Sponsored article by Torrent Trackside.
The rail industry has a constant need to drill track accurately and quickly. Rail track is made from high quality steel designed to handle the immense stresses of train operations. This strength means high-powered tools are required to drill holes into them. Until recently these specialist tools were powered by 2 stroke petrol engines.
The engines provided the required power but at the expense of producing damaging emissions including carbon dioxide, harmful particulates and a host of poisonous gases. There was also the problem of having to carry fuel, the danger of spillages and the inconvenience of fuel mixing errors.
This has now all changed with the introduction of battery-powered tools. Recent years have seen a huge expansion in the power and longevity of Li-ion rechargeable batteries and rail drilling was one of the first operations to benefit from this innovation. Torrent Trackside has been successfully operating the Cembre battery powered rail drill for a number of years.
This tool has been designed specifically for rail drilling, it clamps securely to the rail for accuracy and push on templates mean all types of rail can be drilled. The chuck features a quick release coupling for rapid cutter replacement.
Rail is drilled in less than a minutes and up to 40 19mm holes can be made with just one battery. Each kit comes with two fully charged batteries that can be recharged with the supplied recharger in around 120 minutes.
The battery-powered electric motor is very quiet so the drill is ideal for urban areas. The tool only uses power when in use and is ready to use immediately wheras petrol drills tend to be left on ‘tickover ‘ wasting fuel, wearing down parts and increasing pollution.
The drill is lightweight and very easy to use. There is no pull cord and the tool is switched on with a button. A drive lever controls the force on the shaft and a simple traffic light system informs the operator of the optimum torque to use. Lack of emissions protects the operator from harmful exhaust fumes and the HAVs are greatly reduced at only 1.36 almost a third of the petrol equivalent. A plastic rain sleeve makes the tool showerproof and the rugged design is ideal for the rigours of rail operation. The drill is also fitted with powerful LED lights to aid night operation or tunnel working.
The tool is powered by a 36v battery which powers the brushless electric motor giving a shaft speed of 260 rpm. The same battery can be used to power other Cembre rail products including the battery sleeper drill and impact wrench which uses two 36v batteries in tandem. These battery powered tools are vital to the rail industry to help support Network Rail’s pledge to become carbon neutral by 2030.
