Drilling Technology for the Times

Working throughout Texas and Louisiana, Mathers Environmental Drilling has been completing environmental, and some geotechnical, drilling since 1992. Through the years they’ve consistently provided services installing monitoring wells, collecting soil samples, and doing rotary and air work in all types of locations — off barges, in landfills, at refineries, and on commercial sites. What has changed is how they perform the work.

 “We’ve changed from truck-mounted drill rigs to now most are with a track to maneuver in small areas. They have a smaller footprint, which means we can do more work with them,” said Shawn Mathers, operations manager and driller. “We like to keep up with drilling technology and like Geoprobe^® rigs to do direct push and augers in our lithologies.”

Seeking a drill rig to complete direct push, but with a larger rotary head and multiple winches, Mathers determined the drilling technology on the 3126GT could tackle any of their projects but was still sized to slip into most sites.

“The 3126GT can do any drill job and still do direct push. It can go off road and into tight areas,” Mathers said. “The added weight means we can go a little deeper with direct push than with our 7822DT. The 3126GT can get into tighter areas than a big drill truck, but get to 100 feet easily with augers in Houston. Instead of just a direct push rig, it’s like a conventional drill rig.”

The versatility of the 3126GT, power of the rotary head, and ease of the centerline head side shift means it can go out on jobs all the time. 

“The centerline head side shift can line up over the hole without moving the mast but has better pulling power,” Mathers said. “It’s convenient to use the centerline head side shift to move the head out of the way and run the winch line.” 

Other 3126GT drilling technology advantages he identified include:

• Winches, which make pulling hollow stem auger tooling a little easier.
• Outriggers, which make balancing when doing direct push on an angle easier and make lifting foot up to break rods or set up over mud pans simpler.
• Wider tracks, which make traveling over different site conditions easier.
• Streamlined design — like the side rack, which makes toting tooling for direct push work convenient.
• Separate hydraulic circuit for mud pump, which permits washing out heaving sands without losing power.

“The 3126GT just keeps rolling, doing mud pump and rotation at the same time. It doesn’t slow down at all,” Mathers said. "It’s a compact drill rig with really good direct push capabilities."

The versatility and size, in combination with the rig features, means they’re able to work in tight areas in a warehouse or in the woods.

“We use it almost everyday. We work all over the state and it handles whatever we need to do,” Mathers said. “It’s more convenient. It’s helper friendly. It has all the power you need and you don’t have to manhandle things as much. It can handle auger and rotary work here in Houston, but also works in other parts of the state if we need to auger and then switch to air. It’s easy to set up and run and the size makes it convenient for environmental even though it’s a geotechnical rig.”

Fuel efficiency also contributes to them believing the 3126GT is well worth the purchase.

“We used to take a big truck to try and push a few samples, now we don’t even think of that — especially with the cost of diesel,” Mathers said. “It’s really good in fuel consumption. You can work hard for a full day and just burn one tank pretty much.”

They also appreciate the drilling technology innovation combined with peace of mind that comes from purchasing rigs from Geoprobe^®.

“A lot of engineering has gone into everything. Geoprobe^® really keeps up with technology, and that’s where we want to be. The more technology the less labor you need and can do a project a little faster,” Mathers said. “Technology is way up there, but if we have a problem, we can talk to someone to solve it. You can call up and troubleshoot and get parts easily. I like not worrying about whether I’ll be on my own to solve problems after I get equipment.”