NEW Spring Assisted Swivel Lift Caps: Improved for Geotech

Ample rains the past few years have the United States Army Corps of Engineers out of Omaha, Nebraska, busy from the Mississippi River west, conducting geotechnical tests on levees and damns. From spinning 4.25-inch augers to completing SPT or Shelby tube tests, the drill crew divides up, spreading across the United States with their four conventional rigs.

“Pulling 35-foot tool strings works your forearms pretty good,” Steve Carroll, operations manager, said.

When Carroll saw the spring assisted swivel lift caps from Geoprobe^® he thought it was a “no brainer” to put them on all the rigs.

“It’s easier to turn, making it easier on the hands and the body —  the spring does the work,” he said. “When you’re staying busy you do what you can to save the arms and wrists.”

According to Carroll, younger members of his drill crew clearly found using the spring assisted swivel lift caps easier when drilling holes to a couple hundred feet as compared to the traditional-style NWJ pull caps. For them it was simply a matter of working smarter, not harder.

“They barely have to turn it. If you don’t have to work harder, why? It just spins right off,” Carroll said. “You don’t have to worry about carpal tunnel. It’s easier on the joints as you get older or as it gets colder outside.”

Now even easier on the forearms and wrists, the NEW Spring Assisted Swivel Lift Caps are lighter weight and feature improved vent holes. Customer feedback related to length and weight as well as requests for vent holes provided inspiration for Geoprobe® tooling engineers to make them even more of a geotech asset. 

"Conversations with geotech customers were the catalyst for increasing the vent hole size on the NWJ lift cap," Kyle Riedel, tools group-manager, said.

AWJ (231440)

• Decreased length by 3 inches
• Decreased weight by 2 pounds
• Added vents (2 X 1/2")

NWJ (230334)

• Decreased length by 4 inches
• Decreased weight by 5 pounds
• Increased vent area by 125%

Also available in: 2.25 Box,  2.25 Pin, 3.75 Box, 4.5 RHML Box, and 3.25 Box.