Profit With Versatility

Ways To Accessorize Earth Drills For New Applications

The Swiss Army was on to something in the late 1800s when they had a manufacturer design a knife capable of opening canned food and disassembling the army’s service rifles. Loaded with a blade, reamer, can opener and screwdriver, the knife became a worldwide symbol for versatility.

Fencing contractors should think of their earth drill as the next Swiss Army knife, according to Joe Haynes, Little Beaver president. “With the right accessories, earth drills break into new applications, such as horizontal boring and anchoring, expanding your range of capabilities” He suggests these considering the following earth drill accessories to expand business and increase profits:

Bore Horizontally, Profit Vertically.

Turn the familiar “drill down” mantra sideways with horizontal boring. Horizontal boring attachments allow contractors to complete a variety of jobs, including conduit, pipe, cable and irrigation installments.

Typically, a manufacturer offers two types of kits: one for dry drilling and one for wet drilling. A dry auger kit bores to lengths of five feet and is best suited for smaller projects, such as boring under sidewalks. Larger projects, like boring under streets or driveways, require the use of wet drilling kits, which bore as far as 50 feet. Wet drilling involves connecting a water hose and water swivel to the drill bit to flush out the borehole.

If a contractor already owns a mechanical earth drill, these kits are a cost-effective addition. When it comes to ROI, reduced labor costs make the initial equipment investment worth every penny. For example, a wet drilling kit takes less than 30 minutes to drill under a 30-foot driveway while manually using a sledgehammer to force the pipe through the ground may take hours. Time is even saved on smaller projects, as dry auger kits bore four feet in less than a minute.

Do More Than Drill Holes.

Get creative with a hydraulic earth drill and consider using it for anchoring projects. Some manufacturers offer a variety of attachments for mobile home, utility or even tent anchoring.

Mobile home anchors make securing mobile homes fast and easy. While traditional methods involve using an expensive and slow pipe thread machine, an earth drill with an anchoring attachment takes several hours off the project. Some manufacturers’ earth drills install each anchor in less than a couple of minutes and can complete an entire home in as little as 90 minutes.

Installing utility anchors is also faster with an earth drill. For example, an earth drill installs each anchor in a power utility tower anchoring system in about a minute. Only one person is required for the job, which cuts labor costs.

Often, outdoor celebrations involve renting large tents to shelter guests. Setting up these tents has the potential to become a lucrative business opportunity for fencing contractors. For these projects, consider purchasing an attachment to anchor the tents. This expands a contractor’s service offerings and cuts back on costs associated with manual labor. These types of attachments pair with hydraulic earth drills and drive tent anchors in and out of the ground within seconds as opposed to manually hammering in tent stakes.

“Sure, it may not fit in a pocket,” says Haynes, “but given the right accessories an earth drill can be just as versatile as a Swiss Army knife. Even a small investment in a couple of accessories expands a contractor’s service offerings. Keep this in mind when looking for new ways to maximize an earth drill’s profit potential.”

Little Beaver has been proudly manufacturing quality, safe and productive drilling equipment for three generations. Contact [email protected] or visit www.littlebeaver.com.