What Does a Roughneck do on a Drilling Rig?
Vložit
- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- A lot of people have questions about the oil field like:
"How do I get in the oilfield?"
"What is roughnecking?"
What Does a Roughneck do on a Drilling Rig?
"How much money does a roughneck make?"
Roughnecking on drilling rigs is one of the most dangerous and labor-intensive jobs that there is.
There are drilling rigs all over the United States but they're usually in West Texas, as well as other parts of Texas, North Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.
In this video, I break down how making up drill pipe works.
Visit our site for more oil content: digitalwildcatters.com
Connect with me on Twitter: / fracslap
Join over 3,000 professionals in the next-generation community for the energy industry 👉 bit.ly/4dwXWsE
I’m the guy throwing chain!
Lol badass, man. Message me on Twitter and I’ll have you come on my podcast. @fracslap
Here’s the link to the video going viral.
twitter.com/_saylee/status/1359029834597466112?s=21
You've gone viral now buddy
@@Chavezoid absolutely crazy my man
You're badass! And real cute ;)
First time I saw it I thought: Nope, no way are hard hats unisex.
Worked as a roughneck for 5 years offshore. During that time I was impervious to body fat.
I bet brother
My guy!!! That's the rough life offshore, intercoastal and exploration drilling, 2 out and 1 in... unless your job takes you outside US intercoastal water ways..
did you get jacked too? man most rough necks ive seen are in great shape
@@bludika jacked? No, but it does train your muscle.
Never seen a woman in that job? Do you think they could pull it off?
Thanks for your video. Nice job. I worked as a roughneck from 1978-1979 in Northern California drilling for natural gas.
I’d lost my job as a route driver delivering soda pop and needed to earn money to get back home to Wisconsin. I had a buddy that was a Driller on the rigs so I asked him if I could get on.
He said, “No”. Then I asked if there were ever any openings. He said, “No. You’d hate it and you’d never make it anyway.” I told him I was in good shape and could handle the work. He laughed. We were sitting at the bar so I asked if he wanted another and he said, “Sure.” After half an hour of me asking for a job and him giving every reason I’d never make it he finally said, “Ok, go to the union hall and tell ‘em I asked for you. When they call you back, call me and I’ll tell you what’s next.”
My first shift was 4-midnight. About four hours in I was sucking air and dry heaving over the rail. About that time Tex, the Tool Pusher who oversaw all the crews on the rig, walks up on the floor. “How you doing?” he asks me. “Fine” I replied. Seeing right through that he says “Don’t worry, you’ll get your appetite for lunch back in a couple weeks.”
Well, I went from 145 lb. to 185 lb. in about 3 months, got stronger, and managed to make it until I had enough money. One day I went to Tex and told told him my plan to go home and he looked at me and in that kind Texas drawl said, “Home is a good place to be. You did a good job.” Hippie, the Driller on our crew said, “You can always say you were a roughneck once and that’s not something everybody can say.” So thanks to Tex and Hippie and Heifer, Piggy, and Gummy for looking out for me when I was a real rookie those first months. Also, if any of you guys are out there don’t worry about that knock-down that happened when the 4-way sling let loose. I don’t think it, I don’t think it, I don’t think it affected me at all.
Why do hippies like to work on drilling rigs?
Dope comes in 5 gallon buckets, we’re always making joints, and we trip every 24 hours!
Thanks again for the video. And stay safe.
sounds like the job makes you alot stronger, right now i work for an appliance company so we move them around with hand-trucks. sometimes they put me on delivery and carry them into people's houses. i like it
This sounded like a movie plot
@@oumardiop1sounds like Joe Biden telling one of his stories
That’s real life experience man
Hey you listen here friend. I did that for 5 years for Lowe's. Installing appliances, pulling them and putting them up in the loft at the store, loading the truck, and heading out. It was one of the best damn jobs I've ever had, there was just something about the work that I really loved. Please cherish the work, because I did not at the time when I was younger and dumber. @@jerrynassi6017
The next time you complain about how hard your 9 to 5 job is, just watch this video, much respect to these hardworking guys.
I did this shit in the late 90's as a teenager out in west Texas. OSHA wasn't a big thing back then. All I can say is, these dudes are amazing. Safety warning. Do Not F with a Rough Neck! These dudes are strong as hell, have un-ending endurance, an incredible work ethic, sense of loyalty, and absolutely zero patience for lazy or weak people. You wanna learn to be a man? Work a oil rig for a summer. You'll know if your tough or not after that. Stack them pipes brothers! Well done good Men!
You don’t need to work on an oil rig as a roughneck to know if someone is physically tough enough. Try chopping dry wood with a machete in a hilly mountain on a clear dry hot weather at 95 degree Fahrenheit with a UV index of 12. Oh and you only have 4 liters of warm water to keep you going from 10-5PM
@@darthjarjar5309 Preach on brother! I love all the hard working men of America out there crushing it everyday! God Bless Sir!
@@darthjarjar5309
A roughneck would squish you like a little bug. Just stop already.
Well not for me, i am quite lazy and poor cardiovascular endurance, probably they kick on My ass first day.
I worked 45 yrs in the oil and gas business, started out as a roughneck in the "worm corner". Working as the derrickman was the best job I ever had. We were lean and mean. Best physical shape I was ever in.
It’ll make your body strong all the way down to your fingertips for sure!
Great video and it sparked a memory. A guy I knew in the seventies worked on an offshore oil rig for 15 years. He was from Louisiana. Aside from being a roughneck I remember that he used the terms "tool push" and "roustabout" to describe the different jobs he had on the rig through the years. I seem to recall that entry level labor on a rig had something to do with pushing around endless bags of drilling mud and other grunt work. Possibly the job description of a roustabout. At one point his job consisted of spending each 12 hour shift strapped by a harness to the top of a tower, (derrick?), from which he muscled 300 pound sections of drill pipe, lowering them into position, one after the other. It appears that a lot of the labor that was done by hand back then has been replaced by machinery. Some of the more dangerous practices have been eliminated. He made very good money and his schedule was 12 hours on-12 hours off, 3 weeks on the rig- then 3 weeks off, which he spent at home with his family.. He told me a lot of stories including one in which a worker was struck in the head by a section of spinning chain, and that was it for him. Unfortunately that was the possible reality of it back then. Interestingly by the time I met him in 1977 he was working as the captain of a shrimp boat. I was walking the commercial fishing docks looking for work, and being in need of a replacement he hired me on as a crew member. I slightly "exaggerated" my previous experience in the commercial fishing industry. I actually had none and was a complete greenhorn. If I'd told the truth he never would have hired me. He admitted as much later. It worked out, but there was an adjustment period. Kind of grueling. To keep things in perspective while I got used to the hard work, grew my sea legs and toughened my hands, he always had a harrowing story to tell me about working on an oil rig. A shout out, my respect and gratirude to Captain Albert Chaisson, wherever he may be.
My dad was Derrickman and AD. GOD i miss my rough brothers. MWD was the best job ever lmao. I was pretty happy watching movies, taking surveys, and telling them what angle, azimuth, and gamma read outs 😌
@@shakeandbake7324 the MWD hands were always cool guys.
was he ballin?
Drill Collars 30 foot long 100 Pounds per foot, trip 90 foot tall on a Big rig 10 rows 9000 pounds each just 1 man with a 1 inch rope jacking back and tie it off to the side of the Derrick , the board or a derrick has fingers drill pipe slides between the fingers of the derrick board, 500 pound joints drill pipe 90 foot tall 1500 pounds using a 1-1/4 inch rope guide it to the finger tie it off full derrick is blackleg . Its a Night mare when a drill bit cone falls off . go fishing with a magnet trip in trip out till you get it . unless they think it can be pushed to the side and drill past it . and i seen that fail and had 2 bits in the well skid the rig 50 foot everything had to come down like a rig move just to go 50 foot . or hole in a pipe and it twist off go fishing for pipe and drill collars . wearing Scott air pack so poison gas don't kill you never fun . Just a day on a Oil rig .
Thought this was gonna turn into how you met Levon Helm
Damn good description. You clearly know your stuff. In the 80's we didn't say, 'Put down your purse." We would say, "Put some hair around it." Same meaning. Notice he is not exerting allot of force on anything. He is leaning in to it. You don't have to be big to make a great hand. Teamwork and timing was everything. New subscriber.
Great explanation. Being from Texas, I always wondered how these jobs went. Also I can't get enough of the comments from the men who've bled and sweat to give us the life of luxury we have today. Respect.
Dude as an engineer in midstream I for the life of me couldn't understand what the chains were for. All I could think was "what's with the chains that looks SUPER dangerous. And when it started spinning I escalated to WHY THE CHAINS?!" Scary. Thanks for explaining. Glad that practice is being designed away. It takes a lot of skill to be safe here that's clear.
lol glad the video helped out, man! We'll try to do a video on a top drive rig soon, much safer process.
The spinning chain is what keeps you alert......lol...lol...lol...wait till its winter and everything starts to freeze....lol..lol..lol...I hated that god dam spinning chain but I also loved it because it reminded me of how close death really was all the time. You cant tell the spinning chain to STOP...lol...lol
Chains are a staple in the oilfield!
@@adriantomlin2902 Cadillacs dont use the chain anymore. But all the other iron sure does.
The chain is wrapped and tensioned around the drill bit to provide friction to screw the drill bit pieces together. This is an old technique used in the 70s and extremely outdated and dangerous as there are modern hydraulics able to do the job more safely and efficiently. Only scumbag oil companies subject employees to old rigs throwing chains at the risk of losing limbs
PLEASE ADVISE ME.
I was told to spread my savings across different things like Trade to protect and support my retirement. with everything being shaky,I'm considering going into Trade. i don't wanna make the wrong choice.
@Zubaida.Ali.Ali5327Ellen DeGeneres hosted Kate floretta on TV 2 yrs ago that was where I saw kate and followed up.i have also been attending her Trade seminars.
you must have these things in mind
1. Have a long term mindset.
2. Be willing to take *risk*.
3. Be careful, if you're not spending to earn back, then stop spending.
4. Never claim to know - Ask questions and it's best you work with an assistant.
Yo I didn't know Kate was this popular,my cousin trade with her for some months now, I tried but couldn't understand anything it's not my thing tho so I passed Lol. I can testify that trade pays very well because my cousin at 23 bought a house already.
When it comes to Trade, I can confidently say that bitcoin is the best option. But most people think it's all about buying and leaving it to rise but It takes a lot more you need to trade it to earn daily.
I think I might have came across the name on an interview last year where she spoke about finance.
Remember throwing chain for Precision Drilling in the mid nineties in central Alberta, it was a great way to take a break from construction work, it was also nice to be young enough to do such work
I worked on rigs in West Texas during the 90's, a few comments. Wells can vary from a few hundred feet to more than 30 thousand feet in depth, there is a drilling prospectus sent to the rig giving estimated tops of depth for the zones petroleum is expected to possibly be located in. These estimated depths are derived from information from wells drilled in the area the new well is being drilled. Sometimes the estimates are spot on and sometimes they can be off by hundreds of feet. plus or minus. One of the hands will collect cutting returns from the mud system shale shaker and periodically a rock doc (geologist )will come out of his trailer and collect them to look at under a microscope. If he finds hydrocarbons in the cuttings he may ask the rig crew to get ready for a testing company to come with a special tool called a jar and after the rig crew trips the drill pipe and bit out of the hole they will install on the drill string and trip back into the hole all the drill pipe.That special tool is sent to the bottom of the hole to collect samples of what is in the formation below. Then the crew drips the drill string back out of the hole and the testing company analiyzes the fluids from the zone. I was a floorhand and have worked both lead tongs and the chainhand spots. The chain is very dangerous but lets be honest everything on a rig can seriously hurt or kill you if your not alert and paying attention to your rig and your rig mates. There are still many smaller drilling companies using tongs and spinning chains. None of the major contractors like Patterson, Nabours or Precison do but many smaller companies using older rigs do because all of the majors rigs can cost more than 20 million USD each. Smaller well operators cannot afford to hire a 20 million dollar rig so they hire a company with older rigs that may be worth a couple of million and a much lower day rate and footage rate. I still have a couple of friends working the patch so I see pictures from them on Facebook and see the new rigs and the old dinosaur rigs still in action.
Rough necking is one thing I never did, I was a railroad labor and now am a coal miner I would love to do this especially the work out that it is. Props to these boys.
Thanks for your video. You did a nice job of explaining what's going on. I worked on a gas drilling rig in Northern California 1978-1979.
A friend of mine was a foreman on one of the three shifts. I'd just lost a job as a Pepsi driver and needed to make some money so I could get back home to Wisconsin. I asked him if there was any work on the rig and he said, "No." I asked him if there would be any openings and he said "No." I told him I really needed and job and he said, "You'll hate it. You'll never last." I told him I'd been humping freight as a Pepsi driver and was in good shape. He laughed. We were sitting at the bar and I asked if he and his buddy, who worked with him, wanted another round he said "Sure". Well I didn't let up asking and he didn't let up discouraging me until he finally said, "Go to the union hall, put in your name, and tell 'em I asked for you."
My first night was a 4 to midnight shift. Four hours in I was sucking air and dry heaving over the rail. I thought I was gonna die. I'd never done anything that was so relentlessly hard. About that time Tex the tool pusher, who oversaw the drilling crews, came up on the floor to meet me. He asked how I was doing and I said "Fine" but he saw through that and said, "Don't worry, you'll get an appetite for lunch in a couple weeks." Well long, long story short, I did make it and went from 145 lb. to 185 lb. in about 3 months. So thanks for taking me on Hippie and thanks to the other guys, Piggie, Heifer, and Gummy, for watching out for me when I was a real rookie. And as a far as that knock down I took that night when the four-way sling broke loose - well it makes a great story. And I don't think, I don't think, I don't think it ever affected me.
So why do hippies like to work on drilling rigs?
Dope comes in 5 gallon buckets, we're always making joints, and we trip every 24 hours!
Best of luck to you. Thanks for the video.
Very cool story! Even though I could never do this, I have SO much respect for those guys and what they're able to accomplish and endure. Speaking of body weight, when I was 18 years old I used to work at the FedEx hub at the Indianapolis International Airport. I initially asked why it was only part-time...until I got on the job. I spent 4 hours constantly slinging packages into a cart off of a conveyor line that had just come off of their FedEx jets. The parcels ranged anywhere from a couple ounces up to 75 pounds. Anyway, I started in October 2004 at a ridiculously heavy 265 pounds and by the time I quit in May of 2005 I was down to near perfect body weight of 180 pounds. So if THAT job could make you drop weight that quickly I couldn't imagine the level of intensity that this job would require, especially while pulling 12-hour plus shifts, 7 days a week. Yeeeesh!
I’d like to hear more of your stories in depth!
Thanks Donovan. I'd be happy to oblige. Just send $100 in unmarked ten dollar bills and a self addressed stamped envelope to my post office box. Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. Ha!
I got a job at a post mill last year and we use industrial log peelers and pointer domers to make the fence posts and we also do telephone poles and rails. We have had a ton of people come and go because we gotta stack every single pole that comes through that yard lol . They range from like 50ibs to over 500ibs . All hand stacked to and 10hr days
@Andrew Crews For me, the work was so physically demanding at first I didn't have an appetite for lunch. When I got home after work, and got cleaned up and relaxed for a little while, I'd get really hungry and ate like a horse! I know Tex must have seen this before with other guys so he knew if I made it through the first couple weeks I'd be ready to eat lunch again. Tex was one of the best guys I ever worked for. He cared about everybody, was smart, and had a leadership style that was about making sure he took good care of all the guys on his crew.
My grandpa did this back in the 1920s. He told me some pretty crazy stories. When I turn 18 I wanna join the oil industry and be like my grandpa
FINALLY after all these years if watching random clips of this kind of work, I actually understand what they are doing. it never dawned on me that they were simply adding more and more sections to the existing pipe. i feel silly.
How does the new pipe stay attached?
@@neverhungryagain2187 they basically screw it on.
@@MissNebulosity how does it stay tight
@@neverhungryagain2187 they use those grabby things to torque it down.
@@MissNebulosity oh
Fascinating to watch but incomprehensible to understand what’s going on unless you’ve been in the field. Thanks for explaining.
Simple terms, like the narrator said, they drill down around 30 or so feet and then what you just watched for 4 minutes, they do that repeatedly roughly 600 times since that will be a 20,000 foot well!
@@adriantomlin2902I thought he said 5,000 ft?
Feminists never complain about job inequality in these types of professions
My thoughts exactly
As a woman who does blue collar work & hates the fem movement I agree with you👏🏾
This video talks about oil rig, not politics. Get a life.
It's just double standards, don't get fascist and racist!
I broke out on a extreme drilling rig. It was a top drive super single tong rig. I miss this work every day. You don’t know what real work is until you come out from TD sideways using tongs! Shout out to all my fellow roughnecks! Good job on the video man! 💪🏼👊🏼🤙🏼
Especially when you need to use both sets of tongs lol
@@noahtaborski4621 Come out on tour and they tell you it's bit change time ,the formation has turned to ratsh*t and the tri cores aint cutting so its pdc time (polycrystalline diamond) ...12 hours of pulling 90ft stands ....so tired at the end of your shift ....good feed in the galley (i was always on offshore rigs) and it was better than any sleeping pill you can you imagine ...if there was a sleeping olympics you'd win gold after a 12 pulling from TD
Always fascinated by the rigs and how they work. Been working oil and gas for 5 years as an instrument tech
I haven’t roughnecked for 30 years. I can still feel the movements when throwing chain. It is just an amazing, almost magical, feeling.
It's been over40 yrs ago I went along as a fkn tourist just along for a ride to acompany my buddy's in the crew cab to take over a Shelby drilling rig shift, little did I know that I would be taking over the the job of the rough neck that decided to pack it in, on the way to the job site I was told no worry ur going to be working but waiting on orders whatever that meant, and guess what they were tripping, I got first hand experience by a great bunch of guys that litterly grabbed me from behind and showed me how to bite into those Tongs, all the while while they were drinking beer, I managed to stand up the pipes in perfect line got photos from my Disc camera, and at the end of the shift got the job offer of the dude that took the night off, I'm 80yrs old now and going strong, thanx for the memories,
How I learned on an exploratory diamond drill, we had to remove all the drill rods from the hole every 5 or 10 feet to remove the core sample. Don't matter whether it's a shallow 100ft or 1000ft or deeper. All those rods got pulled, remove the bit, remove the sample, reassemble, lower rods back down the hole and add another 5 or 10 feet of rod, and drill the next run. Then rinse and repeat.
How could anyone dislike this. This is an awesome video and awesome explanation, way better than what I could have hoped for when I searched for it. Thanks man!
Noble E553, there it was "get it in the hole." Fresh out of college in '76, learned a whole new language. Working derrick as a worm, at night, was bad. As I recall 6" collar was 36 lbs./ft. We had three stands and it if you let it fall across the derrick (which is exactly what a worm is gonna do the first time) un-hitching from the rope and making your way to the far side to rope that stand back will make you reconsider every wrong thing you have ever done in you life.
I boke out in 79. Became derrick hand in 80. Jacking a stand of collars was hard work for any derrickman. Was definitely glad to work a rig with air hoist in derrick to pull collars. Much easier 😆
Thanks for the explanation. Do more on this subject.
Looks like a good job if you want to lose about 50 pounds real quick.
Either you can cut it or you can't I was young at the time the company I was working for if you weren't drunk and on drugs you we're a minority no job for sissies no job for the clumsy or slow
@@ryanreagan6073 gotta keep your head on a swivel when you’re on the floor, shits a little bit easier nowadays but still danger is all around you. Very very little room for error if any at all.
@@ryanreagan6073 methed out cowboys ? Hear that a lot.
@@arcadymorel7565 pretty much yeah
By losing a few limbs?
I did it for 7 years I throwed that old chain many of times luckily lost some gloves not a I loved it keeps you in shape but when you got to trip out of the whole that's a rough day in the neighborhood I left 1982 I worked out of Midland Texas whenever things shutdown it was like a ghost town tried to get offshore Panama City they said they were about 90 miles out never could get ahold of no one went back home to Georgia
I work in construction but this was very cool to see the break down and the upmost respect to these men.
Utmost
@@michaelrevis1675 thx!
I worked as a site geologist for a small bore hole logging drill for construction. It is the same process but on a small scale. I've seen how hard to work with these type of equipments. Since then I have a great respect for those who are working in this type of work. It is not a easy job.
Finally someone knows what they are talking about. Met so many over the years say they worked the rigs, but had no idea what they did. NO ONE FORGETS THIS OLD SCHOOL
I miss working with roughnecks. I was MWD and Mudlogger/Geologist, watching those badass dudes trip pipe. If they were lucky they had a rig that was using a top drive instead of rotary table. I've seen 35k ft of pipe tripped with top drive and almost 20k ft done with a rotary table.I miss working with those dudes so much they could be your best friend or worst nightmare. MWD "measurement while drilling" Like me was also called " movie watching dude" we had it the best on the rig. Except tool pusher and company man had it way better.
Kelly whatever
new joint in the little hole in the middle of the board is the "mouse" hole.
Big hole on the side is where they drop the Kelly and swivel is called the "rat" hole and not the same but name for the 20-50' rat hole below TD for the trash to land.
Rotary rig "aka power rig" is referring to the floor turns driven by chain driven by floor motors that also drive the draworks
The stands "2 or 3 pc" are lined across the wooden deck and the fingers on the derick are called the board
Chains are thrown when other tools like spinners are whacked. Is an art. Depends on the thrower and the driller as they work together. Smart thrower is very discriminatory in who the driller is as a sloppy driller will take the fingers and hands.
I was visiting a friend in Oklahoma City and on the day I was planning on leaving, a friend of his, who happened to be a driller, needed someone for his crew. He was short handed and needed a body. If
he showed up for his shift short handed he would have been run off. I had never seen an oil rig before. I became a “Worm” that evening. They had just started the hole so the connections were happening fast.
I made good money that day. Decided to stay on and ended up roughnecking for the next two years.
You meet interesting people out on the rig. I was there in the early 80’s and things were booming. Great experience and I am glad I did it.
Ive seen big muscle bound tough guys last out here only a couple days. Its not for everyone. Trying doing what you see, pulling 5000 feet of pipe out of the hole and back in the hole in one 12 hour shift. That speed doesnt stop, you get yelled at you get sore, you slip, you fall and then get yelled at some more. This place will break you fast but if you make it you will learn how hard you can push your body. Worst best job i ever had
What it takes to be a ROUGHNECK Guts , you do everything from Carpenter , Electrician , Mechanic , Painter , You work your but off fix everything on the rig wash paint . Next to Farming it is one of the most dangerous jobs you can do . anything can happen on a rig in the blink of and eye . Blow out . Crown out blocks falling . Drill line snap blocks fall , Derrick fall over in high winds , Poison gas , Broken arm leg or back You got the Guts working on a oil rig will spill them . 1978 till 86 7 days a week moved the rig every 6 days 6,000 foot oil wells I was in my prime 17 to 23 then the oil field took a fall 10,000 roughnecks looking for a job and 2 rigs running . got into underground water mains and sewers .
Hey man I just wanted to say I dig your comments. Thanks for the hard work keeping our great country running.
This is cute i worked in the rigs since i was 14 years old i am now 37 i remember the company man coming up to me saying your not 18, i laughed and said yes i am, he laughed and went up on hes day.
Massive respect of these guys. They work their butts off.
I did this small scale with 3inch pipe on a tracked drill for environmental and exploration drilling. It was back breaking god aweful work. I have a lot of respect for these big ass rig dudes thats a job that will really show you the measure of a person.
My dad always called it pipe dope and and everybody looks at me crazy when I say it! Makes me happy to hear you say it
Simply impressive. You explained that better than anyone. We thank you.
worked roughneck and derrickman for five years, scotland south africa. yeehaa the good ole days! 76 years old now 😀
Do they still use chains?
Thank you for explaining the process in layman's terms. I now understand what I have been watching on shorts. I was especially confused by the chain throwing. My family work on the oil rigs in the North sea. Must ask them more questions. I think we take all of this for granted. Thank you men. 😀
Wow. Very interesting video. I was a roughneck in the late 70s. Four times in Wyoming. Twice in Colorado, and once in New Mexico. I didn't know they don't throw chain anymore!
I thought rebar was tough work, these guys are impressive
Still work on these rigs today. Daylight chain hand bud. We only do rat hole connections. Got rid of the mouse hole connections a while ago
Thank you to all the men that keep America moving and grooving !!!
The one thing with a rotary - making connections isn't a constant - you make the connection then let it make hole for a while then do it again - I think a pulling unit/workover rig can be more exhausting
Brings back memories of my roughneck days. I wouldn’t know what to do on a modern rig.
no i am that was my speciality on the glomar 3 in bass strait australia it was just the best job i have ever had . i was eighteen when i started on the glomar 3 1968 to be presise and started in the engine room i had never seen so many v12 cat engines
after a few months i had advance to derrickman i had the best driller charlie proctor since my time there i had paid a visit to Ocean digger and sedco moving back home to queensland working on rig six for the simson desert .Training greenhorns to operate T-32 rig working on EWThornton in morton bay brisbane .i have to stop now a little bit old now but still love it
So after the shift they go downtown to the gym and finish of the day with a latte with his femininist friends at the local cafe🤣🤣🤣
@Music Biz Moriarty
not as uncommon as some might think.
@Music Biz Moriarty I can guarantee you all the men on that rig is a white straight male. It's funny how nobody bitches about "diversity" or "feminism" on an oil rig. They just want the handouts and easy work while the white man picks up the Slack and keeps the country running. We talk about it on the rig all the time. Not one woman and not one person of color. I find hilarious. Nobody wants the shit jobs that we have been working for centuries to keep this country afloat and all we do is get spit on for being white men in the news media.
@Music Biz Moriarty salute brother 👍🏻
I think these guys play for the red team
@@Snorky_88 hey now my rig has some indigenous and black men on it too. All of them straight though.
My dad and uncles used to take me out when i was a wee lad, 25+ years ago. I can still hear the sound of the chains in my head lol.
You want to see a real gut buster of a drilling rig take a look at some old North sea Semi Submersible Drilling,,, man that sh was crazy having to rig up and rig down "everything" needed to start making hole to doing completions it was 12 hours 30 day rotations and freezing wet.
When i started in 1987 there were many older rig floor guys with missing fingers due to those spinning chains and they were being phased out as i started as trying to use DD size tongs by hand while pulling and inserting pipe slips and using a spinning chain on 90 foot sections of drill pipe was just a bit to dodgy, especially when the rig floor you are working it heaving up and down 20 feet and pitching a yawing left to right, side to side, far to many hands being packed in ice and flown by chopper back 250 miles to "The Beach" to hospital and no hospitals that far out to sea.
For what is left of the industry at least the folks have " much " improved working conditions and are not allowed to lift more than i think 25 kilos which does sound kinda funny to an old arthritic man who had to pull pipe slips single handed on a semi in bad weather while holding off and under control a set of DD pipe tongs that were hanging from a shiv more than 300 feet above your head up in the crown of the Derrick.
The job in that wet and cold totally wrecked my skeleton thats for sure.
I started in 88 on the Global Marine Labrador 1,a jack up so didnt have to cope with the heave compensators !....used to get a perverse pleasure out of shouldering a stand ,listening for the derrickman chucking it in the elevators then the kick would come and you'd slide across the floor and stab it...was like being kicked by an angry mule...good days indeed in the north sea of the late 80's
@@magumba1000 I was young and mad and like you i would enjoy hours up the Derrick running in hole or pulling out, then the hydraulic racking arms came in to play but yeah, as much as i hated it at times it was good to get away from this place and feel free way out at sea.
I'm a carpenter , but I love this type of work . Thank you for the video brother .
First time i picked up slips i was like holy shit these are heavy.
That is Roughnecking, now imagine that rig floor on a semi sub in 400 feet of water in winter??
Yes it seems like its the drill pipe that is going in in and out the drill floor up and down 15 to 20 feet every wave that heaves the rig,,, and once you have been back to work 2 days or so you dont feel the rig move once used to it so it really does look like its the pipe moving and not the oil rig which were bounced about like corks in winter.
Thanks for the memories man!! 8
U gotta do a vid on what every single guy on the floor has to do during connections or tripping or something
You’ll learn things like “ completion” and being “ on location until completion and “ communicating wells” fishing tools and fracking and well service , acidizing wells and many jobs related after completion
Did this for 10 years in the North sea in the late 80's to late 90's.
I am full of arthritis.
The good old days hard to find any hands anymore roughneck is a dying breed brother
I was told by my friend to come work with him and apply. I was ready to go did all my paperwork online all i had to do in person was the physical when I arrived abnd a few others. And well, A dip SHT somehow got in office he then said wait. I heard from him just a a few weeks go and he's now with Hali. Thats why I'm here, he said theres a ton of before you hit the fields videos. Go watch as many as you can just so you know what you're getting yourself into. You're my 5th video. So thank you for th Intel.
I worked on a boss rig in west tx and when our TM120 would break down we would have to use tongs every now and then. I miss them days tbh. KEEPER TURNIN RIGHT OLE BOY!!!!
Been thinking of getting a job working rigs and wanted to see how it's done. I typed in "oil rig workers" and finally found your video after watchin maybe 10 videos that were bullshit. Thanks brodie.
My daddy, God Rest His Soul, worked offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, and Texas in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. He got his degree in petroleum engineering but back when he started out he did it all. Love and respect my daddy.
Praying for the oilfield!!!
Let’s Go Brandon!!!
That chain thing always scares the crap out of me and I’ve never been near a well site in my life.
@@williamjones7851 Anyone ever get a whole limb stuck in the chain? I worked construction for years, put a framing nail through one finger and almost lost a few others over the years, but rig work looks a lot more dangerous to me.
@@1965JB Most definitely, many limbs and lives have been lost in drilling.
I roughnecked in the 70s and this is exactly the way it was done and anyone who has done it has endless stories about the work, people and danger. If you do it you’ll never forget it.
This looks like a great job for body builders honestly.
Thanks for that. Fro. New Zealand so I will never see a day of roughnecking in my life, but this gave me tbe extra appreciation for you guys as a labourer myself.
My boyfriend just got a job as a drilling rig a few days ago! It’s a lot of hard work going on, I’m proud of him for having a new job! I call him my roughneck
God bless you
Boys we got the new lore update on roughnecks. Finally understood what wizardry they were doing.
Very good explanation for people that don't know anything about it. Cheers
i was somewhat lucky , worked choke in east texas chalk one hitch and next hitch right to the monkey board , those days hard work was honored and noticed . spent 13 years making mud and loved it , backyard was all me and the responsibilities .. still have night mares of that dam phone ringing ALL THE TIME tho.. Be safe and remember derrickhands know how to treat a hole ladies .. lol
So that was you ! Well hi , I was known as Ming , I worked on the regional endeavour. Drilling ship . That is Oil Rig ! I worked the floor, ang loved it ❤️- I knew that Rig - all of her! Most parts cranes, mud room, derik as well,
Sub sea, B O P 🤗, I’m 78 now. and still miss the rig. and mining open cut. Most people still don’t know my birth name: only as Ming!
I liked your vid .
Is there anyone that worked on the , R E drilling ship, off the Western Australia. Let me know Ming.
I’ve worked on compound and diesel electric in the 80s sub zero temperatures in Wyoming Utah Colorado as a chain hand we used to bet who can do the fastest connection for a 12 pack of beer 🍺
Bro I see that dude's hand over top of that spinning chain, gloves or not, and I just see disaster. Insane.
Dont know where you broke out at, but it's called a mouse hole in this part of texas. Not a stump. And we still drill with Kelly rigs in young county tx. Still throwing chain. No top drives or iron roughnecks here. The PDC bit is probably the only technological advancement in this part of the patch. Although some drilling companies are starting to use the Pason system on their rigs.
the concept seems pretty straightforward. obviously i know its for the faint of heart. i imagine theres a lot more to it than that one process though.
The stump is what's above the slips. Ur next connection goes in the mouse hole with more on the ready in the V door
Been making these pipes, threads, bottom subs, top subs, cross over subs since 03
This may sound strange, but being adept at braiding was an admired skill. At the end of the spinning chain we braided a section of rope, usually about 9-12". That was the "handle" the lead tong/chain thrower used to finish the spin. If that rope broke then there was about two feet of chain swinging around until the driller could stop the cat head. That's where hard hats were appreciated, and always keep your head down. Otherwise you get a chain across your face. And nobody likes that.
I wasn't a professional. I did 18 months, 8/365 on land rigs in northern Louisiana and East Texas. I came away with all my fingers. I lost my high frequency hearing but $8.80/hr + 3/day for black magic + 3/day for bottom hole was pretty good.
Mad respect. It seems brutal. Imagine showing up to work with a bad attitude, hangover, or a break up?
Thats an everyday thing on these rigs man lol
You use that anger.
@@blueonblackpowerstroke513Yeah because people in this field have no ability to form real emotional connections and majority are abusers or emotional manipulators whose only sense of worth is the pride they have in “hard work,” aka taking a cock in every single hole for the rich elite.
I showed up with all three of those and a half dozen more every day of every hitch offshore for 36 years,made good money,spent 90 % of in in bars ,on cars ,and more than a few ladies , the other 10 % ,well I just pissed that off !!! Damn I had fun
mad respect to people who do this.
That chain looks like it has a mind of its own, and a mind to F somebody up.
Respect.
This is great stuff! I'm doing research for a screenplay set in the oil fields, and this type of information is hugely valuable! Thanks for posting it!
Many conventional rigs still use chains. I worked motorman for 3 years on a conventional and electric triple and 4 years on supersingle topdrives.
Canadian Artic
This was incredibly informative and easy to understand. Have always been curious about this so thanks for making this bro. Respect.
I was explaining this video to another cat, you broke it down pretty good bro. I broke out on a kelly rig, on a fishing trip...fuk! I miss it these days.
Laying down pipe on a Kelly rig would make you or break you but mostly break you....drill baby drill 👌👌
Thanks for the explanation. I've always wondered about this type of work. That seems like a young man's job.
Looks like a good way to get back problems in 3 months or less
Lol this is my video!!
You still have all your fingers ?
Mush respect ✊!!
What!!! That's pretty wild bro. Just came off a compound double and honestly like them better than this new shit
I through chain from 1978 to 2001 still have all my fingers.
How the heck do they train the newbies to do this I could imagine lots of yelling 😆
Right!🤣
By beating peoples’ sense of worth into oblivion and dragging them down into mind-numbing misery
Some drilling companies or the Operating oil company will not allow or approve of spinning out a connection with the rotary table.
my first job ....... on 80's . crazy !!!!
Thanks for sharing, very informative … I complain when I run around a building the size of a mall working as IT admin connecting all sorts of technology together all the time, trouble shooting a range of different issues, my brain does all the heavy lifting so to speak, but looking at this makes me feel pretty damn pathetic 😆 … to each of there own I guess but without a doubt this is truly a blue collard tough man’s job, you gotta be willing to get dirty and strong
Does IT pay well?
Ive been a oil and gas code welder for 5 years and im now currently in the oilfield cleaning service. My dads been roughnecking for 25 years since i was a baby and im now 29 years old and ive always wondered if there is a chance for me to get out there and make a better future for me and my family. hopefully im not overthinking it and i could still do it
Cheers for making this is tried to find an explanation of the tools and what they are called. There's another similar one the crew ducks chain move, work in unison without a word I think it is the same crew very cool 😊
Never doubt a companies willingness to save money at the expense of your fingers.