The job hasn't come along yet, but I could see an upper crust customer needing a small HDD job done under a fancy driveway or some such for a generator installation. The kind that drills with mud and such more so than the kind that just rams a bore hole, because we are talking 1.5" or larger pipes. I see big utility jobs using these machines all the time to minimize city street disturbance. But are you guys aware of getting one in (as a sub, not interested in buying/maintaining) to get from one side of a yard to the other?
There is a lot of opportunity for a small operator to provide shots under drives, sidewalks, roads and all sorts of surface improvements. The cost of restoring an open cut can be very expensive which opens the door for the smaller HDD jobs. I have a small jack and bore rig we do bores for 6-12" pipe. Shooting a 1" water service under a road or a driveway is perfect for a small HDD rig.
I have been thinking about getting a HDD for a while. I need to get educated about them. I think there is a good market for it.
I have been really impressed with how far and deep they go in the county road fiber jobs. They will bore a shot 6-12 feet deep if that is what is convenient. I know this because the ground man will walk along with a locator as they go spray painting the location and depth.
We were going to dig a water line a couple hundred feet across a yard to a barn 10 feet deep They found it could be drilled for close the the same price without tearing every thing up
I bought a readily available: bit to fit threaded pipe, adapter gizmo to allow the water into the pipe, adapter for the concrete core drill motor (or maybe it was the hole hawg?).....recalling here. Summary - Dig a narrow stepped bottom launch pit: (adjacent to the bore) the upper area is to guide the pipe and (away from the bore) is lower area to act as a sump to pull out the excess water. Various lengths of typical black or galv sched 40 pipe is the drill shaft. Worked fine to cross under some stamped concrete. Learned this from a helper with gas company utility experience. * I'm pretty sure where the stuff is hanging at the shop and can get a pic or two.
My grandpa has used a small HDD company for farm projects over the past 10 years. Very handy, way faster than conventionally digging everything up. Saved us a lot of time and headache. Bored 3 irrigation lines (6" PVC) under county roads, and shot a 2" water supply line under the barn to feed our drinkers. The new 2" water line was a slick deal because we didn't have to move cows, close pens, break out & replace concrete, etc . We only had to break out one, 8x8 spot to tie into a group of drinkers , and we had it all done in an 8 hour day. So slick and simple.
How much pit do you have to dig on each end? What kind of angle from the machine into the face? And does the machine track back and forth the length of each rod or does it have a slider inside itself?
FITS ON MINI SKID STEER / This one listed in "Boxer" Brand attachments $3455 + freight and tax, you gotta have a mini-skid to put it on