A WELL DRILLING BUSINESS

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Rotary drills, on the other hand, use a highpowered engine that screws a cutting bit into the earth . . . while water is continuously flushed down through the hollow sections of drilling pipe (or "drill stems"), and out through holes in the bit. The liquid washes the cuttings to the surface to clean out the hole. Any suspended particles are then allowed to settle out, after which a second engine (the mud pump) cycles the water to the bottom of the well again. Rotary drilling machines are much more expensive than cable rigs (they cost $200,000 or $300,000, whereas new pounder setups go for around $80,000), but the more costly devices are also powerful enough to bore a household well in a day or two.

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL

Both rotary and cable drill operators have to charge a considerable price for their services: The first group are forced to do so because their equipment is so costly, and the second because theirs is so slow. The rotary-driven EXPLORER 2000, though, can work rapidly enough to -as Skip Piper says-"wax those cable pounders" . . . yet its purchase price undercuts that of other rotary rigs by a factor of 30!

What's the secret of Roy and Skip's rig? Well, its main asset is, simply enough, an economy of scale. Most rotary machines are-in addition to their water-finding jobs-designed to have the capability to drill oil or industrial wells that are over 2,400 feet deep! Every feature of such a machine must be massive: It uses a pair of large, fuel-guzzling engines, a 30- to 60 foot tall drilling tower, drill stems that often can't be raised without a crane, massive pumps to circulate huge quantities of water, etc. (In fact, the rig's operators may need to own one extra truck just to carry the drill stems . . . another for toting essential spare parts . . . and yet a third to haul the necessary water! )

Obviously, using such a large-capacity drill to cut a 100- or 200-foot domestic well is a clear case of mechanical overkill. So Skip and Roy are able to save a great deal of expense and energy simply by using a machine whose size more nearly matches the demands of the specific job. As an example, the EXPLORER 2000's tower is only 14 feet tall-and the drill stems 10 feet long-so all of the portable equipment can actually be lifted by hand. The drilling engine also uses much less power than do those of the big rigs . . . the mud pump needs to cycle a great deal less water . . . and the body of the rig is small and, therefore, less expensive to build.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print