June 2017 Vol. 72 No. 6
New Products
American Augers Unveils HDD Exit Side Breakout Wrench
American Augers will soon introduce the RR205 Rod wRangler, an exit-side breakout wrench for use with all horizontal direction drill (HDD) models of 100,000 pounds of pullback force that use drill pipe in diameters from 5 1/2 to 7 5/8 inches.
“Field tests are going well, and we expect to be shipping the Rod wRangler in the third quarter of 2017,” said Richard Levings, American Augers director of product management.
Levings noted that with large HDD equipment, most exit-side pipe joints are made up or broken out with pipe chain tongs leveraged by an excavator.
“This is very time consuming and labor intensive,” he said. “One of the most obvious benefits of our new exit-side wrench is time savings for making exit-side connections.”
There are numerous other benefits, he added:
- The tool’s breakout torque capacity will reduce time and labor to breakout stuck joints on the largest HDD machines.
- It enables application of proper torque of the tool joints, which improves integrity of the drill string.
It has the capability to handle a single pipe or a string of multiple pipes. - A single pipe can be picked from a stack or placed in a stack of pipe, saving time and costs.
- The tool can spin tool joints together or take them apart when making or breaking joints.
- Rod wRangler can work at varying angles to ensure proper pipe lineup.
Levings said that because maximum operational torque often occurs during the normal boring process, it can be necessary to double makeup and breakout torques requiring the significant strength of the Rod wRangler’s wrench.
Other important features include:
- One-person operation reduces the number of employees required to operate on the exit side of the job site.
- Pipe spinner with spring loaded float allows the operator to spin the pipe joints together or apart so the vises can finish the makeup or breakout.
- Pitch capability of plus or minus 20 degrees allows alignment of the pipe threads on angles.
- Wrench controls allow the operator to control the wrench without moving hands from the excavator control handles, permitting fine turning of the wrench
- Variable makeup and breakout pressures can be set for different drill pipe sizes to ensure the correct rotational forces are applied. Hydraulic gauges are visible from the operator’s cab.
The American Augers product line includes mid-size and large HDDs and downhole tools, drilling fluid mixing and recirculation systems, and auger boring equipment.
American Augers, based in West Salem, OH, is a Charles Machine Works company, whose product line includes mid to large directional drills and downhole tools, drilling fluid mixing and recalculation systems, and auger boring equipment.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
American Augers, (800) 324-4930, americanaugers.com
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