Was up in Troy, PA today. The is a ton of iron for the natural gas rush up here. Here are some pics
great pics pullpan:notworthy:notworthy! sure is alot of nice iron sittin there!
That's it for now hopefully more to come
Was that D8K's in the early pics? Man I loved those machines. And what's up with those pics of machines sitting on mats? That's a lot of Iron, glad to see some people are going to be working.
Does anyone recognize the attachment on the Hitachi in the third picture? Is that a plate tamper?
i think it might be, i have never seen a plate packer quite like that one though.
Attachment ? The attachment looks like a vaccum clamp. For picking up and setting pipe.
yeah i think its a positioner so you can weld the two pieces of pipe together without them moving
As Northart said, its a vacumn clamp for lifting pipe during loading or stringing. Has its own little engine and pump on board, very effective and quick.
Vacuum Pipe Lifter Here's a link to a Vacuum Pipe Lifter. http://www.magnatech-europe.com/pipeline/vacuum_lifter.html
look like they are ready to start pumpin water to crack the rock.
I wish I had more time and daylight, there is much more to see up there. They say they will have work for 15 years..
I wish I had work for 15 weeks.
I believe it is all union work. I wish I had my union card....
over here in new hampshire i went to where they sell kabelcos they have a used 460 kabelco and i was looking at it the other day and it had a sticker on the side of it and its the same guys pricition pipe inc same stickers as the one you have in the photos man its a small world
Not only would you need a union card, but a pipeline card. Also, pipelines are considered transportation and vital to our nation, so now they fall under TSA. So this means you would also need a TWIC card.
Yes, the attachment is a pipe vac. I used to rent them out of Tulsa for work in Wyoming and California. Expensive, but what a time saver. The vacuum runs off a hydraulic motor that is powered by the excavator hydraulics. Most of the iron is sitting on cribs so they don't freeze into the mud. Good idea. Takes forever to thaw or chip frosted mud off a track and roller frame. Northart and Turbo would know all about that. Are those Cat side booms equipped with Midwest booms, or is it a Cat model? Interesting to see a dozer blade on a side boom. Very rare that.
You got it Joe, this is the freeze thaw time of year. During they day you get mud, and night it freezes. Good recipe for freezing a machine in place. Notice any machine not on rock looks to be on matts. As for the pipelayer dozers. Not sure on who makes em, but they seem to be getting fairly popular on nat gas projects. Seen quite a few Deere 700s for sale with that set up. Never saw the cat version tho. Wonder how it is for blading around? Doesnt look like it would be.
Why were the machines sitting on timbers. Never seen that in the south.
So they won't freeze to the ground...
Not something we think about in Atlanta. Thanks.
Or over here in the emerald isle Stock
Wolf, last time I was in HOTlanta, it was about 30 degrees and snowing. Felt like I never left home. I grew up about 20 minutes from where those pics were taken, and freezing is a definite issue in Northeastern PA.
Nice pics. Freezin is an issue anywhere in Pee Yaa lol :drinkup
Can you explain what you mean by this? We have a mountain of rock over here and I was wondering if there is a new or different way to break it? :beatsme Thanks Joe
From what I understand after they drill the well they force water down the hole under extreme pressures to break off any fragments left from the drilling process.
I never ran a sideboom with a dozer blade, but I think in steep terrain the blade would be great for keeping yourself from sliding down a slope.
You can find on this website http://pamarcellus.com/ a great video that explains the whole process. It's right on the front page.
Thanks so much for the help gentlemen. This video explains it all so clearly. We have been working for gas companies for the past ten years or so and I was never very clear on how they extracted the gas. Thanks again.:notworthy
After the well is drilled, and the production casing is cemented, they will pump water and sand down the casing to hydraulically fracture the formation, so the gas will come out of the ground eaiser. I hope the economy and oil and gas prices get better soon, because it has darn near shut us down here in the Barnett Shale in North Texas. If it does not, that play in PA may play out before it ever gets rolling good. I have a few freinds that are consulting up un PA, and I may be up there soon if the stars all line up right.:slomo
yeah that is definatley some nice iron, I hope gas drilling is booming at home this summer so I have work
That's interesting, I never knew there was natural gas in so much of Pennsylvania.
There is in New York as well.....
Found some more pipeline equipment on rt14 north of Trout Run....
Cool pictures.
i love those hoes with the single grousers
keep them coming ,nice gear .
Wine Dine & Pipeline!!!!!!!! Those Vacuum lifts all have the same vacuum system . All you do is change out the bottom suction cup to fit the size pipe your handling.. It works good on the FBE Coating , TG3 is the hot tar & paper wrap and won't hold a suction .. Looks like about 16" pipe there going to lay.. I'm in Minnesota laying 100 miles of 42".....
nice pics. anybody know what IUOE local that is ?? Who is the contracter?? Thanks, Bob:drinkup
542 out of Harrisburg, PA.
Yes iuoe 542 covers this area but the contractor is cleco from virginia and they are non union from what I hear they have some work in the compressor station!
What is your locals tactic with 1, an out of town contractor 2 a non union contractor
Let's keep this thread focused on the heavy equipment portion of the job please.
:jerry:jerry:jerry
There is a D11R, D10T, D9N all on one 6 acre pond just outside of Troy. They should only be there for another 2-3 weeks. Pretty cool seeing these big dozers in the pipeline industry. i will post pics later here http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...,-76.76259&spn=0.027662,0.117245&z=14&iwloc=A Greenough Rd Troy, PA 16947
Both of my road mechanics have been chasing machines around the Troy area. Gas Field Specialists is who we've been servicing.
we were up last week on the d10T and d11 I asked on of the forman who I think was son or some relation of owner of the company why such big machine all the other companies around doing well sites are using D6s and d8s to build ponds his answser was we like to show off. we have been doing tons of work in gas fields and pipelines here in central PA with no end in site every company we are dealing with says were just seeing the begining . gas drilling is going to be going hard for at least 20 yrs. Probably the only thing that may slow it is the tree huggers and the govenment restrictions . Lots of good companies here too Gas field services being one of the many
I've heard the same things. All of the gas guys have said next year and the next couple years will be HUGE in PA. Especially up north in the Marcellus.
the company i work started to get into the gas industry on the site work side of things. it was neat to watch them bring in the drilling rig, ste it up and start drilling.they did all that when we were digging the frac pond beside the well pad.it took them a little over a month to drill two holes 11000' deep.
Pics as Promised
do they have any track hoes there or are they diggin it just with dozers?
mmm single grouser track hoe my kidney remembers frozen days on those horrid things
Great pics, glad to see some good things going up PA way. Pullpan I KNOW you have more pics to show...so lets see em. Trbo
Wish i would have had my camera in Cambridge Ohio the other day. They had A LOT of equipment parked there for this section of pipeline. It was neat to see all the dozers lined in a row.
it's all dozer work and i didnt take any other pics too many people around couldnt get close enough. ill have to run back up and take some more one of these days.
WOW! Those are some sweet sidebooms! Back in the mid 70's and early 80's I did a lot of Oilfield Pipeline work. All of the sidebooms were old CATs (D6 & D7 size) with mehanical winches and angle blades. Took an experienced operator to run those bad boys without killing someone!
I know it has been a while but you don't get a chance to see this everyday (7) D8T's and a D7R III along with an old side boom all tied to a Deere 270D. Didnt have much time to take pics but They have to go over another ledge in a few week with 12 dozers tied to the hoe so I will try to get picks of that.
Holy crap, they must be hanging the 270 off a cliff with all those dozers tied to just that one machine. Cool pics, looking forward to the follow ups, thanks for sharing:drinkup
Man I wish that my 345 had singles.
Where is that at?
Well, I am sure someone is impressed at all those dozers lined up tied off, but I am having a hard time picturing why you would need more than 2 or 3 D-8's to hold a 30 ton hoe while it digs. Only thing I can think is it must be a cost plus contract. Wish I could get one of those , and with an owner that likes to waste money like that. It is a good looking fleet though, and I like the tall single grousers on the hoe. Wish my 330 had them for the hillside I have been working on. Triples are closely related to ice skates I think.
Bunch of yo yo's he hee
I should have taken a pic of where they were working. I believe it is @ a 50% slope and about 1500ft down. The next big winch hill will be @2000ft and there will be 12 dozers holding up that hoe.
This will give you an idea of the terrain that they are working in. They are going off the back side of this mountain.
here are a few other poor shots of equipment but you'll get an idea of what we are seeing around here.
Hyner is only about 40 minutes away from my house.. I am located up SR 120 north west of Renovo. I might have to take a ride down ther and check that out...Keep me posted when the are going to be doing that incline......And ya based on the mountains here around my house,you need to be tied off for sure
Maybe they're going to yo yo a string of layers down the hill and that's why so many. Keep pics coming
Yair...nice pics. Good to see a hightrack with a propper "c" frame and angle blade...I thought they mighta' forgot how to make them!
I would guess it's because they don't have enough winch line to make it all the way down the hill so they string them together so the last one and side boom are on relatively flat ground.
That's what I think, too. It must be a very long slope.
It is also b/c the cable can not touch the ground, so if there is a high spot they have to use a dozer to sit on top of that so the cable clears it.
That would do it.
Thanks for the explanation guys. It makes much more sense now. I was looking at the picture and thinking that all the cats were going to be at the top, but now I understand that they will be spread out down the slope with a couple of them still on the flat at the top.
Jerry most pipeline projects are cost plus contracts, some smaller projects are by the foot. Sure would be nice if grading projects were that way.
If it's steep like that will they assemble and weld the pipe ( assume it's steel) on top and carry it down in lengths?
It depends on the situation, but yes. They will tie all the sidebooms together and down they go.
Well, that explains how they always have the brand new iron on the pipeline jobs.
also this project is exposing and testing the existing pipeline. Mainly b/c of the additional volume of gas being piped into it.
I'm with Jerry on the new iron, I gotta be in the wrong biz . Thanks for the pics Pullpan
Dan believe me pipelining will drive you to drink, but it sure pays good. You get to see some interesting things and people.
Interesting People. ointhead Yea, that's one way to put it. Pretty neat seeing the John Deere Side Booms. I been hearing it's hard to keep the nose of the High Tracks down in the rough stuff. I guess next we will see an Electric 572. :notworthy
After running the D-7E dozer on a demo, I think you would be hard pressed to ever find a better machine to make a Side Boom out of. The control is great, and you can go from creep to fast forward seamlessly. Positioning would beat anything on the market.
i'll tell you what today i saw sidebooms from 700J to a 1050 and a 572B2 along with (3) 583T's today. It is picking up around here, getting crazy!
I seen mostly JD sidebooms on the local job here. A friend of mine has been asking in I'm interested in going to work for the pipeline. The pay is good, but I'm not sure how stable the work is.
i had a guy come in to the shop yesterday said that if he wanted to move equipment to pa he could start tomorrow. we never did see a slow down here in north dakota and montana.