Trencher

Wheel trenchers also known as rock wheel trenchers are made up of a toothed metal. A wheel trencher is similar to a chain-blade trencher but features a cutting wheel like a circular saw blade. Different cutting wheel materials allow you to cut through harder materials such as roots and rocks while trenching, though these trenchers are also good at cutting through soft ground that can give other trenchers problems. Wheel trenchers offer an uniform cutting depth, and attachments mounted around the wheel itself allow you to adjust the final width of the trench in addition to setting the depth of the cutting wheel.

Due to the design of wheel trencher, the wheel is able to reach different cutting depths using the same tool while maintaining the same soil working angle with a very small wheel diameter, this results in reduction of the weight and pressure on to the ground.

 

Depending on the diameter, the cutting elements (6 to 8) are placed around the wheel, and near the teeth, which may or may not be denser according to the type of ground surface on which the equipment is being used. It is very easy to change these tools manually in order to adjust them for different cutting widths and depths.

The teeth are placed in a semi-spherical configuration to increase the removal of the materials from the trench. The teeth are made of high strength steel or cemented carbide. When the machine is under heavy use, the teeth may need to be replaced frequently, even daily. A system of spacers and ejectors allows the excavated materials to be moved away from the edges of the trench to avoid possible “recycling”.

 

Wheel trenchers may be mounted on tracks or rubber tires.

The operation cost of wheel trenchers is cheaper than a chain blade trencher and is capable of trenching in hard or soft, homogenous as well as heterogeneous soils. This is possible as the wheel trencher operates by clearing the soil like a bucket wheel unlike the chain trencher. Hence, they are less sensitive to the presence of blocks and stones in the soil. Wheel trenchers are also used to cut pavement to felicitate road maintenance.