24 AUGUST 2022 WorldWide Drilling Resource® by Tim Rasmussen and Jon Hansen Our rotary drill rig is a Mayhew 1000. It is a 1972 model, but we do not really know when it was manufactured. The year is as close as we can get to the actual age of the machine, and we did not have a birthday celebration for it, but we did buy it several presents. Being the practical people drill operators are, we bought useful things for it - bearings. Good Timken roller bearings, not off-brand knockoffs. The rig came to us through the generosity of Seth Weilage of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Seth came down to Guatemala to work for us for a few years, learning to work with the cable drilling rigs, but as he said, “Cable drilling is fun for the first ten hours, but after that, you find yourself wanting something a bit faster.” Really, a whole lot faster. So he gave us a good buy on the Mayhew and did a lot of labor refurbishing it. Then he came down and drilled with his own (now our) rig. The machine has been good to us. We have used it to train our Guatemalan crew, so now we are drilling year-round. At last count, we have 180 wells in operation. However, over the years, the Mayhew has developed problems. The engine is leaking or burning about a gallon of oil every three days. There are several gearboxes on the rig that have been working well, but the age of the machine makes it susceptible to bearing failures. Then, one of the bearings in the drawworks started howling. It was time for a fix. There is so much labor to get to one bearing, the best rule is to fix-em-all. Over the years, we have located a very good machine shop in Santa Elena that is unique to the area in that it is clean, neat, well-organized, and efficient. They agreed to help us with the rebuilding. Jon Hansen contacted NDS Drilling Supply in Minnesota, who was very helpful in putting together all the needed parts. The total cost of the parts was $2100; shipping them to Miami was $478; and another $729 to ship them from Miami to Poptun. Total shipping time was 11 days from Minnesota to Poptun, Guatemala. Not too bad, actually. So, our old machine will go into the shop for a thorough teardown and rebuild. I am sure when it comes out it will soldier on for a few more years. I am glad to be able to put together this little report for our supporters and readers. I too have been in the shop for some necessary repair work on my 74year-old frame. The work is now done and the repair docs say I should be good for a few more years. Water for Life is thankful for all your support over the years. If you would like to help, contact Gary Bartholomew at 509-939-1941 Tim Tim Rasmussen may be contacted via e-mail to michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com WTR Seth Weilage.
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