IN Brief:
- Tracto has launched the upgraded Grundodrill 20 ACS horizontal directional drill.
- The machine offers 200 kN thrust and pullback force, 9,000 Nm torque, and automated drilling functions.
- The launch supports rising demand for trenchless methods in utilities, water, telecoms, and urban infrastructure.
Tracto has launched the Grundodrill 20 ACS, an upgraded horizontal directional drill designed for demanding trenchless installation work.
The new machine is an upgraded version of the 18 ACS and has already seen its first unit sold to a tier-one contractor. It offers 200 kN thrust and pullback force, 9,000 Nm of torque on the outer rods, a 123 kW diesel engine, and a high-capacity bentonite pump.
The Grundodrill 20 ACS also includes fully automated drilling, rod changing, and rod lubrication functions. It can carry up to 144m of Elicon twin-rod tubes, with rod types selected and changed through the operator interface. The machine is also capable of cable-guided bores in challenging ground conditions.
Tracto has upgraded the undercarriage for improved stability and offers an optional anchoring system. Those changes are important for horizontal directional drilling because performance depends not only on power and torque, but on the ability to hold position, maintain bore accuracy, manage drilling fluid, and work safely in constrained site conditions.
Trenchless construction methods are gaining renewed attention across utilities, water, telecoms, and urban infrastructure. Open-cut excavation remains necessary on many schemes, but it can create heavy disruption where assets run beneath roads, railways, rivers, driveways, footways, and built-up areas. HDD allows pipes, ducts, and cables to be installed with fewer surface excavations where ground conditions and route geometry are suitable.
Several pressures are driving demand for no-dig methods. Water companies need to renew ageing networks with less road disruption. Telecoms providers are extending fibre networks through congested streets. Power and EV infrastructure require new cable routes. Local authorities and highways clients want fewer closures, lower reinstatement risk, and reduced public disruption.
Automation in HDD equipment is increasingly relevant because specialist labour remains tight. Automated drilling and rod handling can reduce repetitive manual tasks, improve consistency, and support safer operations around moving rods and drilling equipment. The benefit depends on operator training and site setup, but machine automation is becoming an important route to improving productivity where experienced crews are in demand.
The launch also connects with wider trenchless activity in the UK utility market. Severn Trent has adopted Tracto pipe bursting equipment for AMP8 renewals, using no-dig methods to reduce excavation, shorten programmes, and limit disruption on buried infrastructure works. That move toward trenchless renewal reflects broader demand for repeatable methods that can be deployed across programme-scale utility work.
HDD is not a universal solution. Ground conditions, existing utilities, bore length, alignment, fluid management, access, launch and reception pits, and environmental controls all determine whether it is appropriate. Poor planning can lead to bore deviation, frac-out, settlement, utility strikes, or costly recovery work.
The equipment therefore has to sit inside a competent design and delivery process, supported by surveys, route planning, drilling fluid management, and experienced supervision. As with any specialist plant, productivity gains depend on choosing the right method for the ground and managing the interfaces around it.
Where conditions are right, the advantages are clear. Fewer excavations can mean less spoil, reduced reinstatement, shorter road occupation, lower traffic impact, and improved safety around public interfaces. For clients working under regulatory and public pressure, those benefits can be as important as the direct construction cost.
The Grundodrill 20 ACS adds capacity at a point where trenchless work is becoming more strategically useful. As infrastructure clients look for methods that reduce disruption while increasing delivery output, the value of specialist plant will depend on how well automation, operator skill, and project planning come together on site.
