The Flat Trap debris cleaner from Southland Tool Mfg. has a flat bottom for scraping debris from the bottoms of manholes and catch basins. Made of a steel alloy, the debris cleaner has 3/8-inch holes, enabling the liquid to drain out.

The tool is available with a 6-, 8-, 10- or 12-inch-wide reinforced mouth. The 6- and 8-inch tools measure 6 inches high and 13 inches long, while the 10- and 12-inch tools are 8 inches high and 15 inches long. The 6-inch-wide cleaner weighs 3 pounds and the 12-inch tool weighs 6 pounds. The tools have a quick-connect fitting that attaches to a fiberglass or wooden pole set — available in 6-foot lengths — with a spring-loaded pin that locks the trap and handles in place. The poles can be connected for any length required.

“A lot of people buy sets of 24 feet, four poles,” says David Pryor, company president and inventor of the tool. You can go as deep as you want.” The flat-bottom catcher enables crews to remove debris quickly without bringing in a combination vacuum unit.

“When you look down a manhole, you see the invert going from one side to the other; it’s a round, half-moon invert,” Pryor says. “You can put a round basket on the downstream side, and set it against the wall of the inlet, and it catches debris. It’s a nice tool, called the Debris Catcher, and we make those also. But when you take the tool out, a lot of the material has accumulated on the flat part of the manhole on either side of the round invert.”

“A lot of the guys who use the combination units don’t want to put a suction hose down there, because there’s not much debris. They don’t want to put all the tubes together. They just want to jet, and if there’s debris down there, get it out.” 714/632-8198; www.southlandtool.com.