LOL, not sure why this showed up on my screen but glad it did. Early 80's my buddy's and I got snowed off Mt. St. Helens logging and needed jobs. Someone said lots of work in the oil fields because of oil prices at the time. Drove 4 days and ended up in Perryton TX. The local old timers called it "Perton" with a drawl but found out it was the same town. We all had jobs quick and I spent most of a year and a half on service rigs. Kind of like what you just went over but um, really not quite like yours. In fact in that time I NEVER saw a rig like yours! I can see it does all the same work and actually in your distant shots if I squinted my eyes it was kinda what I remember! I love it. I even have a finger from that time that is almost a match to yours! A little short on one end. I remember on the drive there, we started seeing many signs along the way for "fishing tool rentals". Now that was hard to figure out because we never saw a drop of water in any creek or river we crossed? Yah I found out soon enough what I was fishing for! Thanks for the memories Zach. I'll be scribing and watchin.
I worked for Ford Tool, Loyd Jones, Service drilling and more around Perryton from 1978-1982. We loved living in the panhandle in spite of the harsh winters and lots of wind.
The oilfield is one of those things you never stop learning new stuff and it’s amazing as heck how people have figured out all this cool tech and no one in normal life will ever know how much goes into it
Zach, you keep calling it a piece of crap but it appears to be a well thought out and practical machine for servicing wells. Like any "work truck" it ain't going to be pretty and you can't argue with the reliability and availability of spare parts using a small block Chevrolet engine and turbo 400 transmission. Thanks for taking the time to show this rig in action.
In all fairness I'm truly impressed at how your grandfather put that service rig together and with the deep technical knowledge and experience it takes to operate it without killing yourself and instead get done what needs doing in the oilfield.
I disagree, this video was absolutely something special to see. Thank you so much for going to the effort to show what you do. As a result I finally have a glimmer of understanding of the industry that many of my friends and neighbors here in East Texas depend on. Your comments about "trying not to knock myself out" made me LOL. As I have gotten older (I'm almost 70), I have, on occasion, called and asked my wife to come visit me wherever I am working on something and to "bring her cell phone". After the first couple of times I did that she finally said it was nice visiting, but why? I explained that I was doing something a little more risky than usual and thought it would be prudent to have someone around to call 911 if I fucked up. She was not amused, but she still does it for me if I ask. Her usual stance when on spotter duty is hands on hips with a bit of a scowl on her face. 😆
I know that a lot of people would be looking at a rig like your and laughing but I think it is well thought out. It could use a few more guards etc. but imagine it is pretty useful. I can't wait to see it in action.
Worked a service rig in Odessa in the 1980’s would climb to top with a board, put cap on pipe to seal to pressure test pipe for leaks before putting it in well. Long climb when hungover lol. Then worked for dresser titan a fracking company. That Texas sun a killer
I am just facinated by what you're doing here. I love that this old truck is still doing it's job. The complexity of all of this it truly fascinating. Best part, no email, no meetings, no phone calls! 😂
My grandfather and all of his brothers were oil men. At one point he he ran/managed several tank farms. My grandmother used to tell us that Henry invented the straight lift pump jack. Someone in the family has a plaque or certificate from North American recognizing his work. Not sure how true is is but it is part of our family lore. Was great watching you work on the pump jack. The rig is amazing. Your grandfather was an amazing natural engineer!
This is just incredible to watch up close. My grandparents land has a good sized lease on it that we used to sit and watch them service the wells on regularly. It seemed like their most problematic well was the most visible for us, so we got to watch quite a lot of rigs in action
seeing all the old oil tools brings me back to my teenage years and my early 20s when i work for my uncle in the summers through high school and a couple years after i was finished with high school he had 3 or 4 of them old rigs i loved it when we got the power tongs but still had the old slap wrench for the rods my elbows would be aching the next day lol kids now a days don't know what hard work is
That is such a cool machine. I love the old school style. Thanks for showing it off. I have enjoyed following your life so far and will probably end up watching all your vids eventually.
Its really cool that you show this stuff. I can’t help but think you would be a huge asset to any company in any of these new oil fields making BIG money.
Seeing that old rig reminded me of when I was drilling water wells with a Shram drill rig. It was powered by an 8-71 Detroit, There was one well that I always think of, it was when I hit an artesian well. There was so much water coming out of that 8-inch hole that the hole rig was shaking. I called the boss and he said how many gallons a minute. I told him that I didn't know because it keeps ripping the bucket out of my hands. I thought that I lost my cell phone signal because he didn't say anything for quite a while. I told him that the rig was jumping up and down and I was scared to go near it. He finally told me to stay away and that the pressure should let up after a while. It did, after a while and after I got all the drill steel out of the hole. It settled down to a constant 2-foot high gusher. I'm telling you was that fun capping that sucker. I had only been drilling wells for 3 months and running the rig myself for a month.
Brings back memories, I grew up in the southern Michigan oil fields. Albion/Scipio oil field of the 50s 60s 70s and early 80s. Big deal at the time. Ran around with many of the oil guys. Learned a lot. Bled off drip gas to keep gas coming to the house. It was our heat. Well on our farm was more gas than oil. Would produce 5 million cubic feet easy. Remember one month the plant was down next month the old girl put out over 11 million cubic feet Many stories , great time to grow up. Your old truck also brings back memories.
Great video demonstrating your moblle drill rig. The ingenuity of constructing a hybrid-custom rig is mind-boggling to me, however, it appears to function probably equal to, and, maybe even better than a commercially manufactured rig. Thank you for educating and sharing this custom your family built. J.L. a commercially t
Good video. My father drove and operated professionally built models of these in an Oklahoma oil field for 40+ years. The last one he had weighed over 30 tons. He told stories of idiots pulling in front of him, thinking he could stop on a dime. One of his co-workers drove one over a bridge rated at 5 tons. He ended up in the creek! He also told a story that one of his workers was standing over the open oil well hole and smoking. A surge of gas came out of the hole and burned his facial hair off. Lucky that is all it did! This video explains a lot of how he did his work. I knew some of it from him and growing up in an oil producing area.
Nice machine, to bad yoi cany keep it protected from the sun and elements, it is a work of art keep it clean and protected. I think it is worth it .......great video thanks for sharing with us.. Central Minnesota.
Zach! You're the man bro! I'm a mechanic in Arizona and your show is bad ass. Would be awesome to work a couple weeks doing what you do. Keep rockin brother!! ✌️🇺🇸
I've run mainly 104' triple doubles with double drums, run 112' beast a little and a worked on a 118' double (for rigs that go down the road(worked on quite a few drilling rigs to)) but this machine you got is a trip lol, I love it. Looks like it runs pretty good for what it is. I'm glad you showed double line... I've tried to explain how it works to people and I just can't. They wrap up hit each other and go the other way somehow it typically wraps right. if I ever get sick of north dakota I'll hit ya up haha the shallowest well I've ever pulled was 8600' I wouldn't mind getting away from these big rigs up here, and the neg40 winters
All things considered, your grandpa did a right fine job on designing and building that rig !! It's getting close to 70yrs old and still running ...! Show me a newer rig that would be around in half that time, bet it's over in some Chinese scrapyard !
That derrick truck is amazing, I loveis machinery and mechanical equipment and this old truck covers everything and some it's actually a little scary. Thanks for sharing. Cheers from Jacksonville Florida 🌞
I don't know why this is in my suggested videos but this is great stuff. I'm a crane operator and I've run friction rigs for a couple years. That all looks somewhat similar lol. Cranes have much larger draw works. But still I miss running those old machines. Had a smile on my face the whole time. Great video and your personality is great. I'm down in the swamps of Pierre Part Louisiana. We have a different method than you guys for oil here so seeing this stuff is cool.
It is startling to see that little winch take off. I can imagine the look on the dude's face when he realizes he is standing on the wire rope and doing cartwheels or worse. Excellent video, thank you for sharing. I live in New Brunswick Canada, and it was 86 here yesterday -- I rode around for a couple hours on my motorcycle, and with my head in the helmet, that 86 was about the most I think I could tolerate. Once every 10 years or so it gets to 100 and we think that is HOT!
That's a cool rig! I'm always excited to see something I haven't before. I have a cooper 36 I believe. single pole old as dirt. Haven't used it yet also have a truck mounted drilling rig I built. Just need a shallow lease! I sell used oilfield equipment on the side and ranch. Keep it the videos I sure enjoy them. thanks!
I have worked in the oilfields for better than 40 years in Pennsylvania . We always have used junk to keep things going I have used all kinds of pulling outfits for pulling a well , now 40 years ago I ran a tractor and a pulling pole on a cart what I am talking about is most of the time what was used was a crawler with a pulling winch now setting up the pulling pole that is on the cart we would use the tubing line
yep ive worked on a few that was made like that little death traps lol. lay rods and pipe in trailer my first job i jumped straight out in 100 degree heat that was a mistake lol
I understand about working in the "cool" of the day. I grew up in Big Spring, and hoed (miles and miles) cotton for my grandpa during the summer. We would get up around 5am, eat a big breakfast, and work until noon. Then lunch, and a nap, returning back to the cotton fields around 3-4pm, and coming in for supper around 6:30-7:00pm. Six days a week. Then was hired by Haliburton, but never got to work a day for them - my draft number came up.
Hey Zach, absolutely amazing how some guys put all this together, she is rough and perhaps a few upgrades might not go a miss, but its all there !!! Everything you need for the job, pretty neat !, I did 33 years offshore, different beast ! But I see all you got going on there, surely save you a few dollars for some operations ! Well Done
Great videos. I had several opportunities when I was younger to buy some junk wells, but I couldn’t hook up with anyone who could show me how to operate a well. Being a hands-on person, I was not comfortable buying a lease without understanding what it took to operate one. I reconnected with the dad of a childhood friend who owned leases, built drill sites, and had a couple of work over rigs. He taught me a lot but unfortunately, he was too far in age to physically hang out at the leases.
Great video showing us this custom bit of kit. It's got lots of features that indicate it was setup for a small crew, perhaps even just 2 men. Double leveling cylinder on the front end, instead of a single, unusual and forward thinking for the time. Being able to estimate weight front and back can come in handy. Back in the day, I used to see an kinds of smaller customized rigs, small drilling and workover rigs, and some that were downright Frankenstein..... That air clutch was a pricey piece of kit, wonder if it came off a boat or something?
Thanks. Its a 2 man rig for sure. Around here I've seen every possible hacked together machine imaginable. The air clutch that on it now wasn't expensive. I'm not sure of its original usage but I picked it up off of eBay about 15 years ago. I was referring to the correct way of doing it with a set of Wichita clutches and a new jackshaft that usually will run $20k or so.
Awesome video, Zack!! Amazing well service rig setup! Great job of explaining the details of this neat machine. Love that telescoping derrick, that is so neat! Would love to see this thing pulling rods. Really like your Oilfield 101 video series. Can't wait for the next one. Thanks for taking the time to present these. You do a fantastic job!
That has got to be the most awesome pulling unit I have ever seen. I loved it, how incredible! I have operated many pulling units and operated more drilling rigs than I cared to remember and that is the coolest rig I've ever seen!!! I'm totally enjoying your videos Zack!!!!!
I didn’t catch who built that rig, but whoever did was a genius, engineer, fabricator, mechanic and a helluva torch man & welder. It’s truly amazing that a man can get that many components to work together, especially and not get any fingers or arms cut off during the process, because I counted right at 7.342 million different places that could happen!!
What a amazing piece of home made engineering ,impressive to say the least and the mind of your Gran dad to be able to think ,well i need this ,Iv got a rough idea of dimensions and Iv got this truck and other metal stock ,a manual vavle body 400 lol and a 305 and boxs of wielding sticks and no instruction book ,I salute you sir
Man, that things not a piece of crap!! I love it!! I want one! I've spent most of my life on drilling rig, but have a little time on workovers. Yours look like it'll do the job. Hell, I just wanna set it up in my back yard so me and my boys could play with it! Teach 'em how to work!
I love the fact that you're just doing it because you love it, and the memories. Keep making videos! Should be a breeze now after watching this, should I ever come across an oil rig haha
Kick ass little rig Zach. Maybe one of the most complex little rigs I've ever seen but seems like you have it down. I just did a jaw to air clutch conversion on my Wichtex and man what a difference.
I agree a normal air clutch is really the only way to go. This rig is also an early wichtex. I believe it was built in 1949 as it originally was on a 49 chevy truck and I actually knew the guy that ran it, according to him, in 53 and he said he remembers it being pretty new. My great grandpa bought it in 55 being only the second owner. It originally had a Le Roi deck engine that was swapped to a 348 chevy in the 60's and then to a 305 in 2012.
Yeah I could see that lead Wichtex tag by the by your controls. Mine was built for Texaco in the 50's and came from a Palmer in Electra. It was the last rig my grandpa bought in his 55 year pulling career and sat damn near new it our shop.
Nice rig! We've got a very similar set up on our workover rig. Ours is a double pole/ double drum wichtex powered by a 413cu in big block and torqueflite a727 automatic which has been built up to handle the stress. Our jaw clutches are air actuated. We get laughed at because of our setup until they see it latch onto 3,400 ft of tubing and start coming out of the hole.
Now that would b something to see. We use double pole for 22 to 24 . I use to work on a cooper double drum with double rods hanging and stand single tubing. We got it brand new and after a year of 80 hour weeks the bottom fell out from the oil fields 1980 and we went from 80 hours too 0
Agreed. I think it goes without saying that this video is about the configuration and use of rigs like this. They are dangerous of course for people who are not familiar and I'm sure when he's using it for real he's considering safety a bit more. I thought a least a hard hat for this - keeps the sun off and protects your noggin. Thanks for the video.
Looks like that rig would have been good for rod jobs. Not sure I would want to be pulling on a 3000 meter tubing string. Most of the service rigs I employed were doubles. They were about 50 feet long. Average well depth in Northern BC and Alberta is about 2500 meters. Deepest one I have worked on was 4000.meters, I was on a drilling rig then, it was a duster. That was a few million down the drain. Thanks for the vids, makes me remember my younger days. Been out of the game for about 7 years now. Retirement aint half bad.
Zach love the rig worked on one 2 months very very scetchy but will do the job if you pay attention anyway i have a suggestion for your rear engine put at least two one way valves in your gas line that will keep the gas where you need it so it don't run back to the tank i love chevy but that is its flaw it won't hold the gas up there but the one way check valve solves that problem just helping it works fine
I got one of your videos RUclips “recommended”…, and “fish-on”…, I am hooked. I am now subscribed “bell” icon engaged to get notified of new videos… Sir, I would not sell yourself or your videos short…, as has already been mentioned by many commenters, this & these videos are pure historical “gold”… Your passion and commitment to this kind of work, and your grandfathers legacy(s) are just amazing. 4th generation…, Awesome..! These videos tell all of us (that are interested in this stuff) and proof that oil & gas “is here to stay”. We are not going to be weaned off of this stuff for the foreseeable future… The infrastructure to go all electric, just “ain’t” there…, and when we keep sending $40billion in aid to a country or countries, I don’t see us getting our “sh#t” together enough, to make that infrastructure upgrade happen. I most likely will lose sleep binge watching all your videos, but hope to see one that lays out where the oil goes, how it goes, refining, how much involvement do you have after it comes out of the ground. Great work, Thank you sir.
That rig design and build - pure genius. Zach you have amazing relatives who taught you how to make the big bucks on the cheap. And amazing to watch the operation of that rig and the control coordination. Very dangerous when working alone.
I am absolutely in Love with Your Rig, I spent half my life on a Bucyrus _ Erie Walking beam rig with a maiden head bit punching 18 Inch water wells in The Citrus Belt of Florida.
I absolutely love this type of stuff! Grew up on a farm and dad had 2 big junk (salvage) yards, always something to build and tinker with. Jeff (Jpaydirt) is an awesome guy.
Thanks for the demonstration. I'd like to buy a cable tool rig soon, just need to find one. Just trying to familiarize myself with different types of rigs.
My Son worked in the oil fields of WY and would tell me about all this stuff now I can understand what exactly it is . Very interesting channel here Zach I am a new Sub !
Hey Zach, if you want the batteries in your equipment to last forever when you store them there’s a super simple thing you can do that stores the charge while also preventing your battery from aging. I learned this from my dad and Cody’s Lab has a good video on it. Before storing the battery charge it fully. Once your ready to store the battery for awhile pop the caps off the battery and pour out all the acid into a container. Store the acid and battery separately and that eliminates self discharge and also keeps the battery from aging. No joke this really works. I found an autolite battery from the 80s my dad stored this way in the attic. I poured the acid back into the battery and it immediately jumped up to 12.4v, threw it on the charger for good measure and it immediately started my 66 mustang when I threw it in. It’s been 3 years and the battery is still running strong. The charge of a lead acid battery is stored in the electrolyte which is why the weight of the acid is sometimes used to measure charge so if the acid can’t react with the lead in the battery it can’t self discharge so the charge is stored indefinitely when the acid is separated from the live reaction with lead in the battery. Since the acid is removed from the battery that also prevents the acid from eating away the lead plates in the battery which prevents the battery from going bad, aging, or failing. I used this method on a tractor I left on my grandparents farm at least 10-15 years ago. Poured the acid back into the battery, and it actually had enough charge to turn the tractor over and start. I like to use glass mason jars to store the acid for long periods of time. Sulfuric acid isn’t gaseous so it won’t corrode the tops of the mason jars if they are left sitting up right. Sulfuric acid also doesn’t dissolve certain types of plastic, milk jugs are made of that plastic so you can also store the acid in that. Just figured you’d like to know this since you have so many old machines that likely need new batteries every time you use them.
@@TheZachLife Ya it works great. It’s just like adding acid to an atv battery to activate it. The shelf life of a lead acid battery without acid is literally infinite since there’s nothing to dissolve and break the lead plates in the battery which is why lead acid batteries fail. The same principal applies to a working battery you want to store. Just remove the acid and it’s dry again and halts that live reaction between the lead and acid. Whenever I store a vehicle for 6 months or more I drain the acid out of the battery. Whenever I come back to the vehicle I just pour the acid back into the battery and the battery will be in the exact same shape you left it in. And the great thing is there’s no time limit. You can literally store a battery this way for 50 years and it’ll work exactly the same when you come back to it and pour the acid in it.
Love your videos, I find the stuff fascinating just moved to Oklahoma just south of Tulsa a couple of years ago lived in Wisconsin for 30 years. We have those shallow wells all over the place here and I've been curious about how they operate. Your videos give me alot of insight and understanding of the process.
@@joshbaker2437 I haven't lived there since 12, knew a couple small operators in the Sapulpa, Kellyville area. They still can make a very good living doing their own thing! They usually own their own production. They just have to keep after it.
@@louispaparella5766 it's not something I'm in a position to do but I find it interesting and respect anyone that's able to make a living at doing. I live about 15 minutes outside of Kellyville where it's peaceful and see a lot of these wells every day.
My granddad started pulling wells using a silver king and a team of horses for Ohio Oil Company and retired after 57 years from Marathon (same company) operating a Cooper mounted on an Allis Chalmers tractor. When I worked the oil patch as the shop mechanic we had a homebuilt pulling rig. All cable operated, at least until I made the sand line hydraulic. Gear pump that when the directional valve was moved the motor would act as a motor when pulling the sand pump up and when the sand pump was going into the hole the motor became a pump and I had a variable restrictor in the line back to the tank that we could control the drum speed instead of having to pour water on the mechanical band brake. One could restrict the fall rate so fine that when the sand pump hit the fluid it would stop. A 292 ford for rig power. We ran a lot of packers to keep topwater out of the pay. The operator would have to practice the "Pull the ground to the crown or the crown to the ground." They would tension the drum line so tight that when they released the clutch the tension would spin the clutch disk so fast that the driven clutch disk would shuck the friction pads off the clutch disk. After having to pull the motor, and replace the disk 4 times on one well that had a stuck packer I had NAPA have their supplier clutch company make me a flywheel and pressure plate that had the friction pads on them, and the clutch disk was simply a steel disk. A reversed clutch arrangement. No more thrown pads when the tension unwound the clutch disk too fast. We had BJ Hughes power tongs and one packer we had a tool pusher who had the bright idea of having the rig hands put 2 pipe wrenches on the pipe and using cheater pipes try to break the packer pin to release the packer that had been pushed to the bottom of the hole.. Well, one pipe wrench slipped, the 2 guys on the other wrench were thrown onto the rod rack and their cheater came around and hit the tool pusher and gave him a compound fracture of his upper arm. The rig operator and I went out that afternoon, lifted the tongs over the pipe sticking out of the hole, and tried to break the packer. I screwed the relief valve in solid, we had a rope tied to the tong control handle so we could stand way back, and finally broke something loose. We broke the string above the packer. When we got the string out the pipe that broke looked like a twisted straw. They put a spudder on the well, ended up going thru the side of the casing pipe. The owner decided to move over 10' and drill a new well. Did not get as much as a rainbow on the pit with the new well. Oil pays are a fickle bitch.
I love it. Not a pinch point or def sticker in sight. When men were smart enough to keep their hands and fingers safe. I grew up with men in overalls equipped with tools and an idea. Carry on!
LOL, not sure why this showed up on my screen but glad it did. Early 80's my buddy's and I got snowed off Mt. St. Helens logging and needed jobs. Someone said lots of work in the oil fields because of oil prices at the time. Drove 4 days and ended up in Perryton TX. The local old timers called it "Perton" with a drawl but found out it was the same town. We all had jobs quick and I spent most of a year and a half on service rigs. Kind of like what you just went over but um, really not quite like yours. In fact in that time I NEVER saw a rig like yours! I can see it does all the same work and actually in your distant shots if I squinted my eyes it was kinda what I remember! I love it. I even have a finger from that time that is almost a match to yours! A little short on one end. I remember on the drive there, we started seeing many signs along the way for "fishing tool rentals". Now that was hard to figure out because we never saw a drop of water in any creek or river we crossed? Yah I found out soon enough what I was fishing for! Thanks for the memories Zach. I'll be scribing and watchin.
Haha Awesome. Thanks.
Dang I would've gone down to southern Oregon. The 80s were still the good days of logging!
Did that Orange monster use to belong to Bill McPherson
I worked for Ford Tool, Loyd Jones, Service drilling and more around Perryton from 1978-1982. We loved living in the panhandle in spite of the harsh winters and lots of wind.
Hey cool story Bill, the PNW is beautiful.
Can definitely say that no micro chips were used in this bad boy and it still works.
haha for sure.
The Y2K compliant plaque for your service rig fell off on the FM road.
Let me know if you need it back….
except the ignition system on the rig, which is electronic.
The oilfield is one of those things you never stop learning new stuff and it’s amazing as heck how people have figured out all this cool tech and no one in normal life will ever know how much goes into it
Zach, you keep calling it a piece of crap but it appears to be a well thought out and practical machine for servicing wells. Like any "work truck" it ain't going to be pretty and you can't argue with the reliability and availability of spare parts using a small block Chevrolet engine and turbo 400 transmission. Thanks for taking the time to show this rig in action.
In all fairness I'm truly impressed at how your grandfather put that service rig together and with the deep technical knowledge and experience it takes to operate it without killing yourself and instead get done what needs doing in the oilfield.
Oilfield ingenuity is fascinating. Make whatever you need, outta whatever you got, to do whatever you need done.
I have never seen a more convoluted piece of machinery, with that mad max vibe...its quite something to be honest and you are a talented mechanic sir!
I disagree, this video was absolutely something special to see. Thank you so much for going to the effort to show what you do. As a result I finally have a glimmer of understanding of the industry that many of my friends and neighbors here in East Texas depend on.
Your comments about "trying not to knock myself out" made me LOL. As I have gotten older (I'm almost 70), I have, on occasion, called and asked my wife to come visit me wherever I am working on something and to "bring her cell phone". After the first couple of times I did that she finally said it was nice visiting, but why? I explained that I was doing something a little more risky than usual and thought it would be prudent to have someone around to call 911 if I fucked up. She was not amused, but she still does it for me if I ask. Her usual stance when on spotter duty is hands on hips with a bit of a scowl on her face. 😆
Are we married to the same woman? 😂
Love the home made rig! Mad Max would be impressed!
I'm amazed by the mechanical engineering that went into building that rig
I know that a lot of people would be looking at a rig like your and laughing but I think it is well thought out. It could use a few more guards etc. but imagine it is pretty useful. I can't wait to see it in action.
Worked a service rig in Odessa in the 1980’s would climb to top with a board, put cap on pipe to seal to pressure test pipe for leaks before putting it in well. Long climb when hungover lol. Then worked for dresser titan a fracking company. That Texas sun a killer
I am just facinated by what you're doing here. I love that this old truck is still doing it's job. The complexity of all of this it truly fascinating. Best part, no email, no meetings, no phone calls! 😂
early 90's the steel bottom rusted out.
My grandfather and all of his brothers were oil men. At one point he he ran/managed several tank farms. My grandmother used to tell us that Henry invented the straight lift pump jack. Someone in the family has a plaque or certificate from North American recognizing his work. Not sure how true is is but it is part of our family lore. Was great watching you work on the pump jack. The rig is amazing. Your grandfather was an amazing natural engineer!
This is just incredible to watch up close. My grandparents land has a good sized lease on it that we used to sit and watch them service the wells on regularly. It seemed like their most problematic well was the most visible for us, so we got to watch quite a lot of rigs in action
Real good Zach, real good! Exactly what I was wanting to see. Can't wait to see it at a well, working. Thank you!
seeing all the old oil tools brings me back to my teenage years and my early 20s when i work for my uncle in the summers through high school and a couple years after i was finished with high school he had 3 or 4 of them old rigs i loved it when we got the power tongs but still had the old slap wrench for the rods my elbows would be aching the next day lol kids now a days don't know what hard work is
My granddaddy use to salve wells he had some home made rigs to i just wasnt old enough to see them run I remember them them being a single pole .
That is such a cool machine. I love the old school style. Thanks for showing it off. I have enjoyed following your life so far and will probably end up watching all your vids eventually.
Its really cool that you show this stuff. I can’t help but think you would be a huge asset to any company in any of these new oil fields making BIG money.
Seeing that old rig reminded me of when I was drilling water wells with a Shram drill rig. It was powered by an 8-71 Detroit, There was one well that I always think of, it was when I hit an artesian well. There was so much water coming out of that 8-inch hole that the hole rig was shaking. I called the boss and he said how many gallons a minute. I told him that I didn't know because it keeps ripping the bucket out of my hands. I thought that I lost my cell phone signal because he didn't say anything for quite a while. I told him that the rig was jumping up and down and I was scared to go near it. He finally told me to stay away and that the pressure should let up after a while. It did, after a while and after I got all the drill steel out of the hole. It settled down to a constant 2-foot high gusher. I'm telling you was that fun capping that sucker. I had only been drilling wells for 3 months and running the rig myself for a month.
That's some tight engineering for a home made rig. nicely done!
Brings back memories, I grew up in the southern Michigan oil fields.
Albion/Scipio oil field of the 50s
60s 70s and early 80s. Big deal at
the time. Ran around with many of
the oil guys. Learned a lot. Bled off
drip gas to keep gas coming to the
house. It was our heat. Well on our farm was more gas than oil.
Would produce 5 million cubic feet
easy. Remember one month the plant was down next month the old girl put out over 11 million cubic feet
Many stories , great time to grow up.
Your old truck also brings back memories.
Great video demonstrating your moblle drill rig. The ingenuity of constructing a hybrid-custom rig is mind-boggling to me, however, it appears to function probably equal to, and, maybe even better than a commercially manufactured rig.
Thank you for educating and sharing this custom your family built. J.L.
a commercially t
Good video. My father drove and operated professionally built models of these in an Oklahoma oil field for 40+ years. The last one he had weighed over 30 tons. He told stories of idiots pulling in front of him, thinking he could stop on a dime. One of his co-workers drove one over a bridge rated at 5 tons. He ended up in the creek! He also told a story that one of his workers was standing over the open oil well hole and smoking. A surge of gas came out of the hole and burned his facial hair off. Lucky that is all it did! This video explains a lot of how he did his work. I knew some of it from him and growing up in an oil producing area.
Nice machine, to bad yoi cany keep it protected from the sun and elements, it is a work of art keep it clean and protected. I think it is worth it .......great video thanks for sharing with us..
Central Minnesota.
its amazing how working people get things done ! I am a logger in north Idaho and that rig reminds me of an Idaho log jammer
Zach! You're the man bro! I'm a mechanic in Arizona and your show is bad ass. Would be awesome to work a couple weeks doing what you do. Keep rockin brother!! ✌️🇺🇸
Camera says hot.. ‘Yeah Zach hot too’ haha
I’ve been enjoying watching your walkthroughs and builds like the tilting trailer, thank you
It was terrible.
I've run mainly 104' triple doubles with double drums, run 112' beast a little and a worked on a 118' double (for rigs that go down the road(worked on quite a few drilling rigs to)) but this machine you got is a trip lol, I love it. Looks like it runs pretty good for what it is. I'm glad you showed double line... I've tried to explain how it works to people and I just can't. They wrap up hit each other and go the other way somehow it typically wraps right. if I ever get sick of north dakota I'll hit ya up haha the shallowest well I've ever pulled was 8600' I wouldn't mind getting away from these big rigs up here, and the neg40 winters
All things considered, your grandpa did a right fine job on designing and building that rig !! It's getting close to 70yrs old and still running ...! Show me a newer rig that would be around in half that time, bet it's over in some Chinese scrapyard !
That derrick truck is amazing, I loveis machinery and mechanical equipment and this old truck covers everything and some it's actually a little scary. Thanks for sharing. Cheers from Jacksonville Florida 🌞
We drilled a 14,000' well with a big scope up Ingersoll Rand rig. It had 2 V12 Detroits. We ran 4 1/2" pipe & 20 2 " collars. That rig was a beast!
I don't know why this is in my suggested videos but this is great stuff. I'm a crane operator and I've run friction rigs for a couple years. That all looks somewhat similar lol. Cranes have much larger draw works. But still I miss running those old machines. Had a smile on my face the whole time. Great video and your personality is great. I'm down in the swamps of Pierre Part Louisiana. We have a different method than you guys for oil here so seeing this stuff is cool.
It is startling to see that little winch take off. I can imagine the look on the dude's face when he realizes he is standing on the wire rope and doing cartwheels or worse. Excellent video, thank you for sharing. I live in New Brunswick Canada, and it was 86 here yesterday -- I rode around for a couple hours on my motorcycle, and with my head in the helmet, that 86 was about the most I think I could tolerate. Once every 10 years or so it gets to 100 and we think that is HOT!
Its actually pretty easy to control the speed with the hydraulic valve. 86 sounds like a vacation Lol.
Cat line brings back memories brother for sure
That's a cool rig! I'm always excited to see something I haven't before. I have a cooper 36 I believe. single pole old as dirt. Haven't used it yet also have a truck mounted drilling rig I built. Just need a shallow lease! I sell used oilfield equipment on the side and ranch. Keep it the videos I sure enjoy them. thanks!
Awesome, Thanks.
Awesome video, very well made, like see rig working on a well . Keep the video coming.
I have worked in the oilfields for better than 40 years in Pennsylvania . We always have used junk to keep things going I have used all kinds of pulling outfits for pulling a well , now 40 years ago I ran a tractor and a pulling pole on a cart what I am talking about is most of the time what was used was a crawler with a pulling winch now setting up the pulling pole that is on the cart we would use the tubing line
yep ive worked on a few that was made like that little death traps lol. lay rods and pipe in trailer my first job i jumped straight out in 100 degree heat that was a mistake lol
I understand about working in the "cool" of the day. I grew up in Big Spring, and hoed (miles and miles) cotton for my grandpa during the summer. We would get up around 5am, eat a big breakfast, and work until noon. Then lunch, and a nap, returning back to the cotton fields around 3-4pm, and coming in for supper around 6:30-7:00pm. Six days a week. Then was hired by Haliburton, but never got to work a day for them - my draft number came up.
Hi zach, really cool video. Can't wait to see it in actually used. I hope you can view a well being drilled at some point.
Thanks.
Hey Zach, absolutely amazing how some guys put all this together, she is rough and perhaps a few upgrades might not go a miss, but its all there !!! Everything you need for the job, pretty neat !, I did 33 years offshore, different beast ! But I see all you got going on there, surely save you a few dollars for some operations ! Well Done
Love this old, homemade stuff. Back when mechanical means solved the problems and got the work done.
Great videos. I had several opportunities when I was younger to buy some junk wells, but I couldn’t hook up with anyone who could show me how to operate a well. Being a hands-on person, I was not comfortable buying a lease without understanding what it took to operate one. I reconnected with the dad of a childhood friend who owned leases, built drill sites, and had a couple of work over rigs. He taught me a lot but unfortunately, he was too far in age to physically hang out at the leases.
ABSOLUTLEY LOVED THIS VIDEO! that rig is fantastic. love how everything is repurposed and works so well together.
Great video showing us this custom bit of kit.
It's got lots of features that indicate it was setup for a small crew, perhaps even just 2 men.
Double leveling cylinder on the front end, instead of a single, unusual and forward thinking for the time. Being able to estimate weight front and back can come in handy. Back in the day, I used to see an kinds of smaller customized rigs, small drilling and workover rigs, and some that were downright Frankenstein.....
That air clutch was a pricey piece of kit, wonder if it came off a boat or something?
Thanks. Its a 2 man rig for sure. Around here I've seen every possible hacked together machine imaginable. The air clutch that on it now wasn't expensive. I'm not sure of its original usage but I picked it up off of eBay about 15 years ago. I was referring to the correct way of doing it with a set of Wichita clutches and a new jackshaft that usually will run $20k or so.
Thank you for your time and effort on this video brother. This was really cool to see.
very well done.. brings back memories from years of experience
I actually live near the Pooleville oilfield so this is very awesome to see!
That rig is cool as hell. Thanks for showing us how it operates!! New subscriber here!! I'm binge watching your videos tonight.
Would love to see some actual work being done with the rig. Thanks for sharing.
That was so cool. She's old and not ugly she makes you money 💰 thank you !
Awesome video, Zack!! Amazing well service rig setup! Great job of explaining the details of this neat machine. Love that telescoping derrick, that is so neat! Would love to see this thing pulling rods. Really like your Oilfield 101 video series. Can't wait for the next one. Thanks for taking the time to present these. You do a fantastic job!
Thank you.
That has got to be the most awesome pulling unit I have ever seen. I loved it, how incredible! I have operated many pulling units and operated more drilling rigs than I cared to remember and that is the coolest rig I've ever seen!!! I'm totally enjoying your videos Zack!!!!!
Haha its one of a kind.
Man that's an awesome old rig!!!!
That's not junk at all!!! I'm glad I found your channel I've been wanting to learn more about this stuff 👍
Welcome aboard!
sketchy draw works tied back double but sweet pneumatic backup foster tongs. So awesome. Thanks for the content.
Haha Thanks.
Love to see this one working on a well... see what you can do. A family machine!
I didn’t catch who built that rig, but whoever did was a genius, engineer, fabricator, mechanic and a helluva torch man & welder. It’s truly amazing that a man can get that many components to work together, especially and not get any fingers or arms cut off during the process, because I counted right at 7.342 million different places that could happen!!
Haha I've don't most of it but its went through several generations and different evolutions.
I give you my blessings in your endeavors my friend.
Love it, appreciate the extra work it take to shoot video.
Thanks.
Whoever designed and built that was a mechanical genius!
Haha Its been through several evolutions.
What a amazing piece of home made engineering ,impressive to say the least and the mind of your Gran dad to be able to think ,well i need this ,Iv got a rough idea of dimensions and Iv got this truck and other metal stock ,a manual vavle body 400 lol and a 305 and boxs of wielding sticks and no instruction book ,I salute you sir
man that thing is a death trap, I love it! really enjoy the home made stuff, sure gets the job done!
Man, that things not a piece of crap!! I love it!! I want one! I've spent most of my life on drilling rig, but have a little time on workovers. Yours look like it'll do the job. Hell, I just wanna set it up in my back yard so me and my boys could play with it! Teach 'em how to work!
I love the fact that you're just doing it because you love it, and the memories. Keep making videos! Should be a breeze now after watching this, should I ever come across an oil rig haha
Dude that truck is awsome
Love hearing that old 305 growl.
Kick ass little rig Zach. Maybe one of the most complex little rigs I've ever seen but seems like you have it down. I just did a jaw to air clutch conversion on my Wichtex and man what a difference.
I agree a normal air clutch is really the only way to go. This rig is also an early wichtex. I believe it was built in 1949 as it originally was on a 49 chevy truck and I actually knew the guy that ran it, according to him, in 53 and he said he remembers it being pretty new. My great grandpa bought it in 55 being only the second owner. It originally had a Le Roi deck engine that was swapped to a 348 chevy in the 60's and then to a 305 in 2012.
Yeah I could see that lead Wichtex tag by the by your controls. Mine was built for Texaco in the 50's and came from a Palmer in Electra. It was the last rig my grandpa bought in his 55 year pulling career and sat damn near new it our shop.
Really awesome seeing how that thing works
The guys that put this together were knowledgable and ingenious. Today, it looks like Rube Goldburg operation.
That service rig pretty awesome Zach
Thanks.
Very neet stuff. Thanks for sharing.
Nice rig! We've got a very similar set up on our workover rig. Ours is a double pole/ double drum wichtex powered by a 413cu in big block and torqueflite a727 automatic which has been built up to handle the stress. Our jaw clutches are air actuated. We get laughed at because of our setup until they see it latch onto 3,400 ft of tubing and start coming out of the hole.
Now that would b something to see. We use double pole for 22 to 24 . I use to work on a cooper double drum with double rods hanging and stand single tubing. We got it brand new and after a year of 80 hour weeks the bottom fell out from the oil fields 1980 and we went from 80 hours too 0
I am so impressed by how much you know! Awesome!
Awesome video. Cannot wait to see the service rig in action.
My "Safety Man" would take one look at that rig and faint! 😆 I like your style Zach.
Hahaha
Agreed. I think it goes without saying that this video is about the configuration and use of rigs like this. They are dangerous of course for people who are not familiar and I'm sure when he's using it for real he's considering safety a bit more. I thought a least a hard hat for this - keeps the sun off and protects your noggin. Thanks for the video.
Looks like that rig would have been good for rod jobs. Not sure I would want to be pulling on a 3000 meter tubing string. Most of the service rigs I employed were doubles. They were about 50 feet long. Average well depth in Northern BC and Alberta is about 2500 meters. Deepest one I have worked on was 4000.meters, I was on a drilling rig then, it was a duster. That was a few million down the drain. Thanks for the vids, makes me remember my younger days. Been out of the game for about 7 years now. Retirement aint half bad.
This is a 2000' rig.
Thank you so much for showing us that. I learned a lot.
Very creative engineering! Rube Goldberg would be impressed
Haha Thanks.
Zach love the rig worked on one 2 months very very scetchy but will do the job if you pay attention anyway i have a suggestion for your rear engine put at least two one way valves in your gas line that will keep the gas where you need it so it don't run back to the tank i love chevy but that is its flaw it won't hold the gas up there but the one way check valve solves that problem just helping it works fine
That's a cool Truck reminds me of Welderup's service truck 🚚 awesome
I got one of your videos RUclips “recommended”…, and “fish-on”…, I am hooked. I am now subscribed “bell” icon engaged to get notified of new videos…
Sir,
I would not sell yourself or your videos short…, as has already been mentioned by many commenters, this & these videos are pure historical “gold”… Your passion and commitment to this kind of work, and your grandfathers legacy(s) are just amazing.
4th generation…, Awesome..!
These videos tell all of us (that are interested in this stuff) and proof that oil & gas “is here to stay”. We are not going to be weaned off of this stuff for the foreseeable future…
The infrastructure to go all electric, just “ain’t” there…, and when we keep sending $40billion in aid to a country or countries, I don’t see us getting our “sh#t” together enough, to make that infrastructure upgrade happen.
I most likely will lose sleep binge watching all your videos, but hope to see one that lays out where the oil goes, how it goes, refining, how much involvement do you have after it comes out of the ground.
Great work,
Thank you sir.
Thank you. All the rest of the videos are coming.
That rig design and build - pure genius. Zach you have amazing relatives who taught you how to make the big bucks on the cheap. And amazing to watch the operation of that rig and the control coordination. Very dangerous when working alone.
Thanks.
I am absolutely in Love with Your Rig, I spent half my life on a Bucyrus _ Erie Walking beam rig with a maiden head bit punching 18 Inch water wells in The Citrus Belt of Florida.
I absolutely love this type of stuff! Grew up on a farm and dad had 2 big junk (salvage) yards, always something to build and tinker with. Jeff (Jpaydirt) is an awesome guy.
Thanks for the demonstration. I'd like to buy a cable tool rig soon, just need to find one. Just trying to familiarize myself with different types of rigs.
My Son worked in the oil fields of WY and would tell me about all this stuff now I can understand what exactly it is . Very interesting channel here Zach I am a new Sub !
Awesome.
Okay Zack you got us all curious when we going to see some rods and tubing pulled ?
This is a very interesting channel! I'm lovin all of what you're puttin out about oil fields!
The guys who made this where to smart to be making home made rigs every thing so thought ought
Hey Zach, if you want the batteries in your equipment to last forever when you store them there’s a super simple thing you can do that stores the charge while also preventing your battery from aging. I learned this from my dad and Cody’s Lab has a good video on it. Before storing the battery charge it fully. Once your ready to store the battery for awhile pop the caps off the battery and pour out all the acid into a container. Store the acid and battery separately and that eliminates self discharge and also keeps the battery from aging. No joke this really works. I found an autolite battery from the 80s my dad stored this way in the attic. I poured the acid back into the battery and it immediately jumped up to 12.4v, threw it on the charger for good measure and it immediately started my 66 mustang when I threw it in. It’s been 3 years and the battery is still running strong. The charge of a lead acid battery is stored in the electrolyte which is why the weight of the acid is sometimes used to measure charge so if the acid can’t react with the lead in the battery it can’t self discharge so the charge is stored indefinitely when the acid is separated from the live reaction with lead in the battery. Since the acid is removed from the battery that also prevents the acid from eating away the lead plates in the battery which prevents the battery from going bad, aging, or failing. I used this method on a tractor I left on my grandparents farm at least 10-15 years ago. Poured the acid back into the battery, and it actually had enough charge to turn the tractor over and start. I like to use glass mason jars to store the acid for long periods of time. Sulfuric acid isn’t gaseous so it won’t corrode the tops of the mason jars if they are left sitting up right. Sulfuric acid also doesn’t dissolve certain types of plastic, milk jugs are made of that plastic so you can also store the acid in that. Just figured you’d like to know this since you have so many old machines that likely need new batteries every time you use them.
This is interesting. I've never thought about it.
@@TheZachLife Ya it works great. It’s just like adding acid to an atv battery to activate it. The shelf life of a lead acid battery without acid is literally infinite since there’s nothing to dissolve and break the lead plates in the battery which is why lead acid batteries fail. The same principal applies to a working battery you want to store. Just remove the acid and it’s dry again and halts that live reaction between the lead and acid. Whenever I store a vehicle for 6 months or more I drain the acid out of the battery. Whenever I come back to the vehicle I just pour the acid back into the battery and the battery will be in the exact same shape you left it in. And the great thing is there’s no time limit. You can literally store a battery this way for 50 years and it’ll work exactly the same when you come back to it and pour the acid in it.
Love your videos, I find the stuff fascinating just moved to Oklahoma just south of Tulsa a couple of years ago lived in Wisconsin for 30 years. We have those shallow wells all over the place here and I've been curious about how they operate. Your videos give me alot of insight and understanding of the process.
Thanks.
Glenpool?
@@louispaparella5766 more rural Kellyville
@@joshbaker2437 I haven't lived there since 12, knew a couple small operators in the Sapulpa, Kellyville area. They still can make a very good living doing their own thing! They usually own their own production. They just have to keep after it.
@@louispaparella5766 it's not something I'm in a position to do but I find it interesting and respect anyone that's able to make a living at doing. I live about 15 minutes outside of Kellyville where it's peaceful and see a lot of these wells every day.
Thanx for the Great oil field life vids. Be careful out there guy.
Thanks.
Genius who ever built that rig.
That’s an amazing piece of equipment!
Very cool video!! Just found your channel and can't get enough lol.
Just gotta love those old Rube Goldburg inventions that came out of old school American inovation
My granddad started pulling wells using a silver king and a team of horses for Ohio Oil Company and retired after 57 years from Marathon (same company) operating a Cooper mounted on an Allis Chalmers tractor. When I worked the oil patch as the shop mechanic we had a homebuilt pulling rig. All cable operated, at least until I made the sand line hydraulic. Gear pump that when the directional valve was moved the motor would act as a motor when pulling the sand pump up and when the sand pump was going into the hole the motor became a pump and I had a variable restrictor in the line back to the tank that we could control the drum speed instead of having to pour water on the mechanical band brake. One could restrict the fall rate so fine that when the sand pump hit the fluid it would stop. A 292 ford for rig power. We ran a lot of packers to keep topwater out of the pay. The operator would have to practice the "Pull the ground to the crown or the crown to the ground." They would tension the drum line so tight that when they released the clutch the tension would spin the clutch disk so fast that the driven clutch disk would shuck the friction pads off the clutch disk. After having to pull the motor, and replace the disk 4 times on one well that had a stuck packer I had NAPA have their supplier clutch company make me a flywheel and pressure plate that had the friction pads on them, and the clutch disk was simply a steel disk. A reversed clutch arrangement. No more thrown pads when the tension unwound the clutch disk too fast. We had BJ Hughes power tongs and one packer we had a tool pusher who had the bright idea of having the rig hands put 2 pipe wrenches on the pipe and using cheater pipes try to break the packer pin to release the packer that had been pushed to the bottom of the hole.. Well, one pipe wrench slipped, the 2 guys on the other wrench were thrown onto the rod rack and their cheater came around and hit the tool pusher and gave him a compound fracture of his upper arm. The rig operator and I went out that afternoon, lifted the tongs over the pipe sticking out of the hole, and tried to break the packer. I screwed the relief valve in solid, we had a rope tied to the tong control handle so we could stand way back, and finally broke something loose. We broke the string above the packer. When we got the string out the pipe that broke looked like a twisted straw. They put a spudder on the well, ended up going thru the side of the casing pipe. The owner decided to move over 10' and drill a new well. Did not get as much as a rainbow on the pit with the new well. Oil pays are a fickle bitch.
Thats pretty cool. I've heard of the horse teams pulling wells.
Awesome video and great explanation of how everything works!
I love it. Not a pinch point or def sticker in sight. When men were smart enough to keep their hands and fingers safe. I grew up with men in overalls equipped with tools and an idea. Carry on!