Most Popular Plant Hire For Utilities
If you are involved within the utilities industry or are looking to piece together the type of plant hire equipment to use. Then this resource blog will be a great place to start. WHC Hire has been supplying plant hire equipment for utilities for over 25 years. We work with some of the largest and well-known contractors in the UK, therefore; we want to share with you the most popular plant hire for utilities.
By doing so, you will have a better understanding of the equipment that is operating in this industry, why others choose to hire, and where to get started.
What hired plant equipment is used in utilities?
There are several pieces of very common equipment that are used across the entire utilities sector. All of which are designed to do one of the three following tasks:
- Installation of utilities
- Maintenance of utilities
- Ground Inspection
Installation of Utilities
The first reason for the use of plant hire in the utilises sector is for the installation of new. This consists of laying new piping, weighing tonnes at a time. Some water piping can measure up to 80 inch in diameter and can stretch for hundred of miles. Therefore, during this task, various equipment is used to assist in the timely completion of these projects.
Maintenance of Utilities
Most utilities companies, if they are not laying brand new piping, then they are maintaining what they already supply or have been contracted to do so. This will normally include when something goes wrong. No matter the amount of maintenance that is undertaken, surely there will be a time when something goes wrong. Some results may require immediate action.
Ground Inspection
Inspections of utilities is a very common day-to-day activity that is completed by more than just utilities companies. These inspections are carried to identify where and what type of utility is present during a survey. These are normally marked and made easy to identify to prevent any dangers or accidents from happening.
As we have identified at what point plant hire equipment could assist utilities companies in their responsibilities. It’s now time to have a look at the types of equipment that you might expect to hire. One of the major reasons of why utilities businesses choose to hire plant equipment is because not all projects are the same. Choosing to purchase plant equipment can in the long term be far more restricting than hiring.
Choosing to hire plant hire equipment allows avoid large investment into one piece of equipment, thus making your money far more versatile and project specific. Remember that by choosing to hire, you only pay for the equipment for the time it is in your possession.
Types of popular plant that you might expect to hire (Utilities)
There are many types of equipment you can expect to hire when undergoing work on utilities installation, maintenance, or identification. To help you get a grip on the most popular plant hire equipment for utilises, lets look at each different type of work.
Installation
Large Excavator
Large excavators are used for the installation of large pipework, as well as large excavations for the installation to take place. These excavators, ranging from 9T to 28T, assist with installing large pipelines underground. Large excavators can be used to lift large piping into position.
Mini Excavator
Unlike their larger designs, mini diggers are quite possibly one of the most popular pieces of equipment to install new utilities. They are often chosen because of their size and ability to work in more built-up areas without causing too much damage.
Dumpers
To join the earthmoving equipment is the dumper. In particular, the articulated dumper truck. These machines are designed to move large amounts of material and earth around a site. They are frequently used for moving excavated soil and pouring materials such as gravel into trenches.
Breaker
Breakers are commonly used when the removal of an impenetrable surface is required. This can be in the form of natural rock or in some area concrete. These devices can be attached to an excavator or are handheld. The larger or thicker the surface area, the larger breaker you require. Breakers crack rock so it can be removed piece by piece with ease.
Rollers
Rollers are commonly used for the installation of utilises, most commonly in the laying of the final finishing service. These machines are favoured for laying asphalt on roads and footpaths once the utilities have been installed. With several sizes to choose from, you are able to select the right machine for the application you are dealing with.
Maintenance
During maintaining utilities, it is quite common to use several pieces of plant equipment mentioned in the installation phase. However, there are a few additions that may assist during this stage.
Pumps
It is common that when working with live water utilities, breakages and leaks can occur. In this case, you may well need a large enough pump to remove water from the area you are working in. This will allow you to then to fix the initial issue. These machines have been designed to work anywhere, under all conditions. As they are fuel powered, they provide more power and do not require a battery to operate.
Mini Excavator
Unlike when you install utilities, maintaining them is a completely different scenario. Hence why a mini excavator has become far more popular to use when maintaining utilities. A smaller excavator means you can be far more accurate and precise with your work. Resulting in far less mess, clean up and cost on the repair. Mini excavators are small enough to be towed around by anyone who holds a UK Driver’s licence (2022) as they do not exceed the 3.5T weight limit.
Identification
The final type of plant hire equipment that is commonly used throughout the utilities industry is to assist in the identification of existing. Use the following equipment to help:
CAT
A cable avoidance tool, more commonly known as a CAT scanner. This clever piece of equipment uses radio signals to penetrate the ground to detect any current live wires or pipework. There are two main ways of using this equipment when searching for utilities. Passive search, where the CAT is used on its own to detect present power or radio signals. As well as Active search, where the CAT is attached to the source (for example, a streetlight) and transmits a signal through all the connected pipes and cables. This method also allows user to receive depth readings for the cables.
How popular plant hire for utilities can benefit your business?
There are many benefits to hiring plant equipment for your utilities business which you can take advantage of:
Larger range of equipment
Hiring plant equipment opens the opportunity to access several types and sizes of equipment. This can allow you to be more specific without having to invest in just one piece of machinery.
Tested and Serviced Equipment
All equipment should be tested and serviced regularly. When you choose to hire machinery, this additional cost is covered within your fee of hire. This means that you save money overall and don’t have to budget for any unexpected breakdowns.
Higher technology equipment
Some plant hire companies regularly update their equipment, ensuring that it is the latest on the market. Newer technologies mean more efficient equipment. The more efficient your equipment, the cheaper they are to run and are far more productive. Choosing tired equipment supplier only increases your chances of something going wrong.
Most cost-effective
Choosing to hire utilities equipment is far more cost-effective than purchasing outright. To obtain the same level of equipment, you could be looking to invest hundreds of thousands of pounds. Sometimes the hire purchase agreements are not always practical and tie your business down for long periods of time. Hiring far similar and you only need to pay for what you have used with no long-term contract.
Flexibility
The final benefit to plant hire for utilities is the full level of flexibility that comes with choosing it. Interchange between equipment, sizes and receive no charges for its downtime. As soon as a piece of equipment is off hired, the contract agreement ends, and you are charged only for the time used. Trade accounts are extremely beneficial to regular hire customers. Trade accounts are invoiced every month to clear balances.
Where to hire popular plant for utilities in the UK?
If you are looking for a supplier of high-performance equipment for your utilises business, then our team at WHC Hire Services can help. With over 25 years’ experience of working with local and national utilities companies, WHC Hire is committed to providing the highest quality equipment to all its customers. With further upgraded additions to our fleet this year (2022) we offer one of the most advanced selections of equipment on the market. See our full plant hire catalogue here or call 01684377977 today.