Initiation into ground pneumatic piercing tools called „moles” started at the times of the First World War, when an idea to create the machine enable to dig a tunnel beneath enemy’s fortifications and to place inside the explosive charge from a safe distance, borned. In 50’s, Wiktor Zienkiewicz working for PRO (Polish Ship Salvage) proposed to use these machines to drag the hoisting ropes under the wreck and lift it up. Despite the fact that operation hadn’t finished in success, it became enough known that Kazimierz Zygmunt and Tadeusz Gerlach from Technical University of Gdańsk started to improve device.

Construction of ground pneumatic piercing tools destined to pull cables and to ram steel pipes into a ground turned out successful venture and has been implemented into mass production. The first 4000 pieces   of the moles were produced by Zakłady Metalowe Przemysłu Terenowego in Gniezno and Zakłady Metalowe in Skarżysko. Most of them were exported to USA, Russia and Japan, where from 60’s and 70’s new construction improvements started. The extremely strong Russian competition brought to end of Polish production in half of 70’s.

These conditions remained until 1996 when production was resumed in Gdańsk. The well known company Terma Technologie manufacturer of the bathroom heaters and heat elements undertook that task. After the year of cooperation with “the old” Technical University of Gdańsk team has been made a prototype of the mole with 130 mm diameter. There has been made 6 more prototypes which passed the load and performance tests. Few years of development work have allowed to start manufacturing the piercing tools MAX type since 2001. Their abilities let them to be able to compete on the market. The MAX construction won many awards pointing out new quality trends. Our moles are equipped with innovative embed of the head, increased weight rams, perfect changing over the reverse gear (for each size of mole!) as well as optional data recorder. All these advantages cause that each MAX type tool is one of the strongest, the most accurate and functional in service on the market.