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Steel tripod with the hydraulic jack on top connected to the head of a T-Block ground screw in a farm field, with two operators and the tracked machine.

How it works · Load test

The pull-out test

One of the most important tests for a ground anchor or screw foundation is the pull-out test. To find out the actual performance of a T-Block in a particular soil, a test is carried out with a jack and a load cell that reads the kilograms. Here, the test carried out in a farm field before a solar installation.

When to use it

It is done when performance has to be guaranteed. It is the test to run every time before a ground-mounted installation or a new house. The T-Block screws are tested in the number and in the way set out by the applicable standards.

  • Ground-mounted solar farms
  • Roofs, canopies, tensile structures
  • Signs and structures exposed to wind
  • Farmland or made ground, where the calculation needs confirming

How the test is done

  1. Orange TBDRIVER tracked machine screwing a T-Block into the ploughed field, with the tripod and jack for testing an installed T-Block in the foreground.

    Step 1: The test T-Block screws are installed

    The T-Block screws are installed to the depth the job requires.

  2. Test tripod over a T-Block in the field, with the tracked machine and the crew close by.

    Step 2: The tripod

    When the situation calls for it and other test equipment cannot be used, a steel tripod is used: its legs transfer the reaction to the ground, and the load cell measures the pull-out resistance of that T-Block.

  3. Two operators connecting the jack tie rod to the T-Block head, under the tripod.

    Step 3: The jack

    At the top of the tripod sits a hydraulic jack, powered by the machine hydraulics. A tie rod connects it to the T-Block head: when the jack works, it pulls the T-Block upwards.

  4. Under the tripod, the digital load cell hanging in line between the jack rod and the T-Block head, on grass next to the tracked machine.
    In-line load cell

    Step 4: Pulling and readings

    The pull is increased in steps, and at each step the force and how far the T-Block has risen are recorded. The force can be read on a digital load cell placed in line between the jack and the T-Block head. For the loads of individual models, start from the data sheets and the configurator.

    Model data sheetsThe configurator

After the test

The aluminium structures sized for that solar installation, mounted on the T-Block screws.

Rows of aluminium structures of the solar installation mounted on T-Block ground screws in a farm field.
The solar installation.

The other methods

Every stage of a job

Got a project?

Tell us what you need to install and where: we will help you choose the model and the installation method. The configurator suggests the T-Block series and quantity, starting from the application and the soil.

Contact us Open the configurator