Drilling company enlists dual-rod utility drills to install 5G fiber
PROBLEM
In March 2018, Mike McCall, and his two sons (Landon and Logan) were contracted for a job in Austin, Texas, to help install fiber for AT&T. The biggest lesson the McCalls learned was there is a different way to drill in rock. “We saw a few other contractors in the area using dual-rod machines designed for boring in rocky grounds,” says Logan McCall. “It was time to upgrade our operations.”
SOLUTION
The family demoed a few machines and eventually determined the Vermeer D23x30DR S3, the dual-rod version of one of the most widely used utility drills in the industry, was right for their needs. “In this part of Texas, you have to fight for every foot,” says Logan McCall. “We did a lot of fighting with Texas sandstone that first year. We worked a small dirt drill in rock and got the most out of that machine. We also learned a lot along the way.” The drilling package and process McCall Drilling finds works best for them starts with their dual-rod drills, a mud mix of bentonite and bore gel, a Vermeer TCI tricone bit and a Vermeer pulling eye. On most shots, the drill operator will empty the 300-foot drill rod basket of the D23x30DR S3, pop out and swap out tooling, and then pull back a bundle of two 2-inch-diameter fiber conduit.
RESULT “Pound for pound, the D23x30DR S3 runs circles around other machines we demoed,” says Logan McCall. 352-728-2222; www.vermeer.com
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