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Directional drilling.

Five Ditch Witch bore rigs, JT10 through to JT24, wet or dry, across Perth and regional WA. Trenchless installs under roads, driveways and established surfaces, with vacuum excavation from the same yard for potholing and pits.

5 BORE RIGS · JT10 TO JT24

The drill fleet.

All Ditch Witch, three sizes. The rig you need is set by the length of the shot and the size of the product going in.

Platinum drilling and vacuum support on a utility corridor
JT10
Ditch Witch JT10 Drills
DITCH WITCH JT10
Compact trenchless installs under roads and services.
2
UNITS
DD01 to DD02
→
Platinum machines lined up ready on the yard
JT20
Ditch Witch JT20 Drills
DITCH WITCH JT20
The mid-size bore rig our group runs on live utility corridors.
2
UNITS
DD03 to DD04
→
Platinum machines working on a civil site
JT24
Ditch Witch JT24 Drill
DITCH WITCH JT24
Longer shots and bigger product, still trenchless.
1
UNIT
DD05
→

Why bore instead of dig?

Trenchless costs more per metre and less per job, once you count everything a trench actually drags along with it.

You do not have to open the surface.

A bore goes under a road, a driveway, a verge or an established tree without cutting it. That removes the reinstatement, usually reduces the traffic management, and takes away the argument with a council or a landowner about putting the surface back the way it was.

It keeps you away from what is already in the ground.

On a congested corridor, a long open trench puts every existing service at risk for the whole length of the dig. A bore with the services proved first only needs the entry and exit pits opened up, which is a much smaller window of exposure.

Which rig?

JT10 for shorter shots, smaller product and tight setups where there is not much room to launch. JT20 is the mid-size workhorse and the one that goes out most. JT24 when the shot is longer or the product is bigger. Tell us the distance and what is going in and we will tell you which one it needs.

Bore and vac go together.

Potholing to prove services before the shot, then cleaning out entry and exit pits, is vacuum excavation work. Platinum runs both out of the same yard, so it comes from one supplier on one quote rather than two crews you have to coordinate. See vacuum excavation.

Directional drilling questions.

The things people ask before they book.

What is directional drilling?

A steerable underground bore. The rig launches from a pit, drills a pilot bore along a planned path below the surface, then pulls the product back through on the way out. Nothing along the line above it gets opened up, which is why it is also called trenchless.

Wet or dry hire?

Most bore work goes out wet, with one of our operators, because running a rig accurately is a specialised job and the cost of getting a shot wrong is high. Dry hire is possible where your crew is already set up and ticketed for it.

Do services need to be located first?

Yes, and it is worth doing properly. Knowing what is in the ground before a shot is the difference between a clean install and a strike. We run vacuum excavation for potholing, and locating sits within the same group, so both can be arranged alongside the rig.

How long a shot can you do?

It depends on the rig, the ground and the product going in, so there is no single number that is honest across every job. Send us the distance, the product and what you know about the ground conditions, and we will tell you which rig suits and whether it is achievable before you commit to anything.

Need to get under a road?

Tell us the distance, what is going in and what you know about the ground. You will get a complete quote back, usually the same day.