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Super versatile, multi-purpose and therefore an ideal machine for contractors in earthworks, road construction and hydraulic engineering. Do you also want to use a standard excavator for foundation work? Then Van den Heuvel from Werkendam is the place to be!
Van den Heuvel (VDH) provides -in addition to selling reliable brands- custom-made machines of high quality. "We create the ideal machine, completely according to the customer's wishes and designed and developed with care. In doing so, we use our years of experience and expertise and always look at questions from the market," says Marc Timmerman, managing director of VDH.
"Whereas foundation companies have separate foundation machines, as a contractor in the civil engineering sector you don't always want to hire someone for this kind of job. But you do want to be able to offer a total package. Van den Heuvel has responded to that." VDH has developed two types of hammers that easily convert an excavator for foundation work. "For example, there is a special broker that can be coupled to the excavator, or a variant where you have a hammer with a sliding piece on it. Another way to turn an excavator into a foundation machine is to add a jib to the excavator to which a vibrating block can be attached."
"The big advantage of a broker on an excavator is working with winches. With a relatively heavy hammer (3 tons) attached to the broker, you can drive heavier piles or sheet piles. With a hammer with a sliding piece on the pile, this is more difficult. This variant, on the other hand, is extremely suitable when the piles have already been placed and it is a matter of post-piling, or when you are dealing with small wooden piles, for example."
Van den Heuvel has both small and large hammers in its range, with drop weights from 800 kilograms to 18 tons. "But for an excavator, the 3 ton hammers are the maximum," says Timmerman. The big advantages: they are simple, lightweight and extremely reliable. "They have a high tool life. And when a repair needs to take place, there is no need to do it in a workshop," Timmerman adds, "because the hydraulic pile cylinder can be changed in the field." Timmerman concludes, "At relatively low cost -after all, you are buying an attachment instead of a complete foundation machine- you can still offer the complete package as a contractor. That way, any contractor with equipment can take on foundation work in-house."
