Vacuum excavator

[Smiffy]

It sometimes comes up on here about unique one man band niche markets

Just seen this on Facebook
No idea the price of it but this is about a niche as it gets ATM and if you could get in with utility firms I think you could make a killing

Vac Ex Sales & Hire

Vac-Ex is a leading supplier and manufacturer of an extensive range of Vacuum Extraction equipment, from the small handheld AIR-EX, to the mini AIR-VAC (great option for tight working spaces) and the larger T-VAC (available with both manual and hydraulic arms).

www.vac-ex.com

 

[fred]

guy on tiktok with a larger one, looks like a bin lorry.

Very hands bit of kit where the cost of damaging an expensive service is a possibility.

 

[Smiffy]

guy on tiktok with a larger one, looks like a bin lorry.

Very hands bit of kit where the cost of damaging an expensive service is a possibility.

I think on highway work excavators will disappear tbh I can see them being completely replaced by suction units for 90% of utility work.

 

[Grahams]

Look a very interesting bit of kit. The vacuum excavation is becoming very popular near me. I counted five full sized vacuum trucks working on the M27 "smart" motorway upgrade the other day.

 

[Left hooker]

Keir doing water connection repairs had one like the top pic other day near my place friends have a bigger tracked one unless unless he's sold it and concentrating on the volley lorries side of his business

 

[JD450A]

If you have used one you will understand why no one in there right mind would buy one without a watertight hire contract...... They aren't much cop and cost a f****ng fortune.

 

[Smiffy]

If you have used one you will understand why no one in there right mind would buy one without a watertight hire contract...... They aren't much cop and cost a f****ng fortune.

They beat a shovel though and thats the only alternative tbh. I can't understand them on most sites but on highway work it's where it's going to go, I can't see the army of 1.5 tonners on the back of transits lasting much longer as there are just to many service strikes

 

[doobin]

They beat a shovel though and thats the only alternative tbh. I can't understand them on most sites but on highway work it's where it's going to go, I can't see the army of 1.5 tonners on the back of transits lasting much longer as there are just to many service strikes

Good luck breaking through tarmac or pulling out a kerb with a vacuum excavator.

 

[Quattromike]

guy on tiktok with a larger one, looks like a bin lorry.

Roy smoove he's a bit of a character

 

[JD450A]

You will never see the death of the 1.5t machine behind a transit..... Vac Ex's work in Sands, gravel and loamy soils..... clay, concrete and hardpacked type 1 will laugh at the Vac Ex. I have been involved with planning a job involving excavation around multiple cables in bad ground with concrete encasement..... Upshot was a Minimum 3t machine with full cab and windscreen closed...... safer for a mechanised breaker to run through a cable than a man with a handheld. Latest way is to utilise a Brokk Robot although i'm not sold on the merits for excavation work..... wrong tool for the job.

 

[Brendan]

If you have used one you will understand why no one in there right mind would buy one without a watertight hire contract...... They aren't much cop and cost a f****ng fortune.

Are they that bad?

Have heard the grab wagons sized vehicles being around .5 million to buy and apparently 1k on day rate??

Can't ever see that size replacing 1.5t mini diggers for utilities that small unit has less than a tracked dumpers worth of capacity and more than likely takes a lot longer to suck that amount up Vs horsing it out with a mini digger

 

[craig]

Good luck breaking through tarmac or pulling out a kerb with a vacuum excavator.

I dont know, my road sweepers will take, out poor tarmac down to the sub base, bad pothole repairs, slurry seal pavements, water meter/stop tap covers, and lift BT manhole covers

 

[JD450A]

Are they that bad?

Have heard the grab wagons sized vehicles being around .5 million to buy and apparently 1k on day rate??

Can't ever see that size replacing 1.5t mini diggers for utilities that small unit has less than a tracked dumpers worth of capacity and more than likely takes a lot longer to suck that amount up Vs horsing it out with a mini digger

Right ground.... they are weapons. Same theory as a chain trencher, when it's great it's great.... when it's bad you need a digger.

If course the budget variation is a road sweeper..... Have used em for years when needed.

 

[Smiffy]

Good luck breaking through tarmac or pulling out a kerb with a vacuum excavator.

Tbh tarmac and kerbs on small jobs are still hand work. And it even on bigger jobs you are pretty safe lifting kerbs and tarmac with a machine, it's when you get over 300mm in the ground thats a problem.

The little machines capacity would be irrelevant as it would just tip on site for a grab lorry to remove from site, the grab lorry's are already out on the existing setup.

The machines shouldn't be digging anyway near utility's. I can't believe that you where able to put it in a risk assement or method statement that you expect to hit utility's.
A vacuum excavator may not dig through them but imo that isn't what it's on site for. It's to clear material from a hole that has been loosened by a groundworker, pretty much what a mini on utility's work should be doing ATM.
A decent groundworker a can dig quicker than a 1.5t machine can safely dig around services. What slows them down is getting the material out the hole, that is when the vac ex comes in. To clean the hole as the groundworker digs.

There have been far to many utility strikes of late for the use oof minis not to be bought into question.

 

[GazCro]

You will never see the death of the 1.5t machine behind a transit..... Vac Ex's work in Sands, gravel and loamy soils..... clay, concrete and hardpacked type 1 will laugh at the Vac Ex. I have been involved with planning a job involving excavation around multiple cables in bad ground with concrete encasement..... Upshot was a Minimum 3t machine with full cab and windscreen closed...... safer for a mechanised breaker to run through a cable than a man with a handheld. Latest way is to utilise a Brokk Robot although i'm not sold on the merits for excavation work..... wrong tool for the job.

Half the problem is wrong sized machine if there's stuff to dig round. You either see 1.5 tonner or you jump to 5/8 ton either little bucket you've to get rough with to dig if it's hard going or bucket that's too big between stuff. Like you say go in the middle 3/4 ton and you've best of both worlds. They spent months in middle of keswick 2 years ago with an 8 tonner and vac ex diverting services prior to digging a hole to put a flood pump tank in, i could have done the job safely with a 3 or 4 tonner in a week. Like you say vac ex no good if the ground is kin hard to begin with.

 

[Brendan]

Tbh tarmac and kerbs on small jobs are still hand work. And it even on bigger jobs you are pretty safe lifting kerbs and tarmac with a machine, it's when you get over 300mm in the ground thats a problem.

The little machines capacity would be irrelevant as it would just tip on site for a grab lorry to remove from site, the grab lorry's are already out on the existing setup.

The machines shouldn't be digging anyway near utility's. I can't believe that you where able to put it in a risk assement or method statement that you expect to hit utility's.
A vacuum excavator may not dig through them but imo that isn't what it's on site for. It's to clear material from a hole that has been loosened by a groundworker, pretty much what a mini on utility's work should be doing ATM.
A decent groundworker a can dig quicker than a 1.5t machine can safely dig around services. What slows them down is getting the material out the hole, that is when the vac ex comes in. To clean the hole as the groundworker digs.

There have been far to many utility strikes of late for the use oof minis not to be bought into question.

There isn't any groundworkers that will keep up with a machine for any amount of time

 

[GazCro]

Tbh tarmac and kerbs on small jobs are still hand work. And it even on bigger jobs you are pretty safe lifting kerbs and tarmac with a machine, it's when you get over 300mm in the ground thats a problem.

The little machines capacity would be irrelevant as it would just tip on site for a grab lorry to remove from site, the grab lorry's are already out on the existing setup.

The machines shouldn't be digging anyway near utility's. I can't believe that you where able to put it in a risk assement or method statement that you expect to hit utility's.
A vacuum excavator may not dig through them but imo that isn't what it's on site for. It's to clear material from a hole that has been loosened by a groundworker, pretty much what a mini on utility's work should be doing ATM.
A decent groundworker a can dig quicker than a 1.5t machine can safely dig around services. What slows them down is getting the material out the hole, that is when the vac ex comes in. To clean the hole as the groundworker digs.

There have been far to many utility strikes of late for the use oof minis not to be bought into question.

Over 300mm do you not have bt and gas where you are

 

[GazCro]

There isn't any groundworkers that will keep up with a machine for any amount of time

Half the problem with hand digging now is no tools with a point on the end and shovels with 10/15mm plate welded on the end. Fair enough you don't wanna knock a pick through leccy but that's where common sense comes in and a bit of nous.

 

[JD450A]

A decent groundworker a can dig quicker than a 1.5t machine can safely dig around services. What slows them down is getting the material out the hole, that is when the vac ex comes in. To clean the hole as the groundworker digs.

No.

Top game utilities machine drivers tend to stay in one place.... there is a reason for that. Likewise Utilities lads are often still allowed Bars and Forks albeit insulated....... It's site work where the strikes occour.

 

[Smiffy]

There isn't any groundworkers that will keep up with a machine for any amount of time

When digging round a footpath full of utility's I promise you a good ground worker will beat a machine driver who is digging safely especially when you get 500mm down and there are 4 different utility's running in different directions. On proper street works you can quickly get to the point where the machine can barely remove a teaspoon at a time.

Over 300mm do you not have bt and gas where you are

Gas is generally where it's meant to be round here and telecoms can pick up with the cat scan so we don't dig round the to begin with

Half the problem with hand digging now is no tools with a point on the end and shovels with 10/15mm plate welded on the end. Fair enough you don't wanna knock a pick through leccy but that's where common sense comes in and a bit of nous.

As far as I'm aware the ban on picks on large sites is due to several incidents of people smacking someone over the head with them that's stood behind them. We use pointed digging bars which actually you do far more work and far more accurate work with than a pick.
It is the most used tool and can do some serious work with a good groundworker.

No.

Top game utilities machine drivers tend to stay in one place.... there is a reason for that. Likewise Utilities lads are often still allowed Bars and Forks albeit insulated....... It's site work where the strikes occour.

Top game utility driver's dont dig round utility's they sit and let the groundworker dig round the utility. Machines only dig for utility companies when the location of all services are known.
And The bottom of the game driver's definitely hit utility's in the highway. There have been some really bad strikes of late and currently they are all in a panic due to the lack of ability to locate gas and water. Especially as its been approved to start adding hydrogen to the domestic gas supply which has the potential to cause some serious problems.