Better and Faster

During five years of business, King Water Wells grew from a crew of three, running one rig, to 12-14 employees, running a big red rig and a 2008 DM250 everyday. They continually considered alternatives to more efficiently install residential and personal irrigation wells on lake lots around their Rockford, Michigan, shop.

 “We could do cable tool, but prefer rotary,” Kegan King, owner, said. “We bought the used DM250 to test whether it had ability to do rock wells through glacial formations.”

The 2008 DM250 top drive drilling rig slipped behind houses and performed well when selective on which holes to send it on. As workload increased and territory expanded, they concluded enhanced efficiency meant investing in a more flexible fleet.

EFFICIENCY 

Requiring a small drill rig to still slip behind a house or up on a hill like their legacy DM250, they considered alternatives and observed a couple of DRILLMAX^® by Geoprobe^® demos before deciding on a 2021 DM250. 

“The 2008 DM250 was nice, but the 2021 DM250 is better and faster. The efficiency of the 2021 DM250 means we do jobs in a day where the older rig couldn’t,” Mitch Briggs, driller, said. “It does everything so quickly. We timed it, and from pull in to drill was 12 minutes.”

King agreed, “Overall power on the 2021 DM250 — mud pump, air compressor, top head — means we don’t worry what job we send it on. It has the power to get through the formation. It minimizes water and additives used so we save a day or more on production and keeps up speed of big rig.”

OPTIONS

The 2021 DM250 top drive drilling rig offers options they desired when investing in a rig. 

“It’s been huge to have the power to get through tough formations doing 50- to 300-foot wells. The legacy model had a 4.5X5 piston pump. The 2021 model has a 4X3X13 centrifugal,” King said. “With the 2021 DM250 we don’t have to pick and choose based on drilling formation. If it’s a tight spot, we send the DM250.”

On lake lots where they otherwise would have used a cable tool, the 2021 DM250 is tailored to meet their needs.

“The 2008 DM250 would struggle when we got into cobble-sized gravel. The 2021 DM250 has so many different options on it, we have always found a way to make it happen,” Briggs said. “The 2021 DM250 blows me away every time we take it out.”

COMPACT SIZE TOP DRIVE DRILLING RIG

The small size makes the DM250 their go-to rig on most jobs.

“Some places we just can’t get big stuff in and cable tool is time and labor intensive, so now we use the DM250," King said. "We can run a smaller tender truck and don’t run as much water."

Compact size combined with the larger jacks on the 2021 DM250 simplifies matching rig to job.

“On a recent lake job there was no way we could get a full-size rig in, and cable rig couldn’t get level on the terrain. Because of the bigger jacks on the smaller DM250 truck, we could get between houses and level up,” King said. “All these spots have landscaping or retaining walls. Rather than saying you need to move this or that or attempting to get a big rig in and waste a day of labor, it makes my job easier to just send the DM250.”

The lightweight DM250 top drive drilling rig delivers advantages during frost laws and savings in overall operation.

“With frost laws, many have a hard time getting on jobs, but this rig is under weight. It gets around so well that for 90 percent of jobs we just back in, drill, pull out. Takes less manpower than moving mats,” Briggs said. “It just travels well on or off road. Even if it’s a big rig job, this rig drills so well we use it and save on fuel.”

COST SAVINGS

Fuel efficiency is just one way the DM250 reduces operation costs.

“The DM250 costs half as much as full-size rig, but capable of doing 90 percent of holes,” King said. “We spend less on tires, fuel, CDL-licensed employees. Payback is quicker than a big rig.”

Not requiring a Class A/B CDL offers additional advantages as well.

“Being non-CDL is advantageous in today’s labor market,” King said. “Truck drivers don’t make good drillers. They just like to drive.”

SERVICEABILITY

Simplicity of servicing the DM250 also makes the list of advantages.

“The DM250’s open deck means everything is simple, clean, easy to access. Can get deck plates off and service the rig,” King said.

Briggs agreed, “If there’s something wrong, it’s simplistic enough you can handle it on your own. What takes four to five hours to fix on the big red drill takes five minutes on the DRILLMAX^® [by Geoprobe^®]. Everything about it is quicker — driving, set up, drilling. It’s just user-friendly.”