Vermeer drills feature extra capacity for demanding jobs

Vermeer’s horizontal directional drill rigs were part of the company’s display at the Diesel Dirt and Turf show at Eastern Creek in April this year, with the brand claiming the rigs to be game changers in rock drilling especially in metropolitan areas.

The 14-tonne D40x55DR drill with 140hp and 7.5-tonne D23x30DR with 100hp were particularly popular with contractors given their small footprints, allowing them to be transported and used easily within tighter urban worksites, Vermeer Australia added.

The larger D40x55DR offers a powerful 40,000lb of thrust and pull back and 5500 ft-lb of rotational torque to help operators get the job done, whether it be pipeline work or long fiber shots, Vermeer Australia said.

It features an excavator style, fully enclosed cab that protects operators from the elements in addition to drilling noises.

A DigiTrak Aurora full-color touchscreen display in the cab displays crucial information for the operation including locate information, digital bore plans and more.

A key selling point for this drill, Vermeer Australia said, is the rod capacity.

“Most other machines on the market are doing 140m shots but this offers 150m of rod capacity,” said Vermeer Australia’s Andrew Browne.

“It means operators can do one whole shot without having to change the rod basket.”

It is also able to be remotely controlled for ultimate precision, Browne added.

“For example, a driller can use the cordless remote to set up the drill from a distance, to make sure it is well positioned for work,” he said.

The D40x55DR’s smaller sibling, the D23x30DR has a smaller footprint and an operator platform instead of an enclosed cab.

The D23x30DR has 24000lb of thrust and pullback and 3000 ft-lb of rotational torque. It has a rod capacity of 90m and a dual rod drill with a RH10 drill head which Vermeer developed in-house especially for the rig.

“The great thing about this rock head is the pitch. So it's got two degrees of pitch at the front which helps the drill hold its steer through rock over long shots,” Browne said.

“With the dual rod technology, the inner rod does all the drilling while the outer rod does all the steering.”

The dual rod system is also offered on the D40x55DR model.

Both machines feature tech offerings that make operators’ jobs much easier and productive, Vermeer said.

“They can set up auto drill or auto carve features so the drill can basically do the work for the operator,” Browne said.

“There's a lot of technology within the drills that will make a driller’s day a lot easier and be able to increase productivity through technology.”

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