By Jaime Wines, Ditch Witch Director of Parts, Sales and Marketing
A critical element in every horizontal directional drilling installation is correctly matching drill rig, drill pipe and downhole tools to soil conditions. Failing to do so can lower productivity, causes unnecessary wear on tools and equipment, and could be the key to a success or cause of an aborted bore.
Our intuitive, web-based HDD Advisor tool helps underground construction operators simplify tooling configuration by giving them the confidence to quickly and correctly select downhole tool options to match the drill unit they’re using and soil conditions on a job. And it’s easily accessible. The free tool can be accessed by computer, tablet or smartphone from the office or a jobsite.
Though there are many websites in the industry that provide information about available drill pipe and downhole tooling, the HDD Advisor is the only tool available that fully helps operators build a drill string configuration based off thread compatibility and saves the information for future reference.
Building The Job
Step by step, the tool helps you assemble a drill string, starting with a saver sub or SaverLok®. As you select tool options, HDD Advisor recognizes threads for compatible parts and automatically adds other components required by the tool options chosen.
You can pull up detailed information and photos for each part to help make the right selection. When the drill string is complete, it can be saved for sharing or future reference for similar jobs.
Drilling companies are using HDD Advisor to select drill string configurations to prepare crews and drilling equipment, helping to ensure the correct tooling for the application is on site when needed. Or they use the information when a new drill unit is purchased to make tooling replacement easier in the future.
Historically, identifying the proper tooling for job sites was difficult, time consuming and cumbersome. This tool gives operators and dealers an intuitive tooling-product road map and quickly recommends configurations and solutions based on just a few questions.
Time is money. This tool helps save time on a jobsite, leading to faster project completion and adding to your bottom line.
For more information on the Ditch Witch HDD Advisor, visit www.hddadvisor.com.
