Impact moling new water supply pipes

[Ian H]

Incase anyone decides to do this DIY I'll give you an idea of what's involved. It's pretty easy so I think you could DIY it.

First the equipment, compressor, hoses, oil pot, mole and launch gear.

You can mole about 10mtrs at a time, further in good ground, less in bad ground, so dig your 2 holes and plant the launch pad in one. If you moling near any services start near them so they are easier avoided:

Then aim it, you will get a sight/scope to look through and a stick to look at. The stick is about 75mm longer than the sight so stick it 75mm into the bottom of your second hole. Then point the sight at the top of the stick, the bottom of the sight sits on the mole itself

Then fire up the compressor, turn the handle and hope for the best

If you miss your target you can reverse the mole, if you hit the target drop the pressure out and take the mole off.

You then use a 'carrot' to screw into your new pipe, this attaches to the hydraulic hose that powered the mole

Then simply pull the hose back, bring your new pipe into the hole and connect to whatever your connecting to or continue moling to more holes

 

[lostinthelight]

I like it, what does it cost for the hire?
litl

 

[Ian H]

I have no idea but I will ask

One thing I do know, the carat isn't hireable, so you have to buy that.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Oh god, can you imagine the carnage if some that ask on here attempt to do that? Smashed drains galore, lost moles, gas leaks.... They're ok until they hit something hard or a lump of rock, known them go off course then....

Even the Pro's can get it wrong. Used to be a firm from near Northampton, did a hell of a lot of work for Anglian Water in the 80's, new mains, connections etc. One job was laying a new water main at Corby, here whilst moling a section, it all went horribly wrong. The Mole went off course I think, smashed through a water main, promptly followed by a gas main.... This was at the top end of the town, by the time they'd realised what was happening, and got the water shut off, it was too late. Corby's gas network was flooded with thousands of gallons of water. (People had water pouring out their gas fires!)

Sorting the aftermath out took weeks. National Grid set up a large incident room to oversee the operation, engineers were drafted in from all over the UK if I remember correctly, such was the scale of the task. The gas network had to be accessed, the water pumped out, the pipework cleaned out, refilled and purged, bit by bit, street by street. Hundreds of people were unable to cook a meal in their own homes.

Finally, every single property with a gas supply had to be visited, checked and the gas supply reinstated. It cost an absolute fortune, the contractor involved never recovered from it. (Liability I think, was eventually decided by a Court.)

 

[Terrywookfit]

I have a mate who worked for EMGB.
Whilst under supervision from an engineer and after checking drawings for all services..They managed to put the Grundomat through a Telecom cable that was not supposed to be there !!
It cost thousands of ££££ per hour for damages.................This was 30 years ago.

 

[Ian H]

Bloody hell!!! I'm glad I'm only in back gardens with that one

I did have one go deeper than I aimed it and one stop on a high rock but nothing too bad, just an extra bit of digging.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Gas service through a sewer is another favourite.

 

[Ian H]

Yes, I've seen plenty of those. I saw 2 gas pipes together through a drain once.

 

[bernardgreen]

I can't recall where but an alert moling operator discovered an unknown cavity that would have become a sink hole. Alerted the authorities and prevented a disaster.

 

[motorbiking]

In the second photo, I think the guy on the left might be earthing a live cable - it looks like he's in spasm

 

[Ian H]

Ha ha!!! He does doesn't he, we was probably in shock from the cold after getting out of the digger

 

[John D v2.0]

Never going to do this in my life, but thanks for teaching!

 

[Ian H]

I like it, what does it cost for the hire?
litl

£356+VAT per week, including a £35 each way delivery/collection

 

[Razor900]

Perhaps the lad sat on his joystick by accident??

 

[Ian H]

Probably on purpose