Cross Room Ditching; Checker Board Ditching; Blades - National 5600 Instruction Manual

BLADE APPLICATION/SET-UP
DITCHING

CROSS ROOM DITCHING

When removing hard to remove ceramic, Vct or vat, cross-room ditching will help to make the removal
easier. Using a blade 2" to 6" in width, make ditches 1' to 2' apart in the same direction the machine will
be removing the goods (See Figure A). This "relieves" the pressure holding the tiles together. If ditching
helps and the goods are coming up easy, try using a wider blade to ditch with.

CHECKER BOARD DITCHING

To make carpet removal and debris cleanup easier, checker board ditching is very helpful. Using as wide
of a self-scoring blade as possible, make ditches 4' to 6' apart crossways from the way the machine will
be removing the goods (See Figure B). Running the machine crossways from the ditches will make
smaller pieces of debris to be hauled away. Instead of large gummy rolls of carpet, there are small
squares that can be rolled, palletized, put on a dolly or folded with the sticky side in. This makes
removing the debris easier and reduces the amount of debris.
Ditch
Tile
2'' to 6''
1' to 2'
CROSS ROOM DITCHING
Blade
Strips
Run the machine the same direction
that the ditches are made
Figure A
Carpet 4'
to 6' apart
Use as
large of a
blade as
possible
for ditch
Page 35
CHECKER BOARD DITCHING
Figure B
Run the machine crossways
from the directions that the
ditches are made