CPT Machine Blows Efficiency Out of the Water

Universal Engineering Services (UES) Wichita, Kansas, office sought a replacement of similar size to their beloved 15-year-old 6620DT CPT machine, which they admit had become a hassle to keep running.

“We didn’t want to upgrade the footprint. We liked the agility of the smaller rig. Plus staying below CDL weight when mobilizing equals efficiency for Phase II,” Ian Smith, P.G., drilling manager, said. “We do a lot of CPT in the Midwest, so we saw the 6712DT with the 20CPT Press as a way to keep the rig running more days. Basically the 6712DT with the 20CPT Press is two rigs in one that’s very similar to the 6620DT.”

Colin Parker, P.E., lead project engineer, has been running the CPT cone for the last decade. According to him, the efficiency of the 6712DT with 20CPT Press “blows what we were doing out of the water.”

“My only experience is CPT, and we wanted something similar to what we had in the 6620DT, but 100% the 6712DT with 20CPT Press is an upgrade. It’s a higher-quality product for sure. There was just more manual labor than necessary with the 6620DT, and the 6712DT with 20CPT Press turned the half-hour set up to two minutes,” Parker said. “It’s a lot less back breaking versus carrying each anchor out and carrying the bridge over. The anchor and bridge are part of the 20CPT Press. This makes it much safer. Instead of requiring two guys, one guy could set up, push cone, and run computer.”

He also appreciates the switch from pushing cone using the attachment at the top of the 6620DT CPT machine.

“The 6712DT with 20CPT Press uses jaws on the side of the rods,” Parker said. “This gives us the opportunity to push from different points on the rod, so not bending the rods in dense materials or having to call refusal earlier than we bid to do.”

To him, another advantage of the 6712DT CPT machine is the rear blade.

“The blade makes leveling easier, using it as a rear outrigger before anchor,” Parker said. "It also clears topsoil or grass for a clean work area."

The tracked 6712DT with 20CPT Press proved to be a faster, easier, safer choice when completing a job drilling levies in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on 2-to-1 slopes along the Arkansas River.

“Rather than doing extensive cribbing for a larger rig, we used the 6712DT with 20CPT Press. It took 4-5 days versus the 10 days it would have taken to do cribbing, repairs, and SPT with a conventional rig,” Smith said. “Plus everyone was safer versus carrying the weight of tooling down the slope. Overall it was extremely more efficient, provided better data, and in the long run was safer for everyone.”

According to Smith, who runs more direct push work, the top advantages of the 6712DT are efficiency and no investigation derived waste (IDW).

“It’s effective for shallow logging and soil investigation as far as timeliness getting in and out of sites. It does jobs in one day, generating maybe a 5-gallon bucket of waste, versus one day and 10 soil drums of waste,” Smith said. “IDW is harder to get rid of, and fewer people want to deal with it.”

He also appreciates the 6712DT for keeping their schedule on track compared to the challenges of mobilizing a conventional rig.

“In winter weather, when we wouldn’t be able to get into a site with a conventional rig because the site’s wet, we can send the 6712DT with tracks and do the job,” Smith said. “This has helped utilization, keeping guys working versus sending a truck rig two weeks later.”

He describes the 6712DT CPT machine as an upgraded version of the 6620DT with a slightly smaller track system.

“The 6620DT felt like an unbeatable machine, but the 6712DT hasn’t skipped a beat. It’s been everything I’ve needed it to be,” Smith said. “It’s easy to service. Oil changes and fuel filters couldn’t be any simpler. We have our least mechanically-inclined employee doing maintenance to keep it running, and he has no problem.”

Switching between standard mast and 20CPT Press also poses no difficulties.

“At first it was a little intimidating switching the mast, but the employee in charge of keeping it running can do it in 20 minutes,” Parker said.

UES also values Geoprobe^® service and ability to get a wide range of tooling types, quickly, adding to their drilling efficiency.

“Geoprobe^® service is a huge advantage — answering calls, getting parts and supplies to us. The human interaction is second to none in the drilling industry,” Smith said. “They offer so many forms of tooling – groundwater sampling, wireline, Direct Image^® — which give invaluable information when sites require it.”