The Vermeer D24 Horizontal Directional Drill (HDD) revolutionises utility installations in tight urban spaces. Featuring automated rod exchange and advanced diagnostics, it streamlines operations, reduces downtime, and enhances job site productivity, making it invaluable for modern urban contractors.

Can you describe some recent innovations in HDD (Horizontal directional drilling) technology?

Today’s utility contractors face critical challenges: finding and training skilled operators, minimising downtime, and maintaining profitability in competitive urban markets. The Vermeer D24 horizontal directional drill (HDD) helps address these fundamental needs while delivering the power and precision required for urban utility installation. The D24 introduces automation and smart diagnostics, enhancing operator capabilities and boosting job site productivity.

The D24 stands out with its unique blend of advanced features tailored to tackle today’s drilling challenges. Its innovative automated rod exchange (ARE) system streamlines drilling for operators across the skill spectrum while reducing wear on key components. Improved onboard diagnostics offer real-time troubleshooting, helping minimise downtime. Compact yet powerful, with efficient operation, the D24 thrives in tight urban spaces. These enhancements and top-tier hydraulic components establish the D24 as a significant advancement in utility installation technology. The D24 features an advanced onboard diagnostic system accessible via the machine’s touchscreen display. This innovation improved over previous models, providing operators and technicians with comprehensive information about potential issues and step-by-step troubleshooting guidance.

How does Vermeer Telematics help fleet managers improve machine productivity and extend equipment life?

Vermeer Telematics is an online tool for tracking machine productivity and job site management. Fleet or operations managers can access Telematics using a smartphone, tablet, or computer to view real-time information about the GPS location, productivity (including idle times and fuel consumption), and maintenance needs of their Vermeer equipment.

Telematics sends alerts when a machine is operating outside of its expected GPS location and notifications when planned maintenance or service needs to be performed. It captures planned maintenance schedules and completed services to help maximise machine efficiency and productivity and extend the life of the equipment.

The operations manager can transform the machine-collected data into actionable information to help improve productivity on and off the machine.

What makes the Vermeer PD25R pile driver and trenchers ideal for addressing the challenges of solar energy and utility installation projects?

The solar energy sector is rapidly evolving, with installations expanding into more challenging terrains requiring long piles. The Vermeer PD25R pile driver, with its advanced features and capabilities, is set to transform the landscape of solar field construction. The PD25R is engineered to meet the evolving demands of modern solar projects. Its impressive 25-ft (7.6-m) pile-driving capability opens new possibilities for solar farm locations, particularly in challenging ground conditions or uneven terrain.

One of the standout features of the PD25R is its suite of automation capabilities. The machine has auto plumb, auto home, and auto-target functions for precise pile placement. It offers optional point-to-point and row-to-row automation technology to help streamline installation. The PD25R incorporates several safety and diagnostic features. It includes automatic stop and tracking speed control based on hammer height and tilt. Also, on-rig diagnostics provides operators with real-time troubleshooting information.

These improvements directly address industry challenges and customer needs. The PD25R is designed to boost efficiency, adapt to various job site conditions, and ultimately enhance customers’ productivity.

Vermeer trenchers remain a vital method for utility installation due to their adaptability across different job sites. From small residential projects to large-scale industrial applications, trenchers support a wide variety of job sites. The Vermeer trencher lineup of small, mid-size, and large trenchers speaks to the versatility of these machines.

Smaller trenchers, pedestrian, walk-behind, and walk-beside variants are excellent for installing small-diameter utilities at shallow depths. These machines often lay fibre, water, irrigation, and gas lines over short distances in residential neighbourhoods. Mid-sized trenchers are often used to install fibre, underground distribution electrical lines, and connect solar farms and wind turbines to the electrical grid. Large trenchers are often needed for electrical connections on renewable energy projects, pipeline work for oil and gas, water and sewer, and the hardening (undergrounding) of electrical distribution and transmission lines. Understanding the trenching depth requirements of any job site is important when selecting which trencher to use. Residential jobs often require shallower trenches dug by small and mid-size utility trenchers. Large pipe installations require the power and depth provided by our large trenchers. 

What makes Vermeer vacuum excavators, like the VX30-250, an ideal solution for municipalities and contractors who maintain underground water and sewer pipes?

Municipalities and rural water associations daily contend with the complex task of maintaining and repairing underground water and sewer pipes. This task is increasingly challenging due to urbanisation and other buried utilities, like electrical and fibre optic lines. In the era of increasing urbanisation and complex underground utility networks, vacuum excavation is an invaluable water system repair and maintenance method. Vermeer vacuum excavators offer a precise digging method that minimises ground disturbance and helps reduce the risk of damaging other utilities.

THE VX30-250 vacuum excavator offers municipalities and contractors a low-cost, portable system for potholing and vacuum applications. It saves cleanup time and makes it easier to remove difficult debris, as it delivers a high-pressure water spray to the tank interior while simultaneously dumping material. It has an Integrated silencing system for quieter operation, dampening sound before it’s released into the atmosphere using an external engine compartment baffle system.

For more information, visit: https://www.vermeer.com/ap