Utility Contractor Tulsa | Types of Excavation Equipment – Pt. 1
This content was written for GEI Utility Construction.

One of the biggest differentiators between what type of equipment that is used and underground utility construction by your utility contractor Tulsa will be the ground conditions in which they are used it. Soil conditions in the Tulsa metro area and beyond into Oklahoma and obviously extending into other regions will bring with them unique challenges due to the ground formations that are experienced. Gable’s Exc. Inc. or GEI Utility construction has nearly 40 years of experience in underground utility excavation, directional drilling, and aerial utility construction. This extensive longevity allows GEI Utility Construction to have an advantage on the competition due to its enormous amount of experience in the area. Especially in Tulsa the estimators and managers at GEI Utility Construction Kent typically tell you what type of soil conditions to expect based on nothing more than a address. This knowledge can prove to be extremely helpful saving both time and money in most instances due to a utility contractor Tulsa that is familiar with the ground conditions and knows what to expect going into a job. Unlike many utility contractor Tulsa that pop up here in there and are short-lived is familiar with conditions rather than bidding work and being surprised once the project begins. In this article we will talk about the different types of equipment used for specific ground conditions how they differ and how they operate.

The first type of equipment that we will discuss today is the exact same type of piece of heavy equipment that was purchased by my grandfather Roy Gable when he and his wife Ruth moved to Oklahoma to start a family business. The backhoe has always been the cornerstone of our excavation company and it was the first piece of heavy equipment purchased and still is the most used piece of machinery in our fleet. Utility Contractor Tulsa A Backhoe is a midsize piece of heavy equipment based on a tractor chassis. The tractor has a loader attached to the front for removing spoils or other material or loading out dump trucks or moving material around on a job site. On the back of the tractor there is the boom or excavator. This is a hydraulic powered arm that is used to dig beneath the surface of the ground. Well the loader on the front cannot dig well below ground level the excavator boom on the rear of the Backhoe is specialized for digging two deaths sometimes up to 12 to 15 feet depending on the size of the Backhoe. There are many ground conditions in the Tulsa metro area from lime stone to sandstone to send to Clay Flint rock Sandy loam etc. For the majority of ground conditions standard dirt teeth can be utilized for digging. When soil conditions allow for it, dirt teeth are always the safest option for Excavating. Dirt teeth for backhoes are typically flat teeth which are anywhere from 2 to 4 inches wide and have a fairly blunt tip. The reason these teeth are preferred even when ground conditions are soft enough to be dug with other teeth is due to the risk of cutting existing utilities while excavation is occurring. While rock teeth are sharp and pointed dirt teeth are flat and blunt. This allows them to slide over existing utilities that may not have been identified by the Utility Contractor Tulsa and avoid costly time delays and expenses. Rock teeth for backhoes typically have 1 to 2 teeth which are pointed and sharp. They are made to focus the pressure of the Backhoe into smaller areas especially when digging in Excavating in rock allowing for the rock to be broken by the force of the Backhoe applied in such a small area. In some cases rock is hard enough that it must be hammered. This is another way backhoes can be used to excavate in harder rock formations. A large jackhammer also known as a breaker is attached to the rear of the Backhoe and used to break the rock into smaller pieces that can then be excavated with a backhoe bucket attached instead of the breaker or a second piece of equipment working in tandem with The breaker attached to it Utility Contractor Tulsa.

The next piece of equipment we will discuss Utility Contractor Tulsa and how it’s tooling differs according to existing ground conditions is the trencher. utility construction has used trenchers nearly as long as we have used Bacchos. The trencher can come in all different shapes and sizes but the most common is a medium sized piece of heavy equipment similar in size and weight to the Backhoe. This is a midsize trencher. This size trencher functions optimally for the uses of our company however some companies prefer much smaller trenchers for doing irrigation and sprinkler work which typically does not need to be buried to depths of any greater than 18 inches to 2 feet at a maximum. The trencher is that GEI Utility Construction uses have a blade situated on the front of the machine which can be angled and tilted raised and lowered to speed the backfill process on the rear of the machine there is an attachment that looks much like a large chainsaw. And that is in effect exactly what it is. A chain is driven around a large stinger which takes the place of a chainsaw bar and the teeth attached to the chain engage the ground to cut the trench. Spoils are broken into small pieces and pulled up and out of the excavation is the trencher moves forward. As with the Backhoe, on the trencher the teeth make the difference when using the equipment in various ground conditions. Chains can be updated with dirt teeth which have larger cups on them And are able to move more quickly through soft ground conditions. Rock teeth can be attached which have a much sharper and pointed edge for cutting into harder services.

Continued….