Vacuum trucks are vehicles with a storage container and vacuum motor used to pump wet or dry materials. They can be powered by the truck’s engine or a dedicated engine and are equipped with a boom for easier pumping. They can be used for pumping wastewater, contaminated soil, salt water, and more. The pump tubes used are typically between one and four inches in diameter. If the vacuum unit is mounted on a trailer or pickup truck bed, a small petrol engine is often used to drive the vacuum pump.
Vacuum trucks are vehicles typically consisting of a storage container and vacuum motor mounted on a truck chassis. These vehicles can be used to pump everything from residential septic tanks to contaminated soil. Vacuum trucks are sometimes classified by whether they are designed to pump wet or dry materials, capacity, weight, and other factors. The vacuum motor can be powered by the truck’s engine or by a dedicated petrol or diesel engine. A vacuum truck is usually purpose-built on a heavy-duty chassis, although there are rolling units that can be installed in a truck bed or trailer.
Whenever you need to remove a substance loose enough to be pumped, you can use a vacuum truck. The material can be wastewater from a septic tank or sewer, contaminated soil from a construction site, salt water from an oil well drill site, or just about anything else. Liquids typically require different self-purging than solids, as a pump designed to work with liquids may not work well with substances that are more solid in nature. The pump tubes used with vacuum trucks are typically between one and four inches (2.5 to 10 centimeters) in diameter, although this can vary depending on the particular job.
The pump on a vacuum truck can be driven by a power take-off (PTO) from the vehicle’s engine or a dedicated engine. A power take-off is usually a splined drive shaft that is connected to the vehicle’s transmission. When the truck is stationary, power can be taken from the wheels and transferred to the PTO instead. This drive shaft can then power a variety of different items, such as the pump on a vacuum truck. The PTO on a vacuum truck may use a belt to drive the pump, although hydraulics are sometimes used as well.
If the vacuum unit is mounted on a trailer or pickup truck bed, it may not be possible to use a power take-off. In situations like these, a small petrol engine is often used to drive the vacuum pump. This is sometimes called a pony engine, which is a term that can also refer to small gas engines used to start larger diesel engines.
To make pumping easier, a vacuum truck is typically equipped with some type of boom. The pump tube is fixed to this arm, which can facilitate its positioning above the material to be vacuumed. This is often helpful when vacuuming a septic tank in a yard or drill site where equipment or debris is preventing the truck from getting up close.
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