need porky's help!!!!


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Old 05-17-08, 12:03 PM
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need porky's help!!!!

to porky:

i hope you don't mind if i pick at your brain. we are trying to successfully drill a water well in an area that is known for it's bad geologic conditions. we run an air rotary machine using 8 5/8" bit on 8" mincon hammer with stablizer for the casing hole. the formations are very fractured and unstable. the 1st hole went crooked, and we lost some of the casing down the hole. it ripped as we tried to auger it down. this has been the case on 8 holes now. we are at a loss as to what to try. any advise would be taken to heart.
 
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Old 05-17-08, 05:00 PM
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Are you an actual well driller, by trade?

Have you contacted your local gov't agencies? Or other well drillers? Or well drilling association?

As a last resort you coud try to ask someone like Exxon-Mobil how they manage to drill staright down through anything for thousands of feet.
 
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Old 05-17-08, 08:32 PM
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i am an actual well driller by trade. my boss and the owner of the company is going on about 26 yrs of experience and has never encountered anything of the sort. DNR has told us that it is an area known to be problematic. i am seeking porky's opinion and advise as a master driller.
 
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Old 05-18-08, 02:24 PM
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Porky here!

I don't mind assisting you at all. If you are getting crooked holes using a DHH and stabalizer you are in a problem area.

Cable tool drilling is still the preferred method for fractured and unstable formations, however it is slower.

I usually advise drillers with these problems to move. . . about 20 miles. Smiling!

I suspect the casing that split was PVC. My experience has been if you have to force PVC you have a real problem.

I'm sure you get the "National Driller". Read my "Porky's Hole Thoughts" stories usually around page 70. You can ask them how to reach Porky!
 
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Old 05-18-08, 02:42 PM
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thanks for taking time to help.

as far as we know, there is not a cable tool rig any where close to here that is running. i have personally never seen a cable tool rig run, but would love to have the chance. the casing is steel. we don't use pvc because 9 times out of 6 you do have to push it to the bottom. one would like to think that 6 5/8" od steel casing would slide right in to an 8 5/8" hole. i suppose we don't live in a perfect world though.

i agree about moving. the only problem is that the home is already built, finished, and ready to move in to. all they need is some clean water. they are in a hotel until they get some water.

we do subscribe to the national driller magazine. i enjoy your articles. being as green and wet behind the ears as i am, most of it is very eduacational.

again, thanks for your thoughts!
 
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Old 05-19-08, 11:05 AM
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Originally Posted by waterwellguy
... the only problem is that the home is already built, finished, and ready to move in to. all they need is some clean water. they are in a hotel until they get some water.
1.Sorry for butting in, but now I am curious who Porky is, that everyone, even in some national magazine knows Porky and Porky who also is on board here?

2. Is it common to build a house first without knowing if one can get good water or get to it at all, especially in problem areas? Just curious. Or, is this extremely rare. So extreme that people DO go ahead and build first? You'd think the builder/sheetrockers/masons?, would have wanted water.
 
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Old 05-19-08, 05:49 PM
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this is a very rare circumstance. we started trying to drill when the framers were still there. in this region of the country, finding water is not a problem. it is getting to it that can be troublesome. all the subcontractors had to haul their own water if we were not there drilling. if we were there, we let them use water out of our water truck.

as an update, i drilled 80' down and am stuck. i lost circulation at around 25', but had free travel up and down. i purged every 5' to make sure i hadn't lost travel. at the end of the 80' rod, the hole collapsed and i was hung solid. we wound up running some pipw along side the drill rod and connecting to the rig compressor. we managed to get 40' of pipe down beside the rods and blew the mud out. we regained travel and were able to pull up to about 75' until a pulldown cable broke. so that is where we are, waiting on a cable to come from enid oklahoma.

maybe this is an ancient indian burial ground?!?
 
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Old 05-21-08, 06:18 PM
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I THOUGHT I remember hearing years ago, in the hill country in Texas, that sometimes they had to drill through rock also. That is why I had suggested contacting the various people I mentioned.

I'm still curious as to who this Porky is, as maybe I'll learn something. That is always fun.
 
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Old 05-24-08, 09:40 AM
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i am in sw missouri, the largest limestone deposit in the world. all we drill through is rock. this is just a very broken and unstable fault.

after putting the new cable on the rig, we finally got free. but, when we pulled the hammer out, it was missing the chuck, collar, retainer rings, and a new bit. only about $3500 down the hole.
 
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Old 05-24-08, 12:39 PM
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Did you opt for filling out insurance papers on this loss?
 
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Old 05-24-08, 03:42 PM
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the premiums would skyrocket. it wouldn't be worth it for such a small claim.
 
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Old 05-24-08, 05:23 PM
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Ya, I was wondering that.

That is what everyone always seems to say regarding any type insurance. One pays for insurance, just so you can never collect, out of fear the rates will go up.

What would be a large claim scenario then, in your business, now that this has come up? Just curious, that's all.
 
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Old 05-24-08, 08:42 PM
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are you casing the hole as you are drilling? if so how far out in front of the caseing is your drill bit? What you might do but it would be very slow is coring with a diamond bit and continuous coring that usually will keep you straight but is very slow.

murphy was an optimist
 
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Old 05-26-08, 07:37 PM
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a large claim would probably be losing a hammer, bit, and several feet of drill rod before it would be worth making a claim. somewhere in the neighborhood dof 20,000.


we drill the hole and then case it.
 
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Old 05-26-08, 08:20 PM
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ah, in the environmental field we case the hole as we are drilling a lot of the time, especially if we suspect shallow undesirable water. it does help keep the hole straighter.
murphy was an optimist
 
 

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