Three-generation Company Thrives After Rig Theft

After cement casing a well July 3, 2020, Greg Crumb left the drill rig overnight while the cement dried — just as he’d done for 30 years. Except this time — at 4 a.m., July 4 — someone stole his rig.

“We did all the paperwork with the cops and immediately started searching online for a rig,” Crumb said. “I contacted Donnie on Wednesday, went and looked at the rig on Saturday, and two weeks later we had it.”

While they were in a hurry for a rig, they did look at another manufacturer’s rig but found the DRILLMAX^® DM250 by Geoprobe^® similar to their stolen rig — built by his grandfather — and lower in price.

“Availability and proximity factored into our decision,” Crumb said. “We took into consideration the ease of getting parts and service so downtime is a minimum.”

Located in Clewiston, Florida, the three-generation Crumb’s Well Drilling is only a few hours away from the Geoprobe^®/DRILLMAX^® Southeast Service Center in Ocala, Florida.

“My Grandfather started the company in 1970. My father took over, and I’m in line to take over in a few years,” Crumb said. “We expanded into service when my father took over and focused more on the smaller wells rather than the big wells my grandfather took on.”

Crumb primarily focuses on 2 to 4-inch residential water well drilling. While they appreciated the similarities the DM250 had with their stolen rig, Crumb has also noticed the differences.

“It’s way faster than our other rig. I ran the other one since 2006. It was the only thing I’d run. So the speed surprised me more than anything,” Crumb said. “We can get other things done. We’re typically done installing the well by 2 p.m., so we have the rest of the day to do other jobs.”

The speed makes it more cost effective for the family business.

“The DM250 shortens drill time by a couple hours per day at minimum, so we can get more jobs done in the afternoon, so we’re making more money,” Crumb said.

He quickly rattles off features like the winch system, centrifugal pump, and the sleek design with the pumps underneath when he describes the distinctions. The compact size also stands out against the competition.

“We can fit into yards the other guys can’t,” Crumb said. “We can’t drill as large a well, but as busy as we are, we don’t need to do the large ones. We’re five months behind, so we work the hell out of it six days a week.”

Recently, Crumb completed a 6-inch well to 300 feet providing water for the spray tanks at an orange grove.

“We’d never attempted that size well with our other rig,” Crumb said. “We set 160-feet of 6-inch casing, sent 4-inch screen down 300 feet, in two days.”

The backlog of residential water well drilling work and versatility of the DRILLMAX^® DM250 by Geoprobe^® make him long to add another DM250 to his fleet.

“Wish we had another one. If only I had an operator,” Crumb said. “We can punch a 2-inch well in two hours, 4-inch well in five or six hours, or jump up to a 6-inch well in about as much time. I’m very happy with the rig.”