Power, Profit from a Small Water Well Drill Rig

A fire recently forced King Water Wells in Michigan to replace some equipment. The first item on their list: another DM250 small water well drill.

“We’ve experienced significant growth every year. We had a single cable-tool rig nine years ago, and now we’re up to four rotary rigs in addition,” Kegan King, owner, said. “Our 2021 model DM250 was booked all of last year, so we wanted our first replacement to be another DM250 to give ourselves flexibility. Dollar-for-dollar, it’s the most profitable platform for 95% of our residential work.”

What came with the 2024 DM250 were significant enhancements compared to their 2021 model.

“We’ve been drilling with the 2024 DM250 for a week. I thought the 2021 DM250 was great, but I feel like this new model has more power going through bigger, coarse materials. It’s just smooth operation,” Mitch Briggs, driller, said. “The F600 is a more solid truck and carries the weight better.”

New Small Water Well Drill Advantages

According to King, the 2024 DM250 has “more power, more air, and is a stouter rig.”

“Geoprobe^® has done a good job of listening to customers or anticipating how to iterate or change from the 2021 model,” King said. “The amount of innovation in such a short amount of time is awesome. The bigger air and the top head redesign gives you more power and a tougher rig. You’re not sacrificing anything compared to a full-size rig for 90% of the workload.”

With their 2024 DM250 small water well drill, they chose the rod carousel, bigger air compressor, auxiliary trash pump, and on-board grouter. All features they’ve found valuable for increasing production.

“Our 2021 rig had the single rod loader. So the carousel combined with the speed of the top head makes drilling so easy and quick. The bigger air compressor on the truck does a good job of developing wells that have a thicker mud and wells with a deeper static level,” Briggs said. “The auxiliary trash pump makes it even easier to get set and drill as quickly as possible. You can just roll out the hoses and be able to go.”

Briggs describes “babysitting” their other rigs when doing jobs in bigger material or harder clay.

“With the power of the 2024 DM250, it drills more like a big rig, and you just put pressure on it and watch it chew on through,” Briggs said.

However, thanks to the compact platform, the DM250 small water well drill doesn’t chew through yards.

“Most homeowners don’t want a 60,000-lb truck in their yard,” Briggs said. “With the DM250 we can sneak it in, and the site is so clean that the well looks like it was put in 20 years ago.”

The ability to access sites safely was part of the appeal in adding the additional DM250 to their fleet.

“The number one advantage of the DM250 is the ability of the smaller rig under CDL to get into job sites,” King said. “Having the jacks behind the cab takes a tough job site and makes it manageable.”

The small water well drill size also contributes to the rig’s safety. For example, drillers are closer to the ground versus having to step up 6 feet in the air.

“The small size improves the safety factor because of the accessibility and not trying to get a big rig in a precarious spot,” King said. “Being on the road is also safer because of its size.”

The “user-friendly” rig is also an advantage when it comes to training the next generation of drillers.

“For new guys coming into the trade, the DM250 is less intimidating to run and maintain,” King said.