Hydraulic Impact Hammer Systems and Methods

A pile striking system for striking at least one pile comprising:

• a main housing;
• a valve assembly supported by the main housing;
• an anvil supported by the main housing;
• a ram supported for movement within the main housing;
• a cap detachably attachable to the main housing;
• a coupler rod detachably attachable to the ram;
• a conversion housing detachably attachable to the main housing;
• a hydraulic actuator supported by the conversion housing, the hydraulic actuator defining an actuator rod;
• a lifting head;
• a lift connector, where the lift connector detachably attaches the actuator rod to the lifting head;
• and
• a ram connector, where the ram connector detachably attaches the coupler rod to the lifting head;
• whereby
• the cap is attached to the main housing and the valve assembly is configured to operate in a diesel mode such that the pile striking system to operate as a diesel hammer to cause the ram to impact the anvil to strike at least one pile;
• and
• the conversion housing is attached to the main housing, the coupler rod is attached to the ram and to the ram and to the lifting head by the ram connector, the actuator rod is detachably attached to the lifting head by the lift connector, the valve assembly is configured to operate in a hydraulic mode, and operation of the hydraulic actuator raises and lowers the ram such that the pile striking system operates as a hydraulic impact hammer to cause the ram to impact the anvil to strike at least one pile.

A method of striking a pile comprising the steps of:

• supporting a ram for movement within a main housing;
• detachably attaching a coupler rod to the ram;
• detachably attaching a conversion housing to the main housing;
• supporting a hydraulic actuator defining an actuator rod from the conversion housing;
• detachably attaching the actuator rod to a lifting head;
• and
• detachably attaching the coupler rod to the lifting head;
• whereby
• operating the hydraulic actuator to raise and lower the ram to strike the pile.

A method of striking at least one pile comprising the steps of:

• supporting a valve assembly from a main housing;
• supporting a ram for movement within the main housing;
• providing a hydraulic actuator defining an actuator rod;
• operating the pile striking system as a diesel hammer by attaching a cap to the main housing and configuring a valve assembly to operate in a diesel mode to cause the ram to impact an anvil to strike at least one pile;
• and
• operating the pile striking system as a hydraulic impact hammer by attaching a conversion housing to the main housing, attaching a coupler rod to the ram, attaching the coupler rod to a lifting head, attaching the actuator rod to the lifting head, configuring the valve assembly to operate in a hydraulic mode, and operating the hydraulic actuator to raise and lower the ram to cause the ram to impact the anvil and strike at least one pile.