More Family Time

The four-generation Rhoads Farms business includes farms, ranches, 450 wells, and an insurance company. Twelve years ago Mark Rhoads added well drilling to their portfolio.

“I grew up with a driller who drilled all our wells and set pumps. When he retired, he offered the business to me and I took him up on it,” Mark said. “Most days I’m glad I did.”

Focused on drilling house and irrigation wells within an hour and a half radius of Lubbock, Texas, typical wells are 21-inch holes, 450-feet deep through lots of clay, sand, and gravel.

“Ninety-nine percent of the well drilling is serving other customers,” Mark said. “I haven’t even been back on our own stuff in nearly a year.”

Getting weary of repairing their aging rig, Mark searched for a new water well drilling rig.

“I talked to other manufacturers, but I got a better vibe from DRILLMAX^® [by Geoprobe^®],” Mark said. “I felt like their service was way better.”

He chose the DM450 in large part because it was the biggest DRILLMAX^® by Geoprobe^® available.

“It’s fast and efficient. We get paid by the foot, so we need to make a hole fast as you can, and the DRILLMAX^® DM450 [by Geoprobe^®] does that,” Mark said.

The 2-speed head and winch line make tripping in and out fast. As a top head drive rig, they can always spin in and out of the hole should they get stuck. When combined with the 40-foot mast – one of its kind – for setting 40-foot casing, they can get jobs done more efficiently.

“I’m able to complete jobs faster and do more work per week, which means more money and keeping customers happy,” Mark said. “It also means more time with my kids and not working weekends trying to prepare for the next week.”

While the heat and AC on the rig means a more comfortable commute in the “smooth and efficient” rig, the technical support from Joel Christy, engineer, and Donnie Wood, general manager, permeates Mark’s praise of DRILLMAX^® [by Geoprobe^®].

“Service is a big deal in the drilling world. I can call and someone picks up the phone,” Mark said. “Joel Christy is the GOAT of DRILLMAX^® [by Geoprobe^®]. We found a neglected mutt on a job site and now have a drilling dog named Joel. It’s small and a firecracker. We call it JC for short.”