WorldWide Drilling Resource

33 JULY 2021 WorldWide Drilling Resource® by Tim Rasmussen It was going to be another hot day. David Lazaro was driving the truck with the old Stadeli 22W drill rig, headed to Flor de Selva. This remote village is several miles off a good road, about 1½ hours from our shop in Poptun. His drilling helper Eddi was with him. After they turned off the highway, the road began to get worse and worse for several kilometers, forcing them to go slower and slower to accommodate the bad road. It wasn’t a smooth road, just a series of deep holes separated by short stretches of smaller holes. They would creep down into a deep hole, then creep out and drive for a few feet, and do it again. The truck would lurch as they crept along. They were several kilometers from the highway when they went down into a hole and the truck lurched violenty then sagged drastically to one side. David immediately shut the motor off and climbed out. What he saw was amazing. The bed of the truck sagged down, just behind the cab. Looking under the edge of the bed at the frame, the problem was obvious. The frame was broken on one side. When it broke, it badly twisted on the other side. The driveshaft was not bent, but the vehicle could not be driven. The truck was not going anywhere until something was fixed; and the truck could not be moved off the road. Thankfully, there was room for a vehicle to pass, if one came along. David was happy there was cell service. He called Jon at the shop and told him of their predicament. Jon started out from there, and Edgar and Eldon came from another town to check out the problem. It was obvious the truck could not be moved without doing more damage. They all agreed they would have to jack the truck up, make some kind of temporary repair, then try and get the truck back to the shop or to the city of San Luis about 15 miles from where they left the road. It was getting dark; there was nothing they could do out in the country at that time. So they locked the truck, left it there sitting in the road, and went back to the shop. Chris had a meal waiting for the tired and discouraged men. Find out how they repaired the frame in next month’s issue. If you would like to help, contact Gary Bartholomew at 208-907-0010 or 509-939-1941 Tim Tim Rasmussen may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com WTR

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDk4Mzk=