Equipment In Action

Pow-r Mole setup under gas line The PD-4 In ActionPow-r Mole set up under gas linePow-r Mole demonstrated its' abilities, by undertaking renovations in a rural midwestern community's down-town area, where the installation of street lamps were needed. The director of the utility department, had three choices. Saw cut over six hundred feet of concrete and asphalt. Contract out the boring. Purchase the equipment and do it themselves. Purchasing the equipment and doing the work themselves held the most promise. The cost of the equipment should be recovered on the street lighting project. Future utility installations could then be accomplished on an "as needed" basis. Price was a heavy consideration. There would be no point in purchasing the equipment if contracting out the work were less expensive. The director investigated the Pow-r Mole "PD-4" Pipe Pusher. The compact size of the "PD-4" had the ability to maintain line and grade. Four pits, four feet long and two feet wide were prepared. Each had a small area cut out, for the operator to stand in. A gas service line was encountered in the first pit, but was of no consequence as the Pow-r Mole set up neatly under the line. Hydraulic power to supply the Pow-r Mole was obtained by utilizing the town tractor.

Pushing began at 8:30 and by 10:25 one eighty-five foot run, down the sidewalk had been completed. The push rods were maintained at a depth of twenty-two to twenty-four inches throughout the push and emerged at the target trench precisely on line and grade. A 2-1/2" soil expander was attached to the rod and the conduit was attached to the expander. As the push rods were extracted, the conduit was pulled under the sidewalk. "PD-4" rotated 90 degrees for street crossing At 11:25 the machine was rotated 90 degrees and the rod was pushed 50' under the main street to a target hole, where it emerged on target at 11:55. The conduit was pulled under the street and the Pow-r Mole was moved to the second section of the sidewalk. By 3:10, the conduit was installed and the equipment had been picked up and loaded into the truck. In all, two-hundred and ten feet of conduit had been installed with three seperate pushes under the sidewalk and street, in one easy day of operations.