RandyMac
Stiff Member
YeeeeHawwwww!!!!!
Let it flow, don't be worried about freakin' grammer, she can take care of herself.
Let it flow, don't be worried about freakin' grammer, she can take care of herself.
The Dead of Night, Old Growth spiders in my brain.
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drill.daddy
ArboristSite Operative
If you wonder wht this is like , watch a crane work , he lifts his load and in most cases the load is many yards away from the cab of the crane . My ole rig runs just like a crane, blocks and all , on a grander scale of course, but in the smae manner with a few exceptions,
1 my blocks run inside the mast ( the boom of the crane)
2 We operate this iron standing directly under the mast that supports this load and the blocks that some time hesitantly pull it ,
3. we drill into pressured zones , pumping fluid down the hole with thousands of pounds of pressure moving the fluid thru the pipe , out the bottom and back out to surface.
bad days are something most therapist couldnt even straighten out . I stand 6 foot 3 inches tall , 305 pounds, spend two hours in the gym daily ina a semi religous manner , and there have been days where the tigers tail was more than i could hold
to be continued
1 my blocks run inside the mast ( the boom of the crane)
2 We operate this iron standing directly under the mast that supports this load and the blocks that some time hesitantly pull it ,
3. we drill into pressured zones , pumping fluid down the hole with thousands of pounds of pressure moving the fluid thru the pipe , out the bottom and back out to surface.
bad days are something most therapist couldnt even straighten out . I stand 6 foot 3 inches tall , 305 pounds, spend two hours in the gym daily ina a semi religous manner , and there have been days where the tigers tail was more than i could hold
to be continued
mike1273
ArboristSite Member
I just spent the last coupla hours reading this thread. Randy you truly been there, done that, then stole the t-shirt. Keep it coming, I've never been exposed to this much reality in history, contrary of the books written for the masses of children to learn from. All they learn in school is how to be herded like animals in a direction someone else told them to go. You blazed a trail & lived to tell about it, count me in for a preorder on a book.... like many others have stated their age, I'm 37 also & had the pleasure of learning my trade from old timers & these young guys I'm trying to teach don't have the enthusiasm of the lifestyle involved; just the pay check! Respect Rep comin your way.
Stumpys Customs
Stumpbroke
Just had to say thanks for the story's fellas. Puts life in perspective for me.
RandyMac
Stiff Member
Thanks guys, it means a great deal to me to have feedback.
These are rough samples, parts and starts of better, more full stories. I just finished a brutal tale, Man vs machine vs nature, nobody won, all were left broken, defeated. Made me break into a sweat proof reading it.
A problem with some of this, when I go back, it goes too far sometimes, I am there, with a fear of not getting back. I don't have much control over what flows from the fingers, there have been suprises. I have a file of "deletes", things written, never intended to see the light of day, born in the dark, of the dark, to stay in the dark. A few I have never read after finishing them, they are that bad, don't know why I kept them. The tribal memories live on.
On a lighter note, I tapped out some funny stuff in part 3 of the epic Kev MacKnothead Adventures. Finished the Alton Tavern bar fight, halfway (maybe) through something called "As big as a house". I have dabbled in family dynamics, pretty twisted when viewed with an outside eye. Dealing with the subject of my brother has been educational to say the least. There are some things we still won't talk about, might not live long enough to settle a couple things, looking at the business end of that Colt of his, gets old.
These are rough samples, parts and starts of better, more full stories. I just finished a brutal tale, Man vs machine vs nature, nobody won, all were left broken, defeated. Made me break into a sweat proof reading it.
A problem with some of this, when I go back, it goes too far sometimes, I am there, with a fear of not getting back. I don't have much control over what flows from the fingers, there have been suprises. I have a file of "deletes", things written, never intended to see the light of day, born in the dark, of the dark, to stay in the dark. A few I have never read after finishing them, they are that bad, don't know why I kept them. The tribal memories live on.
On a lighter note, I tapped out some funny stuff in part 3 of the epic Kev MacKnothead Adventures. Finished the Alton Tavern bar fight, halfway (maybe) through something called "As big as a house". I have dabbled in family dynamics, pretty twisted when viewed with an outside eye. Dealing with the subject of my brother has been educational to say the least. There are some things we still won't talk about, might not live long enough to settle a couple things, looking at the business end of that Colt of his, gets old.
drill.daddy
ArboristSite Operative
There are days when my ever so delicate structure overloads my posterior to the point where im covered in so much fecal matter that I would have to have a snorkel that would reach a giraffes exhaust pluming just to take a breath of fresh air , Sad to say most of these days my alligator mouth overloads my hummingbird ass. These days seem to have a way of returning a blowheart back to church mouse status. Just incase it was missed earlier I am a rather large feller, 6’3 305. and not a slouch at that status.
When you read this story it will probably take even a good reader a matter of several minutes to dredge thru this tale . Keep in the back of your head that what im writing and your probably reluctantly reading over breakfast and coffee, this took less than ten seconds to transpire . well the actual horror part . Horor in my line of work happens in mear seconds and sometimes has almost tragic results.
I stepped out of the crew house , 5:00 am , looked into the derrick while listening to the sound of the generators humming , Watched the Kelly slowly spinning in the rotary table , the rotary of death ( this means my relief ran one square off in my ass without even a slight trace of anything slick . ) 13000 feet of pipe to pull out the hole to change the bit out , That sorry s.o.b. waited till 4:45 too call the boss and tell him the bit was trashed and wasn’t drilling worth a damn. Which means they have just enough time to prepare everything for a long days work for us.( bits just like chains , when dull will not cut for chit) . By the time the Marlboro red had just about burnt out my vertically challenged boss decided to come out for the safety meeting and try to rub salt in a wound. My demeaner at this time went back a few years , Like a transformer I went from sum beach I got to trip pipe , to HELL YEA lets get this muther f***er out the hole and show these boys how to burn a bit back to bottom . Roughnecks motto . old school that is “ f**ck , fight , and trip pipe…..
There is something almost spiritual about the feeling of the machine when you pick up its vibrations , how its running pulling, howling , the two almost become one . When that machine sings to the tune your playin . When you drag the pipe up off the slips, the cluctches groan and squeal as the bladders air up and fully engage them , when the derrick squats after you pick up 300k pounds off the slips. Spiritual , hell its poetry in motion ,
Shortly after the safety/ bull#### meeting came to a close it was time to dress for hell, January on a mountain of steel with water leaks and drizzling rain from time to time would make a well diggers ass pucker up at time . One layer of long handles on top of some silk stockings,( laugh if you will the damn things work ) with two pair of wool socks crammed into redwings, With a carhart duck brown long sleeve draped over the top . All underneath the cherry on top the old grey hard hat that had seen more miles than a two dollar hooker in allnight truck stop . ( when I was 18 I looked at men with this description and wondered why they had a calloused attitude , now I know) . I truged through the slush they called a rig pad to wards the rig floor stairs. My relief being the considerate gentlemen that he was had recently douched the rig floor off and washed the stairs in the process. At 20 degrees this makes a trip to the rig floor more like a barnum and baileys side show act , Most times with a lunch pail being hurled off the steps just so you can grab the handrails to kepp from making a dramatic trip back to the bottom twice as fast as your trip up . At this point in our adventure my mood was somewhere between the warmth of a hibernating grizzley being rudely awakened or a rottwilder someone just kicked in the face with a golf shoe .
Attitude aside , I made the trip to the floor without falter. Not saying I didn’t slip , just not enough to prematurely panic. My relief was standing in the old delapodated dog house smiling like a possum eating chit . My pride wouldn’t let him knoiw he had pissed me off, I shook his hand , said our to do’s and on his merry way. Now for the task at hand. PULLLL THIS PIPE OUT THE GROUND…. Hold on boys here we go , first 15 stands pulled where slicker than greased out chit , Numebr 16 had its lil surprise in store , Pulled 30 foot of the stand out and wham , the lil weight indicator went from 250 to 300k pounds in a split seconds. Gut reaction , dump the clutch and let her fall back out of it . In a perfect world this works, My world aint perfect….
10 seconds of horror, Dumped the clutch, it fell out of the spot that was dragging her down , whew , relief the pipe aint stuck, Grabbed the auxiliary brake to slow the ole girl down so my brakes would stop it , Guess the auxiliary brake decided it wanted to take a siesta, and kick itself out , At this point I Scream at the top of my lungs for my crew to abandon ship , Well I told them “ get the f**k out of here.” The boys scattered like roaches when the lights came on . My derrick hand was watching this fiasco from a safe vantage point approx 95 feet above my head . When he relized what was going on he was squeeling over the p.a. for me to run . At this juncture my brain was saying run, but the body was locked in for the ride. When I realized my aux brake had went on hiatus , raw instincts had me climb on top of a 6 foot long brake handle and bounce like a 5 year old on a trampoline trying to stop this 900 mile an hour freight train from dumping on the rig floor . Even with bouncing and pulling nothing was even remotely slowing. Raw momentum pulled the blocks back to the rig floor as if gravity itself had multiplied exponentially . When the elevators hit the rig floor and the rig floor held the load I was able to stop the blocks from continueing on there destructive path. When the cloud of white smoke cleared and I could see ole yellow( the 25k pound blocks) it was appox 3 inches above my head. It was at this point my drawworks returned to life, and the forking clutch I had enguaged 5 seconds prior to this finally enguaged and began pickint the blocks back up . Damage to the rig. One piece of 1 inch square tubing was bent on the cage that went around the drillers console . this piece of iron is only 8 inches from my head when I am standing flat footed on the ground. I was standing on top of the brake handle at this point which elevated my postion to 2 foot higher. Why I wasn’t Knoncked flat on my arse I will never know . my head was above the bar, the bar was bent.
When all the “dust” settled and I could convince my hands and muscles to release their anaconda like grip , I stepped back and went to my knees. It wasn’t a voulantary movement , it was as if Dracula had tapped a vein and drained the life from my limbs.
These days have been few and far between , but as infrequent as they might be they still have a way of humility, While I don’t like remembering these events, I am thankfull for them . reminds me that anything human made can fail, even steel
When you read this story it will probably take even a good reader a matter of several minutes to dredge thru this tale . Keep in the back of your head that what im writing and your probably reluctantly reading over breakfast and coffee, this took less than ten seconds to transpire . well the actual horror part . Horor in my line of work happens in mear seconds and sometimes has almost tragic results.
I stepped out of the crew house , 5:00 am , looked into the derrick while listening to the sound of the generators humming , Watched the Kelly slowly spinning in the rotary table , the rotary of death ( this means my relief ran one square off in my ass without even a slight trace of anything slick . ) 13000 feet of pipe to pull out the hole to change the bit out , That sorry s.o.b. waited till 4:45 too call the boss and tell him the bit was trashed and wasn’t drilling worth a damn. Which means they have just enough time to prepare everything for a long days work for us.( bits just like chains , when dull will not cut for chit) . By the time the Marlboro red had just about burnt out my vertically challenged boss decided to come out for the safety meeting and try to rub salt in a wound. My demeaner at this time went back a few years , Like a transformer I went from sum beach I got to trip pipe , to HELL YEA lets get this muther f***er out the hole and show these boys how to burn a bit back to bottom . Roughnecks motto . old school that is “ f**ck , fight , and trip pipe…..
There is something almost spiritual about the feeling of the machine when you pick up its vibrations , how its running pulling, howling , the two almost become one . When that machine sings to the tune your playin . When you drag the pipe up off the slips, the cluctches groan and squeal as the bladders air up and fully engage them , when the derrick squats after you pick up 300k pounds off the slips. Spiritual , hell its poetry in motion ,
Shortly after the safety/ bull#### meeting came to a close it was time to dress for hell, January on a mountain of steel with water leaks and drizzling rain from time to time would make a well diggers ass pucker up at time . One layer of long handles on top of some silk stockings,( laugh if you will the damn things work ) with two pair of wool socks crammed into redwings, With a carhart duck brown long sleeve draped over the top . All underneath the cherry on top the old grey hard hat that had seen more miles than a two dollar hooker in allnight truck stop . ( when I was 18 I looked at men with this description and wondered why they had a calloused attitude , now I know) . I truged through the slush they called a rig pad to wards the rig floor stairs. My relief being the considerate gentlemen that he was had recently douched the rig floor off and washed the stairs in the process. At 20 degrees this makes a trip to the rig floor more like a barnum and baileys side show act , Most times with a lunch pail being hurled off the steps just so you can grab the handrails to kepp from making a dramatic trip back to the bottom twice as fast as your trip up . At this point in our adventure my mood was somewhere between the warmth of a hibernating grizzley being rudely awakened or a rottwilder someone just kicked in the face with a golf shoe .
Attitude aside , I made the trip to the floor without falter. Not saying I didn’t slip , just not enough to prematurely panic. My relief was standing in the old delapodated dog house smiling like a possum eating chit . My pride wouldn’t let him knoiw he had pissed me off, I shook his hand , said our to do’s and on his merry way. Now for the task at hand. PULLLL THIS PIPE OUT THE GROUND…. Hold on boys here we go , first 15 stands pulled where slicker than greased out chit , Numebr 16 had its lil surprise in store , Pulled 30 foot of the stand out and wham , the lil weight indicator went from 250 to 300k pounds in a split seconds. Gut reaction , dump the clutch and let her fall back out of it . In a perfect world this works, My world aint perfect….
10 seconds of horror, Dumped the clutch, it fell out of the spot that was dragging her down , whew , relief the pipe aint stuck, Grabbed the auxiliary brake to slow the ole girl down so my brakes would stop it , Guess the auxiliary brake decided it wanted to take a siesta, and kick itself out , At this point I Scream at the top of my lungs for my crew to abandon ship , Well I told them “ get the f**k out of here.” The boys scattered like roaches when the lights came on . My derrick hand was watching this fiasco from a safe vantage point approx 95 feet above my head . When he relized what was going on he was squeeling over the p.a. for me to run . At this juncture my brain was saying run, but the body was locked in for the ride. When I realized my aux brake had went on hiatus , raw instincts had me climb on top of a 6 foot long brake handle and bounce like a 5 year old on a trampoline trying to stop this 900 mile an hour freight train from dumping on the rig floor . Even with bouncing and pulling nothing was even remotely slowing. Raw momentum pulled the blocks back to the rig floor as if gravity itself had multiplied exponentially . When the elevators hit the rig floor and the rig floor held the load I was able to stop the blocks from continueing on there destructive path. When the cloud of white smoke cleared and I could see ole yellow( the 25k pound blocks) it was appox 3 inches above my head. It was at this point my drawworks returned to life, and the forking clutch I had enguaged 5 seconds prior to this finally enguaged and began pickint the blocks back up . Damage to the rig. One piece of 1 inch square tubing was bent on the cage that went around the drillers console . this piece of iron is only 8 inches from my head when I am standing flat footed on the ground. I was standing on top of the brake handle at this point which elevated my postion to 2 foot higher. Why I wasn’t Knoncked flat on my arse I will never know . my head was above the bar, the bar was bent.
When all the “dust” settled and I could convince my hands and muscles to release their anaconda like grip , I stepped back and went to my knees. It wasn’t a voulantary movement , it was as if Dracula had tapped a vein and drained the life from my limbs.
These days have been few and far between , but as infrequent as they might be they still have a way of humility, While I don’t like remembering these events, I am thankfull for them . reminds me that anything human made can fail, even steel
cpr
Addicted to ArboristSite
Good work Drilldaddy, I enjoy this, too. Never tried the "silk stockings" route, but have no doubt. For what it's worth, take all the big-bux warm and dry gloves from Cabelas, et.al. and chuck it. Get a box of surgical gloves from the local drug store and wear them under the gloves of your choice. Your hands will not stay dry, they'll sweat from the heat and you'll be $$$ ahead.
drill.daddy
ArboristSite Operative
the surgical work well , no doubt. If working round diesil or gas the gloves dont hold up well, try the rubber gloves for washing dishes......they will last longer...
RandyMac
Stiff Member
Holy Crap!! Wes
Do you have any pics of the collossal machine? I'm trying to wrap my mind around the size and configuration.
Do you have any pics of the collossal machine? I'm trying to wrap my mind around the size and configuration.
drill.daddy
ArboristSite Operative
well i do but not good ones. seein how my bossses require me to keep a digital camera on the rig at all times i can get some , and this is a good enough excuse.
drill.daddy
ArboristSite Operative
randy i emailed you some pics to your hotmail acct. i cant get them to post for me . been trying for an hour now
RandyMac
Stiff Member
got them
drill.daddy
ArboristSite Operative
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/RandyMac713/McCullochs/off brands/misc/ws/100_0028.jpg
this is the drillers console, the bar at a 45 degree angle with the chain and springs is the break handle , thats what i was standing on trying to stop the blocks from falling .
the round dial with all the numbers is the weight indicator , it tells what i am pulling , how much wieght is hanging from the traveling blocks in the derrick
all the levers and controls to the left are air controls that activate clutches that enguage the 2 750 horse electric motors that run this operation .
if i had to explain a set of drawworks to a forestry hand, i would say its like a yarder on steroids
this is the drillers console, the bar at a 45 degree angle with the chain and springs is the break handle , thats what i was standing on trying to stop the blocks from falling .
the round dial with all the numbers is the weight indicator , it tells what i am pulling , how much wieght is hanging from the traveling blocks in the derrick
all the levers and controls to the left are air controls that activate clutches that enguage the 2 750 horse electric motors that run this operation .
if i had to explain a set of drawworks to a forestry hand, i would say its like a yarder on steroids
drill.daddy
ArboristSite Operative
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/RandyMac713/McCullochs/off brands/misc/ws/100_0005.jpg
this lil jewel is a caterpillar 399, its an 18 cylinder caterpillar deisil engine this engine runs a 1000kw generator. this generator has electrical leads that leave the gen and go to a scr house that has transformers and everything to trun the electricity into d.c. or a.c depending on what the device requires
this lil jewel is a caterpillar 399, its an 18 cylinder caterpillar deisil engine this engine runs a 1000kw generator. this generator has electrical leads that leave the gen and go to a scr house that has transformers and everything to trun the electricity into d.c. or a.c depending on what the device requires
drill.daddy
ArboristSite Operative
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/RandyMac713/McCullochs/off brands/misc/ws/100_0013.jpg
this is a 1300 horsepower pump , capable of pumping up to 7000 psi, most times this pump runs about 2500 psi and puts out about 400 gallons per minute. it pumps drilling fluid( mud) down the pipe out the bit and back up the backside of the pipe carrying drilled material out of the hole , back to a set of shakers that seperates the drilling fluid from the cuttings, the cuttings go out to a pit on the edge of location , the fluid falls thru to a set of tanks and starts its cycle again .
this is a far more complicated process than it sounds, just trying to make it simple so everyone can understand what this equip does and what basic purpose it seves
this is a 1300 horsepower pump , capable of pumping up to 7000 psi, most times this pump runs about 2500 psi and puts out about 400 gallons per minute. it pumps drilling fluid( mud) down the pipe out the bit and back up the backside of the pipe carrying drilled material out of the hole , back to a set of shakers that seperates the drilling fluid from the cuttings, the cuttings go out to a pit on the edge of location , the fluid falls thru to a set of tanks and starts its cycle again .
this is a far more complicated process than it sounds, just trying to make it simple so everyone can understand what this equip does and what basic purpose it seves
drill.daddy
ArboristSite Operative
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSOh6GX6LZM
here is a video of a crew making a connection , what they do is drill a joint of pipe down, which is approx 30 foot long , when the 30 foot is drilled. they hoist it all out of the hole add another joint and go back to drilling .
here is a video of a crew making a connection , what they do is drill a joint of pipe down, which is approx 30 foot long , when the 30 foot is drilled. they hoist it all out of the hole add another joint and go back to drilling .
DHIBBS75
ArboristSite Operative
Those are damn good engines and I belive that one is v16 1200 rpm. Ive got several in towboats and D398 V12,,, D379 V8...... Parts are getting hard to get for them, aleast 30 yrs old.....
Is the vintage of engines most of the rigs run?
ChrisF
ArboristSite Guru
Really cool pictures, that is some brutal-looking machinery. Thanks for sharing.
bitzer
******** Timber Expert
Thanks for sharing Wes. Really great stuff!
drill.daddy
ArboristSite Operative
yep we run all sorts of breeds of caterpillar and wakashaw engines, ohh and emds and etroits. you are correct on 1200 rpm engines. damn good engines. if you need parts try calling h&h engine out of carthage and ask for lee, he can find anything you need. or call louisiana machinery . those are the two companies that fix these old dinosaurs.
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