Power, Drill Rig Safety Solve Sampling Struggles

When a gas station in Oklahoma has an active contaminant release or suspicion of a release, it's likely the state will call in Oklahoma Environmental Services (OES), specializing in underground storage tank investigations.

“We are doing much more state and municipal work as one of the main licensed contractors. Other firms also use us to do their work as well. We’re known for quality of work and safety,” Tyler Herman, operations manager, said. “We’re a turnkey environmental consulting firm with highly-experienced project managers and a skilled field staff to take care of every environmental need.”

Occasionally they ran into challenging soils where they would need more weight and torque than their 7822DT could provide. They considered a 31 series rig but determined the 3230DT with additional torque best fit their needs.

“The Oklahoma soil is hard and changes a lot across depth and geography. We can have clay, sandstone, and siltstone within 10 feet,” Herman said. “The 3230DT is a monster. It has significantly more torque, down force, and pulling force but still has direct push capabilities to do our Phase II work. It’s a Swiss Army knife for us.”

Drill Rig Safety Stands Out

In addition to the combo head with centerline head side shift being a “game changer,” he appreciates the array of drill rig safety enhancements engineered into the 3230DT.

“The head can be moved out of the way when using the winches, which alleviates safety concerns when lifting augers,” Herman said. “The 7-inch breakout wrench is a great engineered safety control versus two guys with pipe wrenches.”

They’ve also become fond of the electric over hydraulic controls.

“Our seasoned operator with 10-plus years of experience says it’s the best rig he could have asked to operate,” Herman said. “Operating it is something to look forward to.”

While the extra power of the 3230DT convinced them to purchase, the additional rig safety provides peace of mind.

“The overall safety is a significant improvement from a conventional rig. The time and engineering focused on safety is apparent. It’s clear the engineers had safety in mind when designing the rig,” Herman said. “Most of us have families, and it’s a relief to use the 3230DT because of the safety features. It prevents us from having our hands on as much stuff.”

Rig Safety Plus Production

Thanks to the 3230DT, reduced drill rig safety concerns come with increased production.

“We’re saving time and money with extra torque and weight on the rig. It just wants to chew through everything. We can quickly pull augers in swelling clay. They used to get locked in place, but the 3230DT pulls them right out,” Herman said. “It also saves on manpower. With the way the rig is designed, we can have one less person on the job site. Using the rig controls versus physically handling tools makes soil sampling simple."

He appreciates the attention from Geoprobe^® to keep lines of communication open and even come by job sites to check on progress.

“With Geoprobe^® there’s a huge respect for the client and genuinely wanting to produce the best and be the best. The attention to detail they have is next to none,” Herman said. “Geoprobe^® helped us up our game as drillers.”