Operations Manual

7. Operation
7.1 General Information
Follow all safety measures described in Chapter 3.
Operate the Diesel Pile Hammer and lead only
when they are in a perfect technical condition.
Particularly the guiding components and tripping
device should show no signs of wear.
PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) that is
required to perform any and all work shall be
provided by your employer to safely perform
this task.
Immediately halt the pile-driving operation when
a dangerous situation develops (e.g., when
unauthorized persons enter the danger zone or
in the event of damage). Operate the Diesel Pile
Hammer only after the dangerous situation has
been taken care of.
Do not carry out any repair or maintenance
work on a moving Diesel Pile Hammer.
1. Never start the Diesel Pile Hammer unless it
is resting on a pile or a specially prepared test
stand.
2. Never start the Diesel Pile Hammer with the
impact block hanging out. The impact of the
piston will transmit directly to the cylinder outer
end-ring resulting in damage of outer endring
and lower cylinder. A stuck impact block
prevents the cylinder from freely dropping on
the impact head unit (possibly due to defective
damping rings).
3. Never start a Diesel Pile Hammer which has
been disconnected from the lead or which is
resting on a skid, etc. The support device
will be destroyed and the Diesel Pile Hammer
will come crashing down causing an accident.
4. Never drive piles eccentrically. This may
cause damage to the cylinder and guide
components as well as damage and vibrations
to the material to be driven. The center line of
the material to be driven must be in line with
the center line of the Diesel Pile Hammer. This
is necessary to avoid jarring blows. Jarring
blows could cause such as but not limited to
the following:
• cracks in and deformation of the cylinder,
• vibrations in and damage to the material to
be driven,
• directional deviation for the material to be
driven.
Remedy: Use a pile helmet that is guided at the
lead and matches the pile profile. Use a pile
helmet cushion selected in an optimal manner
with respect to the material to be driven and to
the blow energy (See Chapter 9.2 “Blow energy
stages” and Appendix A3-1 “Reduction factors
for different impact head cushions”). When it is
impossible to guide the pile helmet at the lead, it
will be necessary to hold the material to be driven
at the lead with at least one pile guide.
5. Increased wear in the guide components, is
caused by rebounding impacts. This is caused
by driving eccentrically. Very hard driving of
relatively elastic piles (H-beams, spiral welded
thin wall pipe piles) will lead to damage of
the Diesel Pile Hammer especially the rubber
rings.
6. Stop the Diesel Pile Hammer if the penetration
rate is higher than 240 blows per foot. Higher
blow rates are possible, but it causes higher
wear of the Diesel Pile Hammer. BAUER-
Pileco cannot warranty parts if it is obvious
that the chosen hammer for the job was too
small.
7. The piston should not bounce into the catch
groove. If so this may damage the catch ring
piston, catch groove and attachment screws.
The safety of the Diesel Pile Hammer is thus
no longer ensured.
111 Berry Road
Houston, TX 77002
Tel. (713) 691-3000
Fax (713) 691-0089
E-mail: info@bauerpileco.com
www.bauerpileco.com
Operations Manual December 2012
45