Join the Drill Team

Get Hip to the Emerging Compact Horizontal Directional Drilling Market

By Keith Gribbins

Saddled to the side of a compact HDD rig, a skillful operator can deftly pilot a subterrestrial jobsite. A surface-launched compact horizontal drilling rig (or compact HDD unit) can uniquely install utilities by boring beneath the earth, causing minimal impact on the surrounding surface area.

Snug in the operator’s station with a hard hat and sunglasses, the HDD driver feathers two levers — one for controlling the pushing power to the drill rod going into the ground and one to direct the front drill head that’s boring through the earth. >> more

Face Lift

Give Your Service Body a Much Needed Boost with a Dedicated Crane Truck

By Aimee Mehl

A pick-and-place job is par for most jobsites. The process of lifting awkward and overweight obstacles and products and moving them from place to place is an essential part of almost any industry — from utility to forestry. As the demands of these jobs intensify and crews increasingly find themselves doing more with less time and fewer resources, professionals are often weighing the purchase of a crane service truck to keep their fleets running and lifting.

Because cranes are so versatile, they are vital to the mining, propane, utility, construction, forestry, waste and transportation industries. Popular brands include Liftmoore, Venturo, Auto Crane, Maintainer, Stellar and IMT. A crane body package (body and crane) provides an extremely versatile tool for the operator. Small cranes are often used to lift manhole covers, fire hydrants, small pipes, skids or oil drums. Larger cranes are often used to repair large construction equipment, including the removal of blades from a bulldozer or cylinders from an excavator, setting propane tanks, replacing engines and transmissions or wherever a lift is required. >> more