Work in all phases of drilling

 Work in all phases of drilling

Since you, as a helper, will work in all phases of drilling, let us take an imaginary job and start at the beginning and go through to the completion of it.

The first thing you should do before leaving your yard is to check your machine and service truck thoroughly. This would include the normal maintenance on a truck such as lubrication and inspection, changing oil filters if they need to be changed, changing air filters if they are scheduled for cleaning, greasing the truck, checking the transmission, differential, and in particular observing for loose connections, bolts, fittings, and so forth.

Due to the nature of the work the well drilling machine is doing, it subjects the rig to very heavy vibration a large portion of the time and this quite frequently causes various connections to come loose. As a helper, one of your main functions will be to spot loose bolts, studs, nuts, and so forth, and keep them tight at all times.

Thinking ahead is one of the most important things a driller's helper must do. Before leaving the yard, you should think ahead as to what materials and equipment you are going to need on the job you are going to. Be sure you have adequate pipe of the right size and type with you, that you have a drive shoe and cap for the well so that if you finish it that day you can cap it off. Be sure you have adequate bits of the right size, a sufficient number of grinding rocks to sharpen the bit, etc.

The most time-consuming, unproductive occurrence on a well drilling job is returning to the yard for material which should have been included when the truck left the yard. Make your preparation for drilling thorough and complete before starting to the job.