Not many contractors have more directional drilling experience than Brad Mills.

Mills has been installing utility lines with directional equipment since 1991. He and his son, Jeromy, own and operate Bullseye Boring Technology, Inc. in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

"We don't limit our work to any special field," says Mills. "We do a lot of primary and service lines in new housing developments, including water, sewer, electric, and gas. We also work on a lot of telecommunications projects."

With 20 years experience in the oil fields, Brad Mills made the transition from vertical to horizontal and began installing utility pipe and cable soon after compact directional equipment became available.

"I was working for another contractor then, and we bought one of first Ditch Witch® Jet Trac® models sold in the state," he says. "I used that machine--a model 4/40--until August 1999, when my son and I left the company to establish Bullseye. And the old machine still is in service today."

Mills has seen firsthand the rapid evolution of horizontal directional drilling (HDD) equipment. "The old 4/40 was a great machine, and we drilled a bunch with it," says Mills. "But it's pretty primitive compared to today's models. On the 4/40, the control box was mounted on the carriage, so during drilling and pullback I walked back and forth with my hand on the controls. We had to stake the frame down manually, and sections of drill pipe were added and removed by hand. And it really doesn't have the power to make long installations or to pull back large-diameter materials."

The father-and-son team launched their New business with a Ditch Witch JT1720.

Mills says its size and capabilities are well suited to the variety of work Bullseye is called on to do. The JT1720 is compact enough to work in small spaces to install service lines, but has the power to pull in several hundred feet of water main pipe or multiple lengths of smaller-diameter conduit.

The self-contained drilling system's engine and hydraulic and drilling fluid systems are incorporated into the compact drill frame. Its diesel engine is rated at 85 gross horsepower. The unit develops 17,000 pounds of thrust and pullback force, 1,800 foot pounds of torque, and spindle speeds to 200 rpm. The on-board fluid system can pump 25 gallons per minute of drilling fluid.

The JT1720 is mounted on rubber tracks for traveling over either paved or landscaped surfaces. For unloading and moving to the set-up position, a tethered control box allows the operator to be on either side of the drill unit.

Hydraulic leveling and anchoring features speed set up. An intergrated pipe rack holds enough drill pipe to complete most jobs and automatic pipe makeup and breakout and pipe thread lubrication allow the operator to add or remove drill pipe without assistance from another crew member.

Mills says that there also have been big changes in HDD guidance electronics.

Bullseye uses the new Subsite® Electronics 750 Tracker, one of the most advanced electronic tracking components ever developed for horizontal directional drilling. It is manufactured by Subsite Electronics, a division of The Charles Machine Works, Inc.

Mills says the 750 has features and capabilities that make it effective in situations where older model tracking equipment has had difficulty performing. It can be used as a walk-over tracking receiver, for remote guidance, and as a basic utility line locator.

"We've done about every kind of job with our directional system," says Mills. "We've pulled in HDPE conduit and duct for electrical and telecommunications cable, PVC and HDPE water pipe, and even put in a segment of gravity-flow sewer line."

Grade was maintained by establishing the grade of the surface terrain, calculating the depths needed to maintain grade of the pipe, taking careful readings with the 750 Tracker every two to three feet, and adjusting the path of the pilot bore as necessary.

On most jobs, Brad operates the tracker while Jeromy is on the drilling unit.

"Jeromy actually has more time on the JT1720 than I do," says the elder Mills. "Effective directional drilling takes good communication between the locator and driller, and we work very well together. Jeromy grew up around equipment, and even though he's a young man, he has as much drilling experience as most anyone operating equipment today."

The Mills family has been busy since Bullseye opened for business.

"We had a lot of contacts when we decided to go on our own," says Brad Mills. "Potential clients knew us and knew that we do good work."

And providing quality work is the key to success, he believes.

"Repeat customers are the best source for new business," he says, "and if you expect to be called back, you have to do good work. You can't have customers having to go back and fix work you've done. Our goal is to do the best we can on every job. Do that, and the work will come."