Ditch Witch horizontal directional drill uses Gortrac cable and hose carriers to protect and manage hydraulic hoses as they move back and forth with the machine's carriage. Click on image for larger view.A leading manufacturer of HDDs is Charles Machine Works Inc., Perry, Okla., which markets the machines under its popular Ditch Witch brand. As with most HDDs, the Ditch Witch machines have a carriage that traverses forward to push the drill column into the ground, release the drill pipe, then rapidly pull back so another section of pipe can be added to the column.
The company's earliest drilling equipment simply used slack in the hoses to accommodate the carriage travel, explains Dirk Wilson, Ditch Witch product designer. He reveals, "It was the first of its kind, and the operator just walked along next to the machine as the carriage went back and forth."
Carriers extend hose life
Charles Machine Works now uses cable and hose carriers, made by A & A Mfg. Co. Inc., New Berlin, Wis., to extend cable life and eliminate the need for the operator to follow the carriage back and forth. Wilson says they allow the operator to remain in a stationary position, which reduces operator fatigue. He explains, "When we let the carriage move independently of the operator, we needed better hose management to keep them from getting tangled."
The hydraulic lines to the carriage that feed the drill pipe used in the drilling operation are the main application for the carriers. On some of the units, electrical cables also are included for controls, speed sensors, and solenoid-operated valves. "They are used on everything from our small JT520 machine up to our JT8020, which is a 265 hp machine. On the JT4020, which I worked on, the hoses are about 200-in. long, and it uses 15-ft pipe sections, so the carriage is fairly long. Some of the smaller machines use 6- or 10-ft pipe, with correspondingly shorter carriers," says Wilson.