Vacuum excavation is becoming increasingly popular, as it’s a non-destructive and more environmentally friendly approach to removing soil. When earth is excavated by a vac trailer or truck there isn’t a high risk of breaking underground services or objects.
High-pressure water and suction are used by vacuum excavation to remove any soils and debris, and pose less of a risk of breaking optic fibre lines, drain pipes, electrical lines, and even tree roots.
You may have seen or even used vacuum trucks, which are great for a number of jobs with lots of room. Sometimes though, a job site requires something a little smaller. This is where vac trailers come in. They have all the benefits of a typical vacuum truck, plus more. Read through this article to find out if a vac trailer is what you need for your next job.
1. Smaller form factor
The vac trailer’s number one selling point is its small form factor. If you have a ute or even a car with a tow hitch, you can take it almost anywhere. Some jobs require sites that are narrow and small, or even with a low head clearance such as an undercover car park. It’s no use hiring a large truck if it isn’t going to fit under the ceiling. So, the best option is to get a vac trailer for the job.
2. More manoeuvrable
Trailer-mounted vacuum machines require a lot less effort to move around. A truck may need to reposition itself a few times to get into the right position, requiring the guidance of everyone around. The trailer will only need one person to safely unhitch and manoeuvre it to the correct position. This happens often as many jobs require service locating before excavation or drilling. The locating vac trailer will need to be repositioned a few times to find the best place for other equipment to dig or drill.
3. Time saver
Whilst vacuum trucks don’t require much time setting up, they still take some time. Some jobs just need to be done quickly and efficiently, and for those, you need equipment to match. Any jobs near train lines will have to work under strict deadlines, so the workers are going to need something to get it done fast. Vac trailers are easily driven onto the site and can be set up within moments, only really requiring one person to do it.
4. Cost efficient
Naturally, vac trailers are a lot smaller than truck-mounted vac machines. This has a major benefit and that’s the cost. Whilst hydro excavation with a truck-mounted vac is a lot cheaper than a typical backhoe or excavator, they still cost more than a trailer. If your job isn’t so large, there may not be any point in hiring a whole truck. Save money with a trailer vacuum excavator.
5. Adaptable
Some sites need a lot more jobs done than just one. Trailer-mounted hydro vacs can be used for multiple purposes. A jobsite may have a lot of different parts in motion, sometimes they may need: manhole cleaning, pothole service locating, sewer line clean-outs, and spillage clean-ups, all on the one job in a short period of time. A vac truck can do all of this, but if there are a lot of small jobs with not much material to remove, the trailer is more efficient. It will save you money and time, plus it requires less people to operate.
When picking a vacuum excavator it’s important to think about the scale of a job and what is required. Sometimes a lot of material needs to be removed, and that is good for a truck, but as with the example above, jobs need efficiency and adaptability, and that is where the vac trailers shine.