As the service manager at American Rooter & Drain, David DeMayola has used a wide variety of drain cleaning machines, some good and some bad. His biggest takeaway: Reliability and power rule.
That’s why the company, based in Caldwell, a city about 25 miles west of Boise in southwestern Idaho, invested in a Raptor cutting machine from American Pipelining Supplies.
“A lot of tools out there work great out of the box,” DeMayola says. “But when you put them to work, it seems like they always need a lot of maintenance. You’re always fixing things. All we wanted was a reliable product that we could use every day and that would do a good job. And so far, the Raptor has done just that — and we use it every single day.”
The company, which was established in 1945, employs 25 people and runs about 18 service vehicles, bought the Raptor a little more than a year ago. It’s primarily used to remove scale from residential and commercial cast iron sewer laterals in preparation for pipe lining. But the company also uses it occasionally to reinstate pipes, DeMayola says.
“We mostly run it in up to 4-inch-diameter pipe,” he explains. “We haven’t had any breakdowns in the field from snapping cables, which is pretty good compared to most types of machines. In addition, it cleans pipes quickly, too. Some machines won’t break your cables, but they won’t clean very well, either. This machine cleans as good as anything we’ve ever seen.”
DeMayola says he gives the Raptor “a solid nine” on a scale of 1 to 10 for cleaning ability.
“If there’s anything left to be desired, a little more torque would be good,” he notes. “But on the other hand, it doesn’t snap cables either. So on balance, it does really good. It’s a great machine.”
PRODUCTIVITY AND FLEXIBILITY
DeMayola says the machine’s adjustable torque settings are a great feature, especially since they can be set by remote control — a real time-saver.
“It’s really nice to be able to [adjust the settings] on the fly, based on what size cable you’re using and what size pipe you’re in,” he says. “It makes the machine very versatile.”
He’s also a fan of the machine’s clutch, which he says reacts quickly when a cable binds up.
“The Raptor does a good job of clutching out at low torque so that when the cable binds, it doesn’t snap,” DeMayola says. “A lot of times, clutches don’t react fast enough and end up breaking cables. But the way this one is engineered is top-notch.”
That’s a key to its reliability. Nothing kills productivity and profitability faster than on-the-job machine breakdowns, so DeMayola prizes reliability.
“It’s critical for us because of the volume of work we do,” he says, noting that crews line about five to six pipelines a week. “I need to keep our crews working. We always have extra machines on hand, so we can swap one out and keep working. But if a machine tears up cable, it doesn’t matter. Reliable equipment saves us a lot of time and headaches.”
CRITICAL FEATURES
The Raptor is also lightweight and portable. The chassis weighs about 82 pounds without cable and measures roughly 31 inches tall by 28 1/2 inches wide by about 18 inches deep.
Other features include three interchangeable cable reels with quick-change capability — no tools required (they hold either 75 feet of 1/2-inch-diameter cable, 85 feet of 3/8-inch cable and 100 feet of 1/3-inch cable); an electric clutch that protects the user, machine, tools and pipe integrity; anti-vibration and heavy-duty rubber pads that keep the machines from sliding around when used vertically or horizontally; and an electric motor.
“Another thing I really like is that you can run it on a 120-volt power input, so we can run it off most regular home outlets,” DeMayola says. “That’s really handy because we don’t have to pull a generator to every job. We just plug the machine in and go to work.”
DeMayola also likes the machine’s flexshaft technology, which allows users to camera lines while cleaning them.
“That means we don’t spend more time cleaning a portion of pipe that didn’t need it or less time cleaning a part of a pipe that needed more cleaning,” he says.
PROFITABILITY BOOSTER
How does the Raptor make the company more money? No breakdowns means crews complete more jobs per week. And its portability reduces time spent on jobs.
“When our guys have a choice of what machine to use, they pull the Raptor off the truck,” DeMayola says. “You can unload it with one person and can carry it up and down stairs easily. It saves time and time definitely is money.”
Overall, DeMayola says the Raptor provides a great return on investment for the company, which focuses primarily on drain cleaning and trenchless pipe rehabilitation. The unit sells for about $12,000.
“It absolutely has paid for itself,” he says. “Even just a little bit of increased efficiency makes all the difference in the world in terms of saving time. So in that regard, this has been a really good unit. We’d definitely buy another one. In fact, I need to phase out another machine, so we’re thinking about buying another Raptor within the next several months.”
