Drill pipe power tongs - GIF

**Altair** · Aug 11, 2021, 03:42 PM

Russian-made drill pipe power tongs.

Previously:

Drilling crew adding a drill pipe section - GIF
Adding a section to an oil rig drill - GIF
Drilling rig top drive crashes down - GIF
Friction welding drill pipe for oil exploration
Homemade oil drilling rig - video

**will52100** · Aug 12, 2021, 04:57 PM

AKA an Iron Roughneck.

**Frank S** · Aug 12, 2021, 05:07 PM

Kind of does away with 2 of the most dangerous jobs on the rig floor.
But at the same time puts 2 guys out of work..
How else is someone going to learn to advance to driller unless he works the inside tongs the outside tongs and learns to throw the chain?

**will52100** · Aug 12, 2021, 05:15 PM

I broke out on a manual rig and found when I went to a cyber rig that it required more people, not less. No, you don't need two tong hands and the shaker hand running a spinner hawk or chain, but when you get into dual activity you wind up making up several stands of BHA racking it back. Also still use manual tongs for certain BHA tools as they are either too large, odd shaped like stabilizers, or delicate to use the iron roughneck on. And then there is the maintenance issues, you spend less time throwing tongs and more time greasing and tightening bolts.

**Frank S** · Aug 15, 2021, 01:15 PM

Originally Posted by will52100

I broke out on a manual rig and found when I went to a cyber rig that it required more people, not less. No, you don't need two tong hands and the shaker hand running a spinner hawk or chain, but when you get into dual activity you wind up making up several stands of BHA racking it back. Also still use manual tongs for certain BHA tools as they are either too large, odd shaped like stabilizers, or delicate to use the iron roughneck on. And then there is the maintenance issues, you spend less time throwing tongs and more time greasing and tightening bolts.

On a trailer mounted rig that I built they had a driller on morning tower who was infamous for backing the drill string into the next joint or when tripping out of the hole using the rotary table to spin away from the joint. claiming it saved a lot time not waiting on the floor hand to throw the chain. he also wouldn't take the time to put the wedding band on the collars going in or coming out The tool pusher caught him one night while coming out of the hole as they were breaking the collar string without the wedding band. the Pusher calmly said when we have to go fishing in the morning the first thig we better find is the wadding band down hole still on the collars. So he started using the wedding band but when they pulled the next to the last collar out the next collar and bit was not below it . that was the last time that driller or his crew was on the rig

**will52100** · Aug 15, 2021, 06:44 PM

We always used the dog collar on BHA, manual or cyber rig, didn't matter. The real advantage of a dual activity or one that has an aux draw works is the ability to have pretty much all your BHA racked back and ready to just trip in the hole. Still have to add a few pieces here and there as some are too big to rack back or the hight won't make the finger board, or we have to use a pup joint to make height, or they change their minds while going in the hole. Most 5 and 6 gen rigs do pretty much the same things as smaller rigs, just everything is a lot bigger and weights a lot more. First time I was on a dual activity drill ship I thought they were tripping so slow. Until I got to thinking about 30-50 pound per foot range 3 pipe and there was no way a derrick hand on a monkey board could tail it from where it was to the hole. Add in the ability of the top drive to retract while tripping and a racking and iron roughneck, TIH meant that by the time the elevators were ready to grab the pipe the stand was already torqued and ready to head south. Same thing but in reverse POOH.

**MeJasonT** · Aug 17, 2021, 05:34 AM

Real men do it on drill ships

actually not me but little Philippian doods - they are built like rock.
26 stand in 2 hrs, you wont be drilling, running in or out the hole at that speed.
It was the old sedco 337 drill ship being used to salvage from wrecks on the seabed using a 20 tonne grab (somthing mental like that).
The grab had 2 thrusters, cameras, lights and sonar to survey and help entering the wreck - the whole thing was effectively an ROV.

**MeJasonT** · Aug 17, 2021, 05:38 AM

last job was for Arrival Oil Tools in Canada, I worked out of a UK office designing and assembling downhole instruments.
Im sure ive told the story to Frank a hundred times already. Old timers is definately kicking in - did i mention i served in the trenches during the great war.
I have to appolegise for being an old fart.

**MeJasonT** · Aug 17, 2021, 05:42 AM

considering its automated its a bloody messy rig. The bloody pup just left lying on the floor. i take it its pulling out cause i dont see much dope either.

**MeJasonT** · Aug 17, 2021, 06:06 AM

I tried helping out once, the crew were at lunch and the wanted to pullout 2 mtr, i went to pull out the slips and drop them back in once Norman Ferguson the driller had pulled the string. I wont do that again man they are frigging heavy. I called Norman "Vinegar Tits" on account of the prison warder on prisoner cell block H being called Ferguson. The best man you could ever hope to meet (from Newcastle, UK) The other Driller on days was Dave (someone). was a fantastic crew apart from on french guy and the Italian Salvage Master Mario (Vagan ?). There were a couple of guys who had worked on the first Titanic discovery expedition, Fred Biggoet and Dave Belford, both had worked for Infermer the french government diving company who operated the manned submersibles. Dave was a pilot fred was a rescue diver and technician. A few years later i met Bob Ballard (the infamous discoverer of the Titanic ) and Dick Barton the now salvor/owner of the wreck who was also one of the original submersible pilots. The oil and maritime salvage business is a very small world.