Austrack Operations Manager Dylan Gamble talks SafeVac’s journey on developing the newest model for safe and efficient handling of polyethylene pipe.
In recent years, Austrack Equipment has undergone a complete transformation. Originally a plant hire company that evolved into a supplier of specialised pipeline equipment, now – with the development of the SafeVac Lifting Systems™ Vaclifts – Austrack has added equipment designer and manufacturer to its list of accomplishments.
The development of the SafeVac Vaclift Lifting Systems was a multi-disciplinary endeavour, but if there is one individual in Austrack who can reasonably claim to have driven the effort, that person is Operations Manager Dylan Gamble.
Gamble, still in his twenties, joined Austrack three years ago in the position of Lead Maintenance Supervisor. He quickly grabbed the reins of the SafeVac development project which, on his arrival, was beginning to gain momentum.
Gamble’s career began with an apprenticeship as a diesel fitter with a major pipeline contractor, where he quickly showed an aptitude for all aspects of selection, maintenance, and customisation of the wide range of equipment that pipeline construction involves.
This background, along with an insatiable appetite to challenge the conventional and to relentlessly explore better ways of doing things, made him a natural fit for the Austrack SafeVac project.
On taking control of SafeVac development, Gamble drew all the complementary – and at times, competing – elements together. Engineering design and fabrication, mechanical certification, system control design and safety certification, critical component procurement were all managed into a coordinated whole.
And Gamble’s role went well beyond simple project coordination. His real-world experience as a fitter helped influence critical development decisions, with the practical always quietly informing the theoretical.
Apart from the hard technical and performance decisions. there were also softer issues to manage, such as machine hazard assessment, creation of operations manuals, development of operator training, testing and commissioning, seeking Australian Made endorsement, patent submissions, and organising on-site and off-site demonstrations to clients.
“At the start, the list of activities seemed endless,” Gamble said.
“The end goal of creating a state-of-the-art lifting attachment that could compete with and hopefully improve on what was available in the marketplace at times seemed a long way off.
“But we never lost sight of our objective. From the beginning we had a clear vision and remained focused on it.
“Our objective was always to meet the latest European standard EN13155 which we knew would position us ahead of the curve, especially as the relevant Australian standard AS4991 is currently under review and is expected to soon more closely align with the European standard.”
Having been involved into the development from the beginning, there isn’t a nut or bolt on the original SV400 or the recently released SV200 that Gamble isn’t familiar with.
“Before SafeVac, we hired-in vaclifts from other suppliers to service our customers. This arrangement wasn’t ideal for us and, rather than purchase units that didn’t entirely suit our clients’ requirements, we bit the bullet and decided to develop our own system to better serve our customers,” he said.
“Our unit was always intended to be part of our hire fleet and is not intended to be offered for sale at this stage. In this regard our major consideration remains on system performance rather than cost.
“Our SV400 has now been in production for almost three years, and we are satisfied that we have both the numbers and the options to satisfy the tracked excavator 30-tonne and upwards segment of the pipeline market.
“This year our concentration has been on finalising our new SV200 model. Coal seam gas gathering activities continue to grow apace, especially in Queensland’s Surat and Cooper Basins, and the development of the smaller wheeled excavator unit is timely to meet the growing demand for this type of unit.”
Gamble said the SV200 excels at polyethylene pipe handling.
“A single shoe unit fitted to a wheeled excavator is ideally suited to handling a range of smaller diameter poly pipes where pipe weights up to 2500kg can be catered for,” he said.
“It is precise, nimble and adaptable and all of the sophisticated datalogging that has made the bigger twin shoe tracked unit so popular comes as standard on this smaller unit. All the safety and efficiency benefits of the SV400 are available to users of the new unit.
“We already have units out on site, and we will be adding to those numbers as 2025 production ramps up. Early users are already reporting high levels of satisfaction with performance levels for the new model.
“Gas gathering activities in Queensland’s coal seam gas fields will continue to play an important part in the Queensland economy for the foreseeable future. We are expecting our SV200 wheeled excavator mounted vaclift will play its part in that activity.”
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This feature also appears in the January edition of The Australian Pipeliner.
