Installation
Drag'N Skin Installation & Procedures
Welcome to the “HOW TO” section of INSTALLATION and PROCEDURES for getting Drag’N Skin installed. Before beginning with the installation, ensure that the kit provided contains the tools necessary to do the job. The kit (containing pullhead, couplers, tools, and sleeve) should be placed at front end of drag section prior to beginning installation.
Step One
Get welder to start welding pullhead onto front of drag section that is supplied in kit.
* Ensure that shells and bolts are removed from coupler before starting to weld. (Welder will be required to return and heat up hole tool for installation of shell clamps later once pullhead has had time to cool).
Step Two
Drag section, welded up along rite of way, must allow for enough distance so that once installing sleeve on pipe, the hoe or side boom has ample room to be at 90 degrees from pipe.
Step Three
Take out sleeve application ring. Pull out app. 20’ of Drag’N Skin material and split into 4 uniform pieces to a minimum length of 2 feet. Slit the sleeve into 4 equal strips (longitudinally for app. 2’) and weave through the sleeve ring.
Tape the ends back onto the plates once woven through. On long pulls, take an extra foot of material and once woven through tie a knot in material to eliminate material pulling through.
NOTE: Make sure contractor has proper slings to attach to sleeve ring and to choke back pipe if required.
Step Four
You are ready to begin installation. Double check to make sure drag section is laid out and that there is a good working distance between sideboom(s) and pipe.
Step Five
Take sleeve ring, with material attached, and start pulling over drag section. Once there is 10 to 20 feet on pipe, hook slings to sleeve ring and attach to hoe or side boom. Make sure that the boom or hoe is at 90 degrees to pipe.
Slowly start pulling material on pipe. One person should walk beside the sleeve ring while installing on pipe to make sure that the pipe is always centered in the sleeve ring.
*At this point, contractor MAY want to lay drag section on rollers (depending on r.o.w. conditions – i.e. stumps, uneven ground, stones) A labourer should be at the front end to assist in feeding Drag’N Skin onto pipe to eliminate any material catching or snagging.
Step Six
On a longer drag section, it may be required to have an extra hoe or boom to go ahead and choke back pipe because as more sleeve gets installed, the drag section will have a tendency to want to “snake “ down the row.
NOTE: This material has a lot of stretch in it and will slide back on pipe. MAKE SURE you have 1-2 feet of loose material over the pull head before cutting off sleeve from ring.
Step Seven
Cut sleeve far enough back so that the alignment marks can be seen on the coupler. Make sure compression rubber is in shells before placing on coupler.
Step Eight
Align mark on coupler to corresponding mark on shell. Use chain vice grip to hold in place.
Step Nine
Ready for burning tool. Use burning tool to find holes in coupler through the shell. Once holes are found, heat the tool red hot and burn the 6 corresponding holes (shell to coupler).
Step Ten
Once holes have been burnt through, take out 1/2 inch tapping tool and re-tap all holes to clean out any fiber that has been burnt into threads. Install bolts into shell and coupler and tighten in sequence. Centre first and work out from there.
Step Eleven
Place second shell on other side and repeat the same procedure. Double check the bolts for proper torque and compression on Drag’N Skin, but do not over-torque to a point where you strip the Allen wrench or the bolt.
Once this is complete, the drag section is ready to be lowered into the ditch and pulled through borehole.