# Doesn't always go my way.



## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

I figure I show the good I can show the bad also. My regular pipe welder is on vacation so I let a guy that has done it be the welder fuser guy. One of his welds broke about 3/4 through a 60 foot run, got kinda lucky that it happened at the beginning of our pit so to dig back 2 feet was not super hard to gain access to the pipe and we had our baby digger on site, but welding in a ditch is never easy plus with the pipe angle of the entry pit it's always trouble. In this picture I had already welded a 3 foot section on to the sewer, that allows to bend it up to meet the entry pit pipe. In this case a simple log the right size keeps the pipe in the air and then I pull the new pipe to it and weld it in the air. Things like this throw the whole schedule off the current job and the next one. But you have to do what has to done. Hard to see in the pic but the angle is real bad.


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## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

And just to show how narrow of a space that lil digger gets through the guy didn't want us to touch his non running VW, I said no problem! The tracks go in and out the min width is like 28" and it digs 5.5 feet which helps even if we have to do the rest by hand. I love this little guy lol I sometimes show up at jobs and guys are like hey man Barbie wants her excavator back! Then they see how much it can do and want to use it.


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## Shoot'N'Plumber (Apr 27, 2013)

Holy S**T ! You make mistakes?:laughing: Good save though :thumbsup:


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

I feel for ya Cuda. It has happened to us as well. There is never an easy way to fuse in the middle of a pull.

Kudos to Cuda for getting it done!


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## theplungerman (Oct 26, 2011)

If digging it up wasn't an easy option, could you have finished the pull and then patch it with let's say source 1?
Thanks for showing this job.


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## Plumberdood1 (Apr 23, 2014)

Little mini excavators are very handy.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

theplungerman said:


> If digging it up wasn't an easy option, could you have finished the pull and then patch it with let's say source 1?
> Thanks for showing this job.


I'm not following your thinking on this at all...

Are you saying finish the pull and leave a burst pipe behind without the new pipe pulled in to collapse?

BTW Nice job recovery Cuda...
BTDT... The hole ended up being just a bit bigger than expected to get the stress off the HDPE for the weld...


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## bulldozer (Jan 11, 2009)

Nice recovery! That is one nice thing about bursting at least you can recover most of the time. We were doing a 300 ft. Burst last week and the customer asked me do you ever measure wrong? Oh no sir, never happens! 1 hr. Later im watching my to short pipe string entering the hole. And im the dummy that measured it!


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## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

It was my fault because I looked at his welds and rejected one and re did it then I looked at the one that failed and thought it had a 70% chance of success but daylight was burning and I took the chance, we hit hard pan and the pressure gauge skyrocketed and it snapped going into the hole cost me way more in labor hours and work then if I had just re did it when I had the chance.


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## theplungerman (Oct 26, 2011)

Redwood said:


> I'm not following your thinking on this at all...
> 
> Are you saying finish the pull and leave a burst pipe behind without the new pipe pulled in to collapse?
> 
> ...


 I meant, if it was able to keep pulling (bursting) and at least stay together, (the bad weld) follow up with a patch latter.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

theplungerman said:


> I meant, if it was able to keep pulling (bursting) and at least stay together, (the bad weld) follow up with a patch latter.


Ahh Ok...

I'd go with redoing the weld as the only option...
I'd be suspect of the patch getting good adherence to the HDPE as it is pretty smooth slick stuff...

Really IMHO the customer paid for a new line, one piece and continuous...
That should be what they get...


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