Larger Than Life Drilling Equipment Services Knowledge

Experiencing growing pains, Foratek Quebec sought a rig to provide power to do bigger boreholes while maintaining a compact footprint for their predominantly urban workload occurring in Montreal.

“I’ve been with the company for a year and a half. We grew 20 percent in the first year and are aiming for another 20-percent increase. That’s why we bought another machine,” Christiane Theriault, operations manager, said. “Around our area we have soil and underground layers which are difficult to get through, so when possible we take the 7822DT. The 6610DT is a good mix between our 420M and 7822DT, if access is too limited to take the 7822DT.”

Theriault describes their rig fleet of 420M, 6610DT and 7822DT as “aging,” and admits before her arrival no one realized the wide scope of regular drilling equipment services required to maintain a healthy machine.

“We had to invest time, love, and money on the 7822DT,” Theriault said. “Every time we have a strange sound, an error on the screen, or something leaking, I take a picture and almost within 24 hours the part is here.”

Perfecting taking a picture for the service team to identify the issue, she’s grateful to rarely wait to receive parts.

“I send them the picture, explain as best as I can, and they tell me what’s wrong. Between the call, order, shipping, and receiving, it’s 24 to 48 hours. Very few times do I get the answer ‘it’s not in stock’. I would say a maximum of four times in my year and a half. That’s fantastic,” Theriault said. “Every day the machine is grounded, we lose $4,000 of business. That’s why finding the problem and getting parts quickly is key.”

She also recognizes the drilling equipment services expertise required to accurately troubleshoot struggles remotely.

“When assistance isn’t hands-on, the knowledge has to be larger than life. Not everyone can do the diagnostics remotely without visualizing the equipment or the problem,” Theriault said. “We’ve seen other service team members reply beyond just Roman. They know I’m not always on the phone or near email, so they know I appreciate them proceeding with orders without a PO number or other written communication.”

Just before Christmas, they had modules on the 7822DT which weren't talking to one another.

“We were going to be closed between Christmas and New Year’s, but needed to be back up and running for a job Jan. 4,” Theriault said. “I emailed the service team, and Roman said to ship them in and they’d put them on the bench to verify them and then ship them back.”

While she sometimes gets guff about having a “special” arrangement with the Geoprobe^® service team, she’s seen the same level of drilling equipment services support regardless of who seeks assistance.

“As good and high-quality service we get from Geoprobe^®, if the machine is at a garage or at Kubota^®, they give the same quick response and provide solutions to the outside resource as well,” Theriault said.

Module Repair Timeline

• Dec. 22 – Shipped three modules from Canada to Kansas
• Dec. 27 – Modules updated and shipped back
• Dec. 28 – Modules received in Canada
• Jan. 3 – Foratek mechanic installs modules on 7822DT
• Jan. 4 – 7822DT returns to field