What does your excavator need to run a drill?
As previously mentioned, TEI does not modify the excavator to attach one of our drills. However, the excavator does need to have an auxiliary hydraulic circuit to supply oil flow to the drill. This circuit must be a hammer or breaker circuit with a low-pressure return to tank line. Thumb kits will not work. A thumb kit has too much pressure. It is the responsibility of the customer to make certain the excavator has the required hammer circuit. TEI technicians will not modify the excavator hydraulics. Our drills ship with NPT thread on the supply and return lines. Please purchase a set of quick couplers to match your excavator. Doing this will save you and our technician the time of finding these at the last minute.
Skid steer mounted drills use the existing auxiliary hydraulics on the machine. The HCM drills are built with a universal mounting plate used by all skid steer manufacturers. Simply remove the bucket and attach the drill. As with the excavator drills, please purchase a set of hydraulic quick couplers to match the ones on the skid steer loader. This saves a day of running around trying to find quick couplers.
A case drain line is required for TEI drilling attachments. The HAWE valves used by TEI require this to keep the backpressure to a minimum. A case drain line of 1/2” is required.
Electrical power is required for all excavator-mounted drills to power the radio remote control. This is a heavy-duty cable that is shipped with the drill. It is installed at the fuse box and run down the boom of the excavator to the valve box of the drill.
How do I hook up my new drill?
Shorty after your drill arrives via truck freight a TEI technician will come to spend a day or two training you on drill installation, operation and maintenance. Please remember that our technicians are there to get your drill up and running, they are not drilling instructors and cannot be expected to show the contractor how to do his work.
After mounting the drill to the excavator or skid steer loader the Tech will check your supply and return pressure to ensure proper operation of the drill. Note that maximum allowable backpressure for the hydraulic circuit is 300 PSI. Maximum supply pressure is between 1800 and 2500 PSI depending on the model purchased. If there is a problem with the performance of the drill the Tech will check your oil flow with a flow meter to verify flow. After this is done he will install the electric cable to the valves. Once everything is ready the Tech will test the drill then drill a few holes to check operation. After the drill is ready it will be time for you or your employees to train on the operation and maintenance of the drill.
The picture on the left shows the typical components shipped with the drill. This includes radio transmitter, power cable to run the radio directly to the valve box, power cable for 24V or 12V to hydraulic valves, drill bit grease, high temperature grease and a grease gun. This will be attached to the pallet along with any tooling ordered with the drill.
It is our desire to provide the drilling contractor with reliable equipment to facilitate the improvement of their business. If you have any questions please call or email one of us. We will be glad to take the time and listen to your problems and concerns, then offer a TEI solution that works for everyone.