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The A.Hak Group in Tricht has a centralised equipment service for their fleet management and maintenance. They have recently added two specially customised Pacton/Floor drawbar trailers to their modern fleet. Ilja Ritsema, equipment service manager: ‘Our equipment literally goes everywhere, from industrial areas to an “impossible” infill site the size of the proverbial postage stamp. They are also always nearly fully loaded. These conditions mean that your main management goal is to maintain a sustainable, robust fleet. The new Pacton trailers suit this purpose perfectly.’
At A.Hak Drillcon and their in-house Equipment Service, the two new Pacton drawbar trailers are in continuous use for heavy loads. ‘In our line of work, it goes without saying that you’re looking for robust, solid and sustainable performance. Pacton does immaculate surface treatment; they fully spray-galvanise the chassis before priming and finishing them,’ says Ritsema.
These are the first Pacton trailers in the A.Hak fleet. For A.Hak Drillcon, they purchased a 7.1-metre Pacton drawbar trailer as a replacement, with 20-tonne hydraulic loading ramps. This trailer transports a 12-tonne drilling rig on a crawler chassis, which is manoeuvred on and off the trailer by means of radio control. In addition, the floor is equipped with ‘stake pocket rows’ for loading additional items such as drill strings, a diesel generator, and crates with tooling materials.
The double pneumatic Pacton/Floor three-axle drawbar trailer with an FLA-10-20 floor type, has a front axle load of 10 tonnes and a rear axle load of 18 tonnes. The SAF air suspension provides a load rating of 11 tonnes per axle. The front axle of the tandem is equipped with an axle lift with automatic lowering when fully loaded. The front deck of the floor is made of 10 mm steel plate, the rear deck in 28 mm hardwood. There are four container twist locks in the floor to suit a 20’ container. A stainless steel toolbox is located on the left and right sides of the wheelbase, and there is a full-width, galvanised wheel chock stanchion box. The drawbar trailer has SKF single-point lubrication on the turntable, the axles, and the lower pivot points.
Directional drilling
A.Hak Drillcon has a modern fleet of drilling machinery in the broadest sense. Their equipment includes horizontal directional drilling (HDD) rigs with a capacity of 12 to 150 tonnes, used to realise considerable drilling lengths and large diameters. The 12-tonne drilling rig is transported on the new Pacton/Floor drawbar trailer behind a DAF FDXAW covered truck.
A.Hak Drillcon uses this rig to carry out directional drilling for the placement of plastic casing pipes for electricity. The drilling rig comes with a ‘mud’ mixing unit that is also transported on the trailer. Mud is pumped through the drill string to ensure the proper setting of the borehole.
‘At A.Hak, we stand out because of our extensive, strategic fleet,’ says Ritsema. ‘After all, you want to provide good employees with the best equipment. We have around 12 employees in the field in our equipment service, with a total of about 800 people working at A.Hak. Just as in logistics, we are always looking for good people. The best people have already gained experience with one of our competitors, but we will always have room for a strong worker with an interest in our field. Interested parties can visit www.werkenbijahak.nl.’
Underground infrastructure
The A.Hak Group is based in Tricht and has been a versatile company in the design, construction and maintenance of underground infrastructure since 1963. This includes complete heating networks and electricity infrastructure, as well as specialised work on gas and water pipelines. Effective collaboration between the five different business units means they can respond and adapt rapidly.
A.Hak is currently going through the significant process of centralising its equipment management in a single limited company, in order to improve efficiency. The Equipment Service provides its own business units internally with modern work equipment. This involves about 60 people from the headquarters in Tricht, as well as from the 11-hectare A.Hak yard in Veendam.
They operate a total of around 500 vans up to 3,500 kg, which are deployed under a leasing arrangement. There are also about twenty of our own heavy trucks/combinations used to transport the materials, machines, containers and tools that they also manage.
Units and welding containers
A new Pacton/Floor drawbar trailer was purchased for the A.Hak Equipment Service, with an FLUA-10-20 floor type. This trailer is towed by a DAF XF 8x2, with a 110 tonne/metre HIAB crane. Because the new trailer is to be used for a variety of transport, they opted for a pneumatically extendable rear section that enables the eight-metre trailer to be extended to a length of 10 metres. This allows for the transportation of 10-metre site management units, as well as welding containers for the Elektron business unit. The 10-foot containers used for road culverts are also transported with this drawbar trailer. Ritsema: ‘There’s room for three in a row – one more than with a normal combination.’
The front axle load is 10 tonnes, and 20 tonnes at the rear. In this trailer too, the front deck floor is made of 10 mm steel plate and the rear deck floor is made of 28 mm hardwood. A variety of features and corresponding storage options have been included to ensure that the various types of cargo can be securely fastened to the trailer. For example, there are twist locks for securing containers, and lashing eyes and stake pockets for securing loose materials. There 12 Laxø bushes in the floor for 2x 10’, 1x 20’ and 1x 30’ or 3 x10’ (extended) containers.
The three-axle SAF air suspension has a tandem, the front axle of which has an axle lift, with automatic lowering at full load. A stainless steel toolbox is located on the left and right sides of the wheelbase, and there is a full-width, galvanised wheel chock stanchion box. The drawbar trailer has SKF single-point lubrication on the turntable, the axles, and the lower pivot points.
Collaborating on solutions
A.Hak did not enter into purchasing these specialised trailers lightly. Ritsema, together with the relevant driver from the equipment service, submitted the request to three Dutch trailer manufacturers, before ultimately deciding to partner with Pacton. Ritsema is honest about the deciding factor: ‘Pacton took good care of us, particularly with respect to attention and consulting with us to find effective solutions for efficient transport, the equipment to be loaded, the trailer floor layout, and securing points. They took a proactive approach to guidance and follow-up, from design to production and right up to delivery. That's great for standard work, but absolutely essential when it comes to custom work.’