Felling Trailers’ chosen for Atlas Foundation Company’s specialized trailer needs
Atlas Foundation Company is a deep foundation and earth retention solutions provider. Founded in 1968, the company started strictly as a pile-driving company but quickly expanded into caissons (drilled piers), micropile, earth retention, and helical piers. Atlas’ Micro Pile Division had acquired an overseas manufacturer to design and build a custom water pump to be used for extremely specialized deep foundation drilling applications, the only pump of its kind in the United States. For this custom application, the pump needed to be mounted to a trailer for ease of transport to and from jobs, as well as maneuverability on job sites. This trailer would need to be designed and engineered around the specifications of the water pump, along with incorporating usability and safety for the crew operating it.
Atlas Foundation’s Superintendent of Maintenance and Shop Repair, Larry Boeke, had previously worked with Felling Trailers and knew they were the right manufacturer for the project. Atlas Foundation has close to a dozen Felling trailers currently in their fleet. Larry had worked with Felling’s Mike Wolff, who at the time was part of the Service team, to set up the refurbishing of five of their trailers over 5-10 years; most of these trailers are 20+ years old. “After decades of experience using and maintaining Felling Trailers, it was an easy choice for me to reach out to Mike. Mike had done a fantastic job with us on previous projects. I knew I only wanted to work with Felling,” said Larry.
Mike Wolff
Larry contacted Mike, who was now in trailer sales, and explained the scope of the project to him. “Mike immediately put me in contact with T.J. Schwartz, Felling’s OEM trailer specialist, to get the ball rolling,” said Larry. The three met together multiple times to review the requirements and specifications that would need to be incorporated into this trailer build. An FT-20 WD (wide deck) was selected as the base model for the trailer. Mike, T.J., and Felling’s Engineering team collaborated with Larry’s team at Atlas along with the overseas water pump vendor through the duration of the design process. “It was a needs team effort, and Larry was very accommodating in helping us (Felling) to understand what the application was, what environment the trailer would be utilized in, and what features needed to be incorporated for operator safety and functionality for the Atlas team,” said Mike Wolff.
Throughout the design process, there were many changes; some were small, like shortening up the overall trailer length. Others were more detailed, like incorporating pull-out steps/platforms and handrails, for the crew to access the deck safely. “The selection of Grat-X decking was made in place of standard decking for crew safety. When the unit is used in cold weather environments, the crew must disconnect water lines and drain the pump at the end of each shift to prevent freezing. The Grat-X decking allows for the water to pass through to the ground below, preventing water/ice build-up, greatly reducing the likelihood of the crew slipping,” said Schwartz. Attention to the fine details was key.
With the pump still in production, the teams worked off drawings and maintained continuous communication with the overseas vendor. “We worked closely with the pump vendor to verify the water pump’s overall size and weight and determine the center of gravity for proper axle placement. We had to really pay attention to the smaller details and plan for things like compartment door clearance for mounting a spare tire, clearance for personnel to access the deck from all sides, and so on,” said Boeke.
With the design process completed the trailer then moved onto the production floor. Built to spec, this high-pressure water pump trailer was constructed with Grat-X (expanded metal) decking with custom mounting provisions for the skid-based water pump, 8’ pull-out grip strut side steps on curbside, roadside, and along the rear tailboard. Rear stabilizer jacks, along with two heavy-duty storage boxes provided by Atlas Foundation Co., were mounted on the rear of the trailer. Once assembled and inspected, the finished trailer was delivered to Atlas Foundation, Co., where the one-of-a-kind pump was mounted to the trailer and put into service.
“In my opinion, Felling builds the best construction equipment transport trailer on the market. They are extremely heavy-duty from front to back. I would say that my experience with Felling has always been positive. From their parts and service department to the refurbish division, to now having had the chance to work with their engineering and design team, and then finishing up with the production division. Every interaction has been positive and professional. I was impressed with how knowledgeable Mike and T.J. were throughout the entire process. I would recommend anyone that hasn’t given Felling a try yet to take a look and see how the team at Felling can help with a specialized project like ours,” said Boeke.
