# The Hammerhead Mole



## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

Have you guys invested in any trenchless boring equipment? I know there's a few brands on the market, but the Hammerhead mole is the first one that Google brings up.






I don't see any price tags on the official site, but I imagine they are sky high and buying used would be the only way to go.

Anybody have much experience using this equipment? I would need to be looking at several underground jobs lined up for the thought of buying something like this to even be realistic.

Thoughts?


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## minichopper6hp (Apr 19, 2014)

We have the vermeer unit which is the same basically. Ours is the 2 inch. We originally had just the actual mole then we bought the sight kit and the launch rig and i after that i wondered how i even did it before. If you sight it up good you will get dead accurate shots. We usually shoot under roads but i have used it to stitch bore several hundred feet run so as not to disturb the ground with trenching. We now have a trailer setup just for this with the compressor ( ingersol rand 30gal gas with 24cfm) and does the job good so all we have to do is hook up and go to the job site. I think the missle was 3k another 850 for the launch and site kit and 2500 for the compressor. We have already made that back on all tje jobs we have done.


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

So around $6500? Not to bad, I had figured $7k or more.

What's the learning curve like? How long does it take to get zeroed in? What kind of distances can it handle?

Like I said, I LOVE the idea but I would need to several underground jobs lined up for me to feel comfortable enough to start being serious about this.


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## minichopper6hp (Apr 19, 2014)

Not bad, depends on the soil conditions it can go up or down mostly it stays level but you will learn the tricks. I would say within the first few times you should get the hang of it. The max length is 55 feet. Missle +50ft hose.


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

Can you buy a longer hose? Our would that require a larger compressor?


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## minichopper6hp (Apr 19, 2014)

I dont think so. It is a special hose that allows you to reverse the mole. You would probably run into accuracy issues after 50ft anyways.


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

That's a bummer.

What type of jobs are you using this equipment on? How many times a month does it get used?


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## A Little Short (Nov 11, 2010)

MHElectric said:


> Have you guys invested in any trenchless boring equipment? I know there's a few brands on the market, but the Hammerhead mole is the first one that Google brings up.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You're YouTube link is broked! Can't see nuffin!
Musta went past 50' of hose!


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## Jack Legg (Mar 12, 2014)

Ive had this Borzit set for years

Had to go under a residential driveway, and it worked great.

Used it about a dozen times since, A few times unsuccessfully


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

Jack Legg said:


> Ive had this Borzit set for years
> 
> Had to go under a residential driveway, and it worked great.
> 
> Used it about a dozen times since, A few times unsuccessfully


How much you pay for that thing?

If I were to buy something, I'd go all the way. I don't really need something to get under a driveway every now & then - I need something to take away all the digging for me.


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

A Little Short said:


> You're YouTube link is broked! Can't see nuffin!
> Musta went past 50' of hose!


Yeah, I'm not sure what the deal is. Just Google hammerhead mole and you'll see a couple videos.


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## Jack Legg (Mar 12, 2014)

MHElectric said:


> How much you pay for that thing?
> 
> If I were to buy something, I'd go all the way. I don't really need something to get under a driveway every now & then - I need something to take away all the digging for me.


It was around $200.00 I think

Under a driveway is about all its good for, a sidewalk, I'm bangin a piece of pipe under


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## don_resqcapt19 (Jul 18, 2010)

Our shop has an old version of that tool...at least 25 years old. I don't remember the brand, but it had extension hoses so you could go beyond 50 feet. The hoses locked together so you could still twist the hose to reverse the tool.
The last time one of the guys used it, it hit an obstruction and drove almost straight down about 10'. They had to bring in a back hoe to dig it out.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

don_resqcapt19 said:


> Our shop has an old version of that tool...at least 25 years old. I don't remember the brand, but it had extension hoses so you could go beyond 50 feet. The hoses locked together so you could still twist the hose to reverse the tool.
> The last time one of the guys used it, it hit an obstruction and drove almost straight down about 10'. They had to bring in a back hoe to dig it out.


That's been my experience as well. I borrowed one at least three times from a plumber friend, with intentions of maybe buying one. Hit a rock of any size, and it's anyone's guess where it's going. I do have the borezit tool, and have used it to go completely under a motel that was built slab on grade. That worked pretty well.


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## dawgs (Dec 1, 2007)

I have a company that does all my underground directional boring for me. They will come in with all the right equipment and knock the job out in no time. Then do a nice clean up.

I did however just purchase a tractor with bucket and backhoe attachment. So if I have some small digging we can use that.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

I bought a mertz Boxer set up off of ebay. Came with custom trailer, trencher, post hole digger, bucket and some other handy little stuff. The guys love it. It is on tracks so it doesn't tear up lawns and you don't have to back fill by hand.
I paid about $8K for the whole setup. What is nice is all the other stuff I can use it for, like unloading fixture deliveries with the forks and hauling heavy **** around the house.
Look it up on U tube


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

Interesting discussion here, only because here in New England, the vast majority of EC's would never even consider doing this work "in house". I know it's common in other parts of the country for EC's to have an entire fleet of earth-moving and boring equipment, but here anything more than a small hand dug trench is subbed out 99.9% of the time.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

Around here trenching is some of the easiest money an EC can make. The reason to keep it in house though is because you are not waiting on another sub. You can make your own schedule. The same apprentice you have trenching can also be installing the pipe. Plus when you own it that trench that you would have hand dug can be completed a bit faster resulting in a lower quote. Sometimes...


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## Black Dog (Oct 16, 2011)

MHElectric said:


> Have you guys invested in any trenchless boring equipment? I know there's a few brands on the market, but the Hammerhead mole is the first one that Google brings up.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psLEq0WUSC8&app=desktop
> I don't see any price tags on the official site, but I imagine they are sky high and buying used would be the only way to go.
> ...


.......... Here is the video.


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

sbrn33 said:


> Around here trenching is some of the easiest money an EC can make. The reason to keep it in house though is because you are not waiting on another sub. You can make your own schedule. The same apprentice you have trenching can also be installing the pipe. Plus when you own it that trench that you would have hand dug can be completed a bit faster resulting in a lower quote. Sometimes...


It takes a lot of trenches to pay for an $8000 machine, plus maintenance, storage, insurance and handling costs. I think a brand new Boxer is in the $15,000 range. It's the same with a bucket truck. You need to be using it constantly for it to be cost effective.


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

sbrn33 said:


> I bought a mertz Boxer set up off of ebay. Came with custom trailer, trencher, post hole digger, bucket and some other handy little stuff. The guys love it. It is on tracks so it doesn't tear up lawns and you don't have to back fill by hand.
> I paid about $8K for the whole setup. What is nice is all the other stuff I can use it for, like unloading fixture deliveries with the forks and hauling heavy **** around the house.
> Look it up on U tube


Nice, I'll check it out. I need something able to handle up to 2" pvc and can do at least 150ft spans.


MTW said:


> Interesting discussion here, only because here in New England, the vast majority of EC's would never even consider doing this work "in house". I know it's common in other parts of the country for EC's to have an entire fleet of earth-moving and boring equipment, but here anything more than a small hand dug trench is subbed out 99.9% of the time.


Sounds like the "men" in New England don't have what it takes, huh?  


MTW said:


> It takes a lot of trenches to pay for an $8000 machine, plus maintenance, storage, insurance and handling costs. I think a brand new Boxer is in the $15,000 range. It's the same with a bucket truck. You need to be using it constantly for it to be cost effective.


I do at least 6 - 12 underground jobs a year. It would be more if I wasn't always trying to push the digging off on the homeowners.

I'd need to crunch some numbers to see how many jobs out would take to break even.


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

MHElectric said:


> Sounds like the "men" in New England don't have what it takes, huh?


We've just figured out that highly skilled and trained electricians shouldn't be wasting time with grunt work. :thumbsup:


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

MTW said:


> We've just figured out that highly skilled and trained electricians shouldn't be wasting time with grunt work. :thumbsup:


Soft bread men often have excuses for why they don't make the cut.


:jester:


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

MTW, what do you pay for a basic 75 foot trench from house to garage?

I would pay around $400 minimum. Plus I would wait for 2 weeks.


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

sbrn33 said:


> MTW, what do you pay for a basic 75 foot trench from house to garage?
> 
> I would pay around $400 minimum. Plus I would wait for 2 weeks.


Don't know, never had to pay for a trench like that. But I'm guessing it would be that much or more. That said, landscapers, excavators, masons and others with equipment are a dime a dozen and it wouldn't be a 2 week wait time.

In any event, whether you use a Boxer, a mini excavator or a tractor you're into serious money that requires constant use to be cost effective. I don't see how that works out financially for the majority of EC's.


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## Cow (Jan 16, 2008)

MTW said:


> We've just figured out that highly skilled and trained electricians shouldn't be wasting time with grunt work. :thumbsup:


There are many days I'd rather be running a backhoe than what I'm actually doing. It all pays the same to me.


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## Sprink (Apr 21, 2012)

I am surprised nobody brought up a vibratory plow. You can plow in pipe or change plow blade and plow in wire. You want one with a trencher and boring motor. For two inch pipe you need to use a bigger plow like the Vermeer LM42,Case maxi. Just check out YouTube lots videos. 
Note- the trenchers on the plows are not made to trench all day every day. It is there so you do not have to hand dig.


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