Up in the mountains surrounding Harrison Lake, just a few kilometres north of Chilliwack, B.C., a logging road slowly winds its way along the mountainside. The road comes to a sudden end, facing a wall of sheer rock that blocks the path.

Carly Wethersett, marketing director at ShearForce Equipment, stands near the rock wall and watches as a small crew fits an excavator with one of her company’s latest products. It will be a real world test of what the product can do in Canada’s mountainous terrain.

That product, XR40, is a mid-size model of the Xcentric Ripper. In March 2011, the excavator attachment caught the eye of ShearForce’s president and general manager, Brad Dewit, at ConExpo in Las Vegas. Within weeks of seeing the Ripper on the trade show floor, ShearForce Equipment signed on to be the exclusive Canadian dealer for all Ripper models. Not three months later, the company made its first sale of the XR30, and it has been a part of the company’s product line ever since.

Back up on the mountain, the Ripper is all rigged up and the operator makes his first few passes at the rock face. Wethersett watches as the Ripper makes quick work of the rock wall, tearing it away. The operator looks over and says, “I can’t believe how fast this thing is going. It cuts through (the rock) like it was butter.”

If the results sound extraordinary, that’s because the Ripper is no ordinary hammer. Initially designed to tackle excavation and trenching projects in the north of Spain, the Ripper boasts some impressive statistics. In half of all job applications, it has been proven to be two to five times more effective than any other hydraulic breaker available on the market.

The technology
The secret, as Wethersett says from her office in Abbotsford, B.C., is in the attachment’s patented “impact energy accumulation technology.”

“The technology it uses is twofold,” she explains. “It (uses) impaction, like a typical hydraulic hammer would use, but it also uses vibration. The vibration works into cracks and fractures, increasing them and splitting the rock apart. It’s accelerating the rate of demolition by working with those natural fractures.”

That twofold attack – and the boost it gives to overall productivity – is just one of the benefits of the Ripper. The attachment is entirely self-contained in an airtight enclosure, which means less noise than the average hydraulic breaker (it’s operating noise level is on par with a standard bucket). The enclosure also protects against dust, dirt, earth and moisture, making the Ripper virtually maintenance-free.

Capitalizing on advantages
At the end of the day, when equipment is down, money is lost. The unprecedented speed and efficiency of the Ripper, combined with its no maintenance operation, translates into less operator time and lower fuel usage. Bottom line, that means big savings on overall operating costs and reduced environmental impacts.

Although the Ripper can be found on job sites worldwide – in Australia, China, the U.S. and throughout Europe, the Middle East , Africa and Latin America – it can’t be found just anywhere in Canada. Contractors have to go to ShearForce Equipment.

“We’re a very young and progressive team and when Brad (Dewit) saw the Ripper at ConExpo, he thought, ‘This is going to fit really well with our customer base. It’ll add to what we already do’,” says Wethersett “It’s that progressive attitude, I think, that led us to bring the Ripper to Canada – to take that chance on it.”

If the Ripper is any indication, ShearForce is well-equipped to deliver work site solutions across the country. The attachment’s method – using impaction and vibration – is a huge advantage in a wide range of locations, from the coastal granite and clay slate of B.C., to the limestone of the Prairies, to the permafrost of the North. Being fully enclosed, the Ripper is even suitable for underwater work and can be submerged up to 164-feet deep. Excavation, trenching, demolition and dredging – the Ripper can handle them all.

Of course, the technology has some limitations. The Ripper works best where the earth has natural fracture and faults, which can be worked into. In rock formations with fewer naturally-occurring fractures, the Ripper may not be the right tool for the job.

“In cases like that, even a hammer might not necessarily be the best thing,” says Wethersett. “You may still have to consider drilling and blasting.”

Constant evolution
Even so, with possible applications across the country, especially in the north and along the West Coast, the Ripper is one of the most exciting new excavation products available in the Canadian marketplace.

Wethersett is optimistic about what the future holds for the machinery and the company.

“There’s so much potential. This is such a new product and there are so many industries we can provide our services to. It almost makes you wonder, ‘Where do we even start?’,” she says, adding, “It’s a good problem to have.”

This article was originally printed in Piling Canada magazine.