Didn’t know where to put this post Anyone have or use them? Looks like they may become the machine for excavating around utilities water, gas, electric fiber optic’s etc May consider trying it out. Thanks
I think a lot depends on the soil conditions. They don't work well by me because we have so much rock. In area's with mostly black dirt or clay, I think they work well.
They already are the machine for locating utilities they work good until you get big rock the trailers are limited with 3 inch suction hoses the trucks have 6inch suction so are more forgiving but in rock there a little to be desired You can charge pretty good tho for them
Hi sorry I know I’m late to the party but wanted to contribute. We do quite a few water line repairs throughout the year. Used to use pumps to clear any standing water water and a mini ex to clear the mud and muck to get down to the line that is usually 4-6 ft deep. Had our local hydro vac crew come and clean one out just to see how it worked and I was sold. 2 huge advantages are 1) so much cleaner, way less clean up after the repair. Huge time savings there. They suck out the mud and haul it off, we bring in clean dirt after the repair has been made. Much cleaner than sloppily slinging mud/soup/goo and trying to haul it off or store it and reuse it. Advantage #2 is its easier for them to find the line with their vacuum than it is for me with a bucket. Especially if the line is near other utilities. There is always a lot of hand digging to find lines, and when the ground is saturated due to a major or ongoing leak, shoveling sucks. There is little to no shoveling with the vacuum. Our local guys charge between $150-$200 an hour. It certainly costs me more than running a mini, but it’s usually well worth it considering how much easier it makes job. as was mentioned, any rocks about the size of a baseball can potentially clog the line, but if your working in any type of dirt or small rock they are pretty amazing
The trailers also fill up really quick. There fine if your only going down 3-5ft. After that you're going to be making alot of dump and water runs. Been looking pretty hard at these vac trucks for a couple years. Had an offer from a new company building these trucks, where they would "give" us one and put it to work with a profit sharing deal. Would essentially be a very affordable lease payment. Only reason I haven't pulled the trigger is this driver shortage. Vac and slinger trucks are becoming the new norm very quickly.