got a bentonite pump with stepless torque adjustment,” said Suter.
“Then you pump your fluids that come out of your drill rod, and you pump that back into your entry hole. It just keeps the worksite clean and tidy. It’s very different to anything I’ve used before.”
This rig features the flexible ELICON twin-tube rod system.
An inner tube drives the rock drill head while the outer tube provides steering, eliminating wear and maintaining effective rinsing making it particularly well suited to long shots.
Suter is also a fan of the rod sprayer.
“So when you pull your rods back it shoots water out of jets and it keeps your rods clean, so you don’t pull any mud whatsoever back into the carriage,” he added.
“That keeps all your clamps clean, your jaws clean, everything is spotless. It’s little features like that they’ve included in their drills that make them stand out in the market from the competition. It’s very impressive.”
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