Time is money in the hydroexcavation industry. And every time you pause to off-load the tank could mean lost revenue. The larger the tank, the longer your crew can spend on the job site ­— which is the idea with the supersized Hercules XL truck-mounted hydroexcavator from Supervac.

At 37 feet long, the Hercules XL is suitable for applications where weight is not as much of a concern. It can carry 18 cubic yards of debris and has available a payload capacity of 25,000 pounds. The increased payload will help save time and money, as not only is dumping available on site, the length of the Hercules XL will maintain its legal highway capacity.

“Everyone now is looking for as much payload potential as possible,” says Steeve Sheehy, Supervac’s national sales manager. “The key for us was using a flexible SPIF No. 22 four-axle configuration that allowed us to distribute the weight evenly.”

When designing the new unit, the biggest challenge for Supervac’s development team was transferring weight to the front and second axle of the truck. Sheehy says that most hydroexcavators tend to shift weight toward the back, which can overload the rear axle and limit payload capacity. “It’s so hard not to get overweight on your rear axle with a full spoils tank,” he says. “On the Hercules XL, we moved much of the equipment to get more of that weight distribution up front.”

In the new setup, the 3,600-gallon debris tank is mounted as close as possible to the truck’s cab. Its 3,800 cfm, 27-inches Hg blower is more compact than its predecessors and mounted directly over the truck’s second axle. In addition, more equipment, including its 30-ton hydraulic dump hoist and 400,000 Btu boiler are compactly situated near the cab to allow for more even weight distribution. The unit’s 185 cfm air excavation compressor, Webasto diesel fuel heater, 3,000 psi high-pressure water pump, controls, aluminum toolboxes and six 250-gallon plastic water tanks are evenly distributed along the sides of the unit, adding to the even weight distribution.

“The great thing about this truck is that, despite its size and huge payload capacity, it rides perfectly down the road. It is basically our Atlas trailer unit mounted on a truck, with a few components downsized to maximize payload,” Sheehy says. 866-839-5702; www.supervac.co.