Need information on crawler type rock drills and how they operate.
I have seen some as if hanging on the side of a mountain drilling holes (presumabley for explosives) for a highway cut.
Do they drill a hole then like an inch worm, use the drill boom to help inch it up the side of a steep ravine.
I have a very steep mountain type layout and would be interesting to do.
Thanks in advance for any information…John
I’m no expert on rock drilling, but from what I’ve seen is the drills that are mounted on crawler tracks use those tracks to move into position for drilling and thus have to have some type of roadway. They use compressed air to both drill and travel, so there would be an aircompressor trailer close by. From what I’ve seen, they drill, clear the drilling area, set the charges, blast and then clear the rock leaving another ledge from the drills to travel and drill yet deeper. Have I made sense here? Ken
Thank you Ken…I wasent clear with my question, I have seen a rock drill in granite terain, so steep it looked as if they would have had some type of assistence in getting in position, as the steel track will slide on steep rock. I have operated Cats on rock slopes, is like being on ball bearings, sort to speak.LOL
I didnt notice an air compressor, now wondering if all rock drills require air. This is getting very interesting, thanks Ken…John.
I think some may be ran by hydraulics. And not all have ot have the compressor trailer. I know the one my stepmom runs out at the coal mine which is much similar to the kind they use on roads uses an onboard compressor. But Ken has it right, they just run on tracks, and use steel drill pipe one joint at a time. Knowing from experience, if you look through alot of vertical road cuts, there are many straight vertical holes from the drilling. You will see alot of this up in the Northwest part of Wyoming, especially near Cody.
Hello John,
Being a heavy equipment operator by trade, I see all types of equipment. The type of crawler rock drill your talking about is found all over the US. Based on a type of crawler that the tracks can also adjust to the grade of the hill . Most of these drills are powered by hydraulic hammers to beat the rock into submission while rotating the drill head. Theres another type of drill with four arms ,all with there own drill head. It makes an easier day when drilling a blast patten.
Then theres the mining drill, made by P&H or Bucyrus shovel company. Both of these companys are now one. Anyhow the drills they us in mines are in {weight wise}300 ton range. With a massive drill head ,some more that 12" of drill head and capable of drilling a few hundred feet through rock. But most of the time for a mine shot,they only drill for about 80’ a shot.
I’ll see if I can find a few pictures of both of these machines and post them for you.
Patrick
Beaufort,SC
Dragon River Steel Corp {DRSC}
Thanks Pat, very informitave as with the other replys.
So correct me if Im wrong. A rock drill works his way to the top of the intended road cut, then sets up at the top of a road cut, drills a sieries of holes (spacing?) then clears the area.
Then powdermen set a charge and after the explosion the heavy equipment clear it away
The rock drill starts another set of holes on a lower shelf and the process repeats.
To model the drilling site, what should the drill slots be in width and depth, before the next sieries of holes to make a deeper cut. The slots of the half hole would be easy to make, and look great to model.
At first I was just thinking about it, now I"m getting a feel for it, this could really turn into a neat little action type operation…thanks…John