Moog valve keeps things in balance for pile extraction machine

Construction machinery does not come much more heavy duty than that which extracts driven steel piles from the ground. But in order to work safely, delicate hydraulic balancing circuits are needed to keep the rams level. Moog’s direct drive servo valves provide the accuracy and reliability essential to make this possible.

Pressure within the foundation industry is increasing to find means to extract previously driven steel piles without creating any noise or potentially damaging vibrations. Such a device needs to be compact, versatile and very powerful.

Dawson Construction Plant’s X1000 Universal Pile Extractor consists of two powerful hydraulic cylinders each capable of generating up to 4000 kN (450 tonne) of pile extraction force through a set of hydraulically actuated taper-wedge jaws. These jaws are engineered so as to generate increasing clamping force in direct proportion to any increase in extraction force. The clamp has been cleverly designed to accommodate most steel ‘H’ and ‘U’-sheet pile sections without modification.