Designed to help contractors working in the city, the RIVAL Hydrovac is 10 feet shorter and 2 feet lower than the typical full-sized machines on the market.
“I told my engineer to build a truck as big as you can that will be legal when it’s full of your normal load of debris,” says Tim Dell, one of three partners in RIVAL Hydrovac. “Now the contractor can go to a job, work, drive off, and be compliant.”
The RIVAL Hydrovac is built on a Western Star 4700 tandem chassis and is powered by a Cummins ISL 380 hp engine with Allison 3000 Series automatic transmission. The 7-cubic-yard debris tank has a full-opening rear door with automatic latches and mud gate. The smaller debris tank helps keep the truck weight-compliant when traveling to and from dump sites.
“I’ve been in this hydrovac business for 20 years and I’ve known for 19 years that the trucks are really too heavy for the city,” Dell says. “When this industry started, it was just for the oil and gas industry in Canada, so the trucks were built really heavy and big because they were out in the woods and on pipeline rights of way, and they were usually off-loading the contents on site.
“As the industry evolved, the trucks moved into cities to work, and it’s become more popular,” he adds. “There’s been some smaller trucks and trailers made, but by-and-large the trucks haven’t changed. The trucks are grossly overweight when they’re loaded — the big trucks.”
The RIVAL Hydrovac sports four 200-gallon poly water tanks and has a 14 gpm, 2,500 psi Pratissoli water pump and a Robuschi Robox 105 blower system capable of 2,850 cfm and 28-inch Hg vacuum.
“The truck is designed to pressure off. You can run the blower in a pressure mode as opposed to vacuum, so you can blow the contents out of the back of the truck through a hose,” Dell says. “In this case, you could off-load on location if you had another truck or trailer there or other tank there.”
The 6-inch top-mount boom has a 340-degree rotation and is extendable to 20 feet. The truck is also equipped with several safety features, such as a retractable railing on the roof and two back-up cameras.
“The railing is for guys who might have to climb up and do maintenance,” Dell says. “They can tie off and be safer up there.”
The truck went on the market in early fall and 25 units have already been sold. It is being built under contract by Foremost.
“This is primarily for a city-based utility contractor,” Dell says. “It covers all the complaints we get on the big trucks that work in cities.”
403/550-7997; www.rivalhydrovac.com
