# Pipe bursting recommendations?



## sierra2000 (Sep 19, 2011)

Does anyone have good or bad experience with Spartan's pipe buster? There's also Trictools and Gorlitz makes one too. Bursting is in my near future of equipment to purchase. Hammerheads customer sucks ass so I don't want to deal with them.


----------



## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

Look at Roddie. Been hearing really good things about them. I'm going to watch as a bystander this week with a local bursting guy on few jobs. I don't think it would be any problem if you came.


----------



## Will (Jun 6, 2010)

Know nothing about pipe bursting at all, but I see this company all the time in the cleaner mag

http://www.pipegenie.com/


----------



## sierra2000 (Sep 19, 2011)

gear junkie said:


> Look at Roddie. Been hearing really good things about them. I'm going to watch as a bystander this week with a local bursting guy on few jobs. I don't think it would be any problem if you came.


Is the job up in your area?


----------



## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

yup should I let you know when?


----------



## BOBBYTUCSON (Feb 8, 2013)

The spartans are decent ive used them but gorlitz is great.biggest think is operator safety and both are safe if you pay attention


----------



## sierra2000 (Sep 19, 2011)

gear junkie said:


> yup should I let you know when?


I'm tempted to go check it out but I may not be able to commit to it. Thanks for the invite though.


----------



## sierra2000 (Sep 19, 2011)

BOBBYTUCSON said:


> The spartans are decent ive used them but gorlitz is great.biggest think is operator safety and both are safe if you pay attention


Why is Gorlitz better? They are only 35 minutes from me too.


----------



## bulldozer (Jan 11, 2009)

Lol. The Spartans are made by hammerhead. I personally own 4 hammerhead units and I can't say a bad thing about them.I just completed one of the toughest bursts of my career last night and my rep was there to hold my hand. Good luck finding a company like that.


----------



## Will (Jun 6, 2010)

bulldozer said:


> Lol. The Spartans are made by hammerhead. I personally own 4 hammerhead units and I can't say a bad thing about them.I just completed one of the toughest bursts of my career last night and my rep was there to hold my hand. Good luck finding a company like that.


Hammerhead also sells Spartan cameras. Won fir who makes the camera? Hammerhead, Spartan, or someone else?


----------



## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

For 3" & 4" under 150' - Roddie Static

For 4" & 6" that is 150' or longer - Pipe Genie Static or Hammerhead Pneumatic

Anything over 6" - Hammerhead Pneumatic


Like everything...there is no silver bullet. There is no machine that is best for everything.


----------



## bulldozer (Jan 11, 2009)

I like my hammerhead equipment as I own four of them. 4 to 6 pb-30 6 to 10 ductile cast steel 5058 rod machine 6to 10 clay or cast hg-12 pneumatic. 12-24 175 ton rod unit.


----------



## bulldozer (Jan 11, 2009)

Did you buy a roddie biz? I was hanging with him at the pumper show and im probably buying his waterline driller


----------



## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

bulldozer said:


> Did you buy a roddie biz? I was hanging with him at the pumper show and im probably buying his waterline driller


Not yet. But for short laterals his rig would be very hard to beat. It's on my list. Gotta get the school yard done first.

I'll probably be looking to the bigger HH unit before the Roddie.


----------



## sierra2000 (Sep 19, 2011)

Eek... Pneumatic, static, long runs. Sounds like to be versatile you need more than one. Good to know Spartan is made by hammerhead, I just don't want to deal with them personally.


----------



## bulldozer (Jan 11, 2009)

Biz. The school yard. Im excited for you. That roddie is a nice unit for sure. The only draw back is keep extra jaws on hand. Mu buddy the pipe shark used it and said it pulled real nice.the only draw back was it sits so low the jaws would cake up and slip. Other then that he liked it. I will try and post some pics of a night burst we did over the weekend. It was a 10 inch burst 300 ft. 24 ft. Deep into a manhole at a food processing plant


----------



## BOBBYTUCSON (Feb 8, 2013)

sierra2000 said:


> Why is Gorlitz better? They are only 35 minutes from me too.


Just like the build quality on them.all joints and unions , rods axels hydraulics just feel solid and operates smooth.when watching it pull, just feels right


----------



## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

bulldozer said:


> I like my hammerhead equipment as I own four of them. 4 to 6 pb-30 6 to 10 ductile cast steel 5058 rod machine 6to 10 clay or cast hg-12 pneumatic. 12-24 175 ton rod unit.


Wow Dozer! That 175 must be a monster! That and the 5068 are both hammerhead right? Do the heads wear out quick when doing steel pipe for water mains?
We just ordered a cable conversion kit for our rod machine so it could be a backup to our tric puller. I have really been looking at the Power mole PD-7 and PD8 machines.


----------



## bulldozer (Jan 11, 2009)

Not really. We just did a 1000 ft. Cast water main burst last week. All 8 inch. We use a pre- splitter so it takes the load off the burst head. The only time we got near 50 tons is when we went through a tapping sleeve we didn't know was there. I like the power moles to. Why dont you build one?


----------



## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

I have welding and fab skills but I don't want the hassle if it breaks when I need it the most like the middle of the job lol. I will pay to have a proven product in front of me. I have no problem making the little things along the way and repairs but just don't want to be the beta tester to my own creation. I have enough gray hairs from this business.


----------



## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

The more I think about it the hyd ram and frame are nothing it's the grippers and machined parts that I can't do. I have no lathe I probably need to make friends with a machinist or trade one for some work.


----------



## bulldozer (Jan 11, 2009)

If you look at the grabbers on a bursting machine they are the same as a directional drill or rod pusher. You can actually buy them off the shelf. Nice thing about building your own is you can add the goodies that other units dont have. There is a bursting contractor up by you who will manufacturer anything you want. I will see if I can find a link.


----------



## bulldozer (Jan 11, 2009)

Cuda. Check out jerry at pipeburstingnw.com he is the grandfather of pipe bursting. This guy was in the industry when we were still ........ yellow in our diapers. He is a great guy to learn from and he has been a huge mentor to me. I also built a chain pulling unit. I have cable now but considering going back. Hes in your area and I know if you brought him a bottle he would help you with your grabbers.


----------



## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

I saw someone selling one of their small units the other day. I have read that web site before but have never spoken to them, really considered us in two different worlds them being big time. Why are you thinking of going back to chain? And now I see those chain grippers are just like my directional drill wrench jaws.


----------



## bulldozer (Jan 11, 2009)

No. There good guys over there. They do a lot of lateral bursting as well. Im considering it because I burst almost daily if not daily. It seems like im constantly changing cables not due to breakage but possible breakage. I started in bursting with a home made chain unit which I still have. We still are pulling with the original chain. I know its heavier and more cumbersome but I just wait for that cable to snap in a really bad spot. I love my rod machine but the line needs to be fairly straight. If I go back to chain I will probably go. Back to my shop built machines as they pull much quicker and with a lot more power. Just kicking it around but have been giving some serious thought. Rods are great but also heavy. As I do more and more long big pulls I can really crank with a chain unit. Example: we just did a 1000 ft. 8inch cast iron burst on a water main. 2 500 ft. Pulls. The rods are 3 ft. Long and you have. To screw and un screw each one. Each run took about 4 hrs. To complete. If I pulled with chain I could of pulled roughly 250 per hr. With a lot less labor. Not to mention those rods get heavy.


----------



## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

Yea my rod pusher / puller I have to manually thread and un thread each 2.5' pipe. On the directional machine the machine does it! One thing I learned was to use the ditch witch thread grease from the HDD machine on the steel push rods of the pusher it makes them come apart way better than the drill fluid or WD I was using. But the HDD drills have nowhere near the pulling power of a bursting machine that's why they over size the hole so much so there is lots of extra room so the pull is easy. I like having a burster so that if the drill has problems with pull back I can move it out of the way and hook the burster up to handle the job. How many tons is your homemade unit? Got any pics? Thanks


----------



## saysflushable (Jun 15, 2009)

I saw a youtube video of a machine that the rods just hooked together in a series of slots. It looked fast. I think it was german or british.

heck I think 500 feet in 4 hours is fast


----------



## bulldozer (Jan 11, 2009)

saysflushable said:


> I saw a youtube video of a machine that the rods just hooked together in a series of slots. It looked fast. I think it was german or british.
> 
> heck I think 500 feet in 4 hours is fast


You probably saw the tt Technologies burster. I looked into those.your right they drop and go. But the only downfall is if your pushing out in an encrusted pipe they have a chance of coming apart. 2. You have to be totally straight at all times or they bind up on you and you can't get them out.


----------

