Big Beaver

Moderate To Deep Holes
Our most popular unit for soil and groundwater investigations is the Big Beaver rotary auger – split spoon unit. This drill operates on the same principals as a traditional truck mounted drill; a 140lb hammer drives a 2″ split spoon sampler, while augers are used to bore the drill hole. This drill is often used inside buildings where soil sampling and/or groundwater monitoring is required at depths of 8-30 feet (or more).

These advantages make this unit the premier drill for indoor and difficult access drilling:

Size: Requires area of approximately 6′ x 10′, 12 ‘ of clearance for conventional soil sampling. In areas of lower clearance the unit can be used with a short tower (min. 8′) or as an auger (min. 7′) in conjunction with another one of our drills for soil sampling.

Power: Standard 140lb hammer; blow counts suitable for SPTs.

Emissions & Noise: Using hoses up to 100 feet long, the power unit can be positioned away from the drill, thereby eliminating exhaust emissions and noise for indoor projects.

Monitoring Wells: Using solid and hollow stem augers the boreholes are suitable for 1″-2″ diameter monitoring wells.

Other Factors

Access: Manoeuvrable by hand and is narrow enough to fit through a standard door frame.

Augers: 4″ solid stem augers are the most common choice. Hollow stem augers can also be used for shallow well installations. (2″, 6″, 8″, 10″ solid stem augers also available)

Cross Contamination: Hydraulic fluids and drill lubricants are non-hydrocarbon based, eliminating cross contamination concerns.

Concrete & Asphalt: Asphalt and low quality concrete can be penetrated with this drill. For interior drilling, we predrill the floor with a diamond bit coring machine.