The high cost of underground work needed to install geothermal tubing is inspiring some installers to develop cheaper alternatives. One unusual machine, called a SpiderPlow, is gaining traction in Canada. + image Illustration: Spiderplow Services Inc. A crawler rig, anchored 6 ft into the ground, reels a special cable that pulls the plow, which can handle 24-in.-dia. pipe and 9.5-ft depths. Related Links: As More Buildings Go Geothermal, Project Teams Are Thinking Outside the Borehole Union Jumps On Geothermal Bandwagon Jim Bererton, who heads consulting engineer Stantec’s sustainability practice in Calgary, Alberta, brought in the SpiderPlow for a Walmart store
The world’s Great Recession is the equipment sector’s Depression, according to a September report jointly issued by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers and the Associated Equipment Distributors. The sales slump dominated AEM’s annual conference, held Nov. 15-17 in Hollywood, Fla. Photo: AEM IDLED Equipment parade with 5,500 warning flags—each representing 100 lost jobs—drove home the message of equipment sector’s distress. + Image Source: IHS Global Insight Construction Investment And Equipment Sales The contraction of original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) is “unprecedented in the post-war era,” says the report, prepared by IHS Global Insight for Milwaukee-based AEM and Oak Brook, Ill.-based AED. “The
Heavy-duty work trucks are the backbone of many operations, charged with transporting people and materials while serving as a mobile office. And, like any good tool, they must not fail at critical moments. Such is the mission of the 2010 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty, redesigned to deliver muscle, capability and utility while providing more comfort. Photo: Dodge Trucks also offer engine braking and integrated trailer-brake controllers. Photo: Dodge Trucks have twin glove boxes, a big center console and floor cubbies. On that utility front, the Ram HD already is a success, though the arrival of the 2011 Ford Super Duty
In Japan, space comes at a premium, so it is no surprise that small drills rule the jobsite there. Contractors here are now warming up fast to Japan’s small, torque-heavy impact drivers. Impact guns are not just for mechanics anymore. In Japan, cordless impacts have a staggering 95% share because of ergonomics and available accessories, according to Baltimore-based DeWalt. Convincing workers here that they are tough enough is a challenge: This year, both DeWalt and Milwaukee came out with hardened bits designed for cordless impacts, because their less-expensive, traditional bits snap under the pressure. Photo: DeWalt More trades are warming
Last month, Ford executive Mark Fields underscored the importance of the company’s new work truck, ironically by botching a speech. Calling the truck an “essential” tool for fleet owners, the Americas division president said at the State Fair of Texas, “If the truck doesn’t do its job, [owners] don’t get paid. And these are the people that are building and maintaining the infrastructure of our company—of, of our country.” Photo: Ford The 2011 Super Duty meets clean-diesel regulations that kick in next year. In addition to a new, 6.7L turbodiesel, Ford offers a new, dual-spark-plug 6.2L gas engine, while a
Last fall, Manitowoc Inc. was flying high. The 107-year-old fabricator had just wrapped up two years of factory upgrades worth roughly $70 million and was popping out construction cranes for record sales and backlogs worth more than $3 billion. It also had started building its biggest crane ever—the Model 31000—a massive, 2,500-ton rig with a $30-million price tag. Photo: Tudor Van Hampton / ENR The giant crane’s lowerworks are powered by two 600-hp Cummins diesels and stand firm on four trunnion-mounted tracks. Tellock says Manitiwoc may apply its patented designs to other rigs. Related Links: Heavy Lifter: Manitowoc Builds Its
Bernie Maez is frustrated by the lack of alternatives to higher-costing trucks and equipment. “We are always looking for ways to save fuel, but nothing is really working yet,” he says. So instead of buying new, alternative vehicles, the director of fleet maintenance for Denver International Airport hopes to save money and pollute less by retrofitting older ones. Next month, he plans to begin testing a 2002 Chevy Silverado 2500 pickup truck fitted with a hydraulic hybrid kit that weighs just 250 lb. Photo: Lightning Hybrids Inc. Hydraulic Pumps Supply Power for the first 30 mph, a critical range for
The popular Dodge Sprinter appears to be the latest casualty of Chrysler LLC’s merger with Italian automaker Fiat S.p.A. Starting in January, the work van will be sold only through Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner dealers, according to Daimler AG, which has built the Sprinter for North America since 2001 and offered it as a Dodge since 2003. Chrysler would not comment on the decision, but Fiat is rumored to be considering two similar vehicles—the Fiat Ducato and Iveco Daily—to fill the hole. The German-built Sprinter replaced Dodge’s full-size Ram van and still offers a major fuel-economy improvement of up to 25%
Twenty years ago, Chris Traylor found himself rewiring the controls of a 225-ton, American 9310 crawler crane in his family’s equipment shop in Evansville, Ind. “It was important to my dad that all of us worked in the shop during the summers of our high-school years,” he says. Little did he know, he would be rewiring again one day, but on a much bigger scale: Now 37, the co-president of Traylor Bros. Inc. is helping to direct an ambitious fleet overhaul as the family-owned firm ramps up for a heavy workload of major U.S. infrastructure projects. Slide Show Photo: Traylor
...is really about how many rigs we can put on a job, how many crane barges we can put under them and how many deck barges we have to support them,” he says. “It is not a monetary thing to me.” Effective equipment management also is about managing people, he adds, and that nitty-gritty detail work falls to Thad Pirtle, the firm’s vice president of equipment. He came to Traylor in 1983, interestingly, to assemble one of those old model 9310 American crawler cranes like the one Chris helped fix. “I was working out of the union hall in Terre