Vermeer launches new horizontal directional drills

Vermeer has expanded its lineup of drills for infrastructure development with the new D130S and D60S horizontal directional drills designed exclusively for emerging markets. These units will be available in select nations throughout Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and select countries in Europe.

Vermeer D130S

The D130S is equipped with 130,000 lb (578,200 kN) of thrust and pullback and 15,000 ft-lb (20,337 Nm) of rotational torque, helping it penetrate through different and difficult terrains. The D60S has 60,000 lb (266.9 kN) of thrust and pullback and 9,000 ft-lb (12,202.4 Nm) of rotational torque. This power is said to make it one of the most powerful drills in its class.

The need for the D130S and D60S came from hearing that operators in developing nations needed a way to facilitate greater connectivity and support the development of both rural and urban areas.

With new infrastructure needing to be developed, including telecommunications (fibre optics), water, electricity, gas and oil pipeline installations across varying ground conditions and locations, a new machine was necessary to take on challenging, large diameter drilling projects without worrying about space restrictions.

Both D130S and D60S drills are capable of tackling those infrastructure projects as well as being designed to keep surface disruption to a minimum, which helps in densely populated or residential areas.

“We understand that operators in Asia, Latin America and other developing nations are looking for a drill that’s specifically for their market,” said Colm Rafferty, vice president of developing markets of Vermeer. “That’s why we designed the D130S and D60S with the power and productivity they have; so that operators in these areas could have drills that meet their needs.

“We wanted to create machines that built upon their predecessors, still delivered the same high manufacturing quality and were specific to operators drilling in developing nations.”