When the company finally made this move, having convinced itself that modern drills had changed significantly from those it used in the 1980s, it turned to Vermeer, and was the first company in Australia to use the new Vermeer® Rock Adaptable Terrain Tool (RATT).

Robert and Ruth McClure started the company in 1988 and have always specialised in excavation and drilling. Their first borer was an Australian-built, 1980-model Mole, under road borer. It was hand operated and mainly used for contracts with the Gas & Fuel Corporation.

From this humble beginning, McClures moved ahead with the purchase of a US-built directional drill – one of the first in Australia. This led to work for Optus on the optic fibre links between Melbourne and Sydney and between Melbourne and Adelaide.

The rigours of three years of drilling a long way from its home base took its toll, and McClures made the decision to revert to drilling work close to Castlemaine. It built its own bed borers to operate in the hard rock of central Victoria, because the directional drill used at the time on the optic fibre project was not capable of working in hard rock.

McClures did not return to directional drills until 2002 when it bought a used drill primarily to evaluate how much progress directional drills had made in being able to operate in hard ground conditions. This trial proved successful, and McClures purchased the Vermeer Navigator® D33x44 drill through its local dealer, Vermeer Sales & Service (Vic).

In the interim, the company had grown to a substantial size by concentrating on other areas, and its fleet currently includes nine excavators ranging from 1.5 to 13 tonnes, two backhoes and a number of tippers and service trucks.

The Vermeer Navigator D33x44 drill worked well with a Vermeer TriHawk® bit in sandstone, but the harder rock types, such as bluestone, iron stone, quartz and granite, of the former gold mining region were difficult to penetrate.

McClures took advantage of an opportunity to purchase a second-hand pneumatic rock tool for the harder rock, and this proved capable of drilling in all rock types. However, this combination had some limitations. The pneumatic rock tool required an 800 cf/m compressor to operate the tool and this was both expensive and bulky. The rental costs of the compressor added considerably to the overall quote for a job, and caused a number of potential customers to abandon horizontal directional drilling as an option and seek alternative means of completing their project. The bulkiness of the compressor meant that it could not be used on some projects with limited access.

When McClures heard of the Vermeer RATT tool from the local dealer, it saw the possibility of a more cost-effective rock drilling solution, and traded the D33x44 for a Vermeer Navigator D36x50 Series II with 15-foot rods.

The contractor liked the fact that the RATT tool had a smaller diameter and could be faster in drilling pilot holes and offered better steering capabilities. However, McClures was unwilling to take the next step of investing in a mud motor as the company believed that in its market, a contractor would only use a mud motor on larger machines that had regular work for larger diameter bores in solid rock.

After taking delivery of the D36x50 Series II drilling rig in mid-May, McClures quickly put it to work on a telecommunications project for Telstra. McClures was hired to install 750 metres of 50 mm conduit, which would hold a new telecommunications line. The majority of the project was completed using a hydraulic excavator.

However, the hydraulic excavator was not suitable for a 140 metre section because it went through a bluestone cliff face and under a creek. The 140 metre bore was completed in two stages, with the RATT tool completing a 70 metre bore in approximately 12 hours, including steering under the creek. The water flow was set at eight litres per minute for this bore.

McClures has been pleased by the steering capabilities of the RATT tool because in some cases it has outperformed expectations. The local Vermeer dealer stated the company could anticipate three degrees of bend per rod. In clay, it has achieved as high as nine degrees per rod, but very hard rock can reduce this back to two degrees depending on the ground conditions.

They have also used the D36x50 Series II and RATT tooling for a 120 metre bore in decomposed granite over a two day period. The granite was so hard that a 20 tonne hydraulic excavator with a ripper attachment was unable to penetrate the ground. Operations manager Tim McClure said that any other rock tooling he has seen would not have been able to complete the bore.

Having now completed a number of projects with the D36x50 Series II drilling rig and RATT drill head, operator Nathan Keating said, “The RATT will drill in all conditions we have found so far, and that includes bluestone.

“The steering is automatic, which makes it a lot easier to operate than the pneumatic rock tool we had been using. A 10 hour shift with the pneumatic rock tool could be very tiring, with the constant drilling and reversing. After the initial settings are made, the RATT does automatically what I used to do manually, and is a lot easier on the machine as well.”

The McClure company has been happy with the performance to date of the Vermeer Navigator D36x50 Series II directional drill and its RATT tool and Mr McClure has said that “The RATT is a versatile tool that will drill in virtually almost any ground conditions.”

“Compared to our previous rock drilling solution, it is easier to transport and set up; you just take it off the truck and it is virtually ready to drill. It is also less expensive to own and operate, which provides our local market a cost-effective means of drilling in hard rock,” said Mr Keating.

McClures has also bought a Vermeer Navigator D18x22 directional drill for smaller jobs, and operates a vacuum trailer with each rig – the most recent being a Vermeer vacuum evacuator system. A 15 tonne line pull, variable speed, horizontal, cable-hauling winch completes the Trenchless Technology fleet and allows McClures to undertake virtually any work in its local region.

“Most of our work is installing or relocating underground assets for power authorities, local councils, water and gas utilities and VicRoads, but we also do work for trades such as plumbers, electricians and builders, as well as some private work,” said Mr McClure

“The demand is increasing for a number of reasons, such as ease of construction, timing and environmental concerns. Permits are required for some work, based on the surface area of excavation, and people often find it easier to use directional drilling where the volume of excavation is below the threshold for a permit, rather than face the potential complications and delays of a permit application.”

With its latest Vermeer tools, McClures is confident that it can meet any challenges presented by the difficult local ground conditions while remaining affordable to its local market.