The Soft Excavator is an auger type device designed and built for the Gas Research Institute and the Southern California Gas Company to do vertical potholes. Unique to this unit is a rotary excavation head mounted coaxially at the bottom of a vertical suction pipe. Dual air jets, mounted on the bottom of the head, dislodge the soil without blades or hard cutting edges. The air jets on the rotary head also rotate about their own axes executing an epitrochoidal pattern on the soil. This pattern ensures complete coverage of the area below the head. (US Patent 4,936,031) The unit is lowered into the ground as the excavation proceeded by gravity and raised by a hydraulically operated boom. An operator runs the unit standing along side the excavation and lowering it in a step-wise manner. Testing in Pittsburgh and Southern California showed excavation rates from 0.5 to 1 cubic feet per minute for about a 1-foot diameter hole in a range of ground types from hard to soft. For transportation the unit stows horizontally on the back of the truck. Additional air jets directed upward along the inside of the vertical pipe create the suction. A 400-scfm air compressor is mounted on the truck bed to provide the air. A self-dumping hopper receives the spoil from a vacuum hose attached to the end of the suction pipe.

Operator lowers the digging unit manually using a hydraulic crane	System includes digging unit, positioning crane, spoils hopper, and air compressor
Rotary head can dig an elongated trench by moving horizontally as well as vertically. Uncovered pipe can be seen in the bottom of the trench.

To see video of our systems in operation, please go to the reference library.