The customized Felling FT-40-2 triple reel trailer before being shipped and put into service.
A customer needed to replace an older antiquated fleet asset. The replacement trailer would be used to transport, payout and install underground conductor without damaging the material.
When installing an underground conductor, precautions must be taken to ensure the integrity of the material being paid out.
The application the trailer would be used for would require the ability to transport three reels, each equipped with a tensioning brake system that could be operated by one person from a centralized location.
The trailer also would need to have a fifth-wheel style hitch with air brakes.
Solution: Vermeer Southeast Sales & Service, an authorized Felling Trailers Inc. dealer, worked with Felling Trailers' Utility & Telecom Product Manager Mark Rapp to build a custom FT-40-2 triple reel trailer to meet the customer's specifications.
Result: Through this collaboration, Felling Trailers' team designed and built the FT-40-2 triple reel trailer, a custom unit equipped with a one-piece reel rack assembly.
The assembly consisted of (3) 86 in. diameter by 52 in. wide by 7,000 lbs. reel bars equipped with hydraulic tensioning brakes.
Reels equipped with hydraulic tensioning brakes allow the conductor to be paid out in a controlled manner. It also eliminates over spin of the reels if the pull is stopped abruptly, according to the manufacturer. One operator can control hydraulic tensioning brakes, unlike mechanical tensioning brakes from a single location.
Felling Trailers' hydraulic tensioning brakes are equipped with hydraulic accumulators. These assure smooth operation of the tensioning brakes by absorbing pressure changes that develop due to rotor intolerance and heat buildup. A single, double-acting hand pump can provide hydraulic pressure to all the calipers at the same time. Each brake circuit can be isolated and controlled individually if the need arises.
Felling Trailers accomplished this by incorporating a control bank on the rear roadside of the trailer. From this control bank, a single operator can manage the hydraulic tensioning brakes of all three reels and access the double-acting hand pump.
To ensure the integrity of the material, the trailer was equipped with two booms: an adjustable overhead boom, with 126 in. raised height from deck floor and a retractable rear boom that would extend 36 in. beyond the rear of the trailer when deployed.
The overhead boom has two positions: a lower position to keep the overall height legal during transport and the raised position, when on-site, the boom is raised and paying out material.
The underground conductor is routed through stringing blocks hanging from the boom. This assures the cable can be paid out without coming in to contact with anything that may damage the insulation. From the overhead boom, the conductor then travels to the rear boom.
The rear-telescoping boom extends out the back of the trailer. It, too, is equipped with stringing blocks. This system allows the conductor to travel unobstructed from the reels to the final point of entry into an underground duct, vault or trench.
To meet the hitch specification, Rapp worked with Felling Trailers' weld team to design and build a custom H-frame gooseneck hitch with kingpin. The custom set up delivered a 50 in. fifth wheel height, 16 in. set back and 62 in. swing clearance from the kingpin back to the gooseneck, providing the customer with ample height and clearance for their application.
For more information, call 800/245-2809 or visit www.felling.com.
This story also appears on Truck and Trailer Guide.
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