LABOR ON DRILLING WELLS In no industry is the workingman so intelligent as in the oil business. Most of the men are of American descent. They come from all parts of the United States.
The out-of-door life has developed a rugged type of men peculiar to the industry. Oil-field workers have much of the pioneer in them, especially the drillers and their helpers. Where these men are drilling on "wildcat" wells in sparsely settled areas they are often called upon to use all their resourcefulness in overcoming natural difficulties. They must use their initiative. This develops a set of very independent workers.
The rotary drillers were early developed in South Texas and in California. The early cable-tool men were from Pennsylvania and West Virginia. California developed the circulator men.
However the influence of the Pennsylvania and West Virginia methods have dominated Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and the Mid Continent fields. The influence of the Texas drillers was early felt in California, Louisiana and now in North Texas and Southern Oklahoma.
Standard Drilling Crew.—The crew of a Standard Cable-Tool outfit consists of two men known as the driller and the tool dresser or "toolie." On most outfits two sets of men are employed. The working time is divided.into two tours (pronounced like tower) of 12 hr. each. The practice of using three sets of men working 8 hr. each is now being tried in California with fair success.
The duties of driller and toolie are much the same. The driller, however, is the responsible head of the drilling crew. The "toolie" attends to the boiler, oils all machinery, pre pares the bits for dressing, does most of the climbing to the top of the derrick and greases the sheaves and crown pulley.
On circulator outfits a third man is employed. His special duties are to watch the mud-pumps, clean out the slush boxes, and assist generally around the derrick.
When it is necessary to fish for tools or pull casing additional men are furnished as required.
Rotary Drilling Crew.—The rotary crew consists of a driller,
and from three to four helpers.
The helpers are divided into derrick man, pump man, boiler man, and tool dresser on wildcat wells.
A five-man crew can do faster work' than four, and money is saved by their employment.
Each man has his special duties to perform. A well trained rotary crew works with a mechanical precision and speed that is best likened to the work of a finely trained gun crew. Every man knows exactly what to do and how to perform his duties with the least waste of time and effort.
Derrick Men.—The derrick man must be a nervy chap who can stay aloft in the derrick without getting dizzy. He must be agile, quick, and know what is wanted. His function on a rotary rig is to see that the pulleys are greased, to attend to the pumps when on the floor, and to clamp the elevators on the casing when going into the hole, or unclamp them when coming out. He stands balanced, one foot on the finger board and one on the plank platform which is generally placed about 25 ft. below the top of the derrick. He should have about 5 ft. of play on the casing on which to hitch or unhitch the elevators.
The free elevators are carried upwards at the rate of 4 ft. per second. The elevator man must hitch on the elevators and have them locked before the elevator picks up the casing or drill pipe. It takes a sure hand and quick eye, but a good derrick man accomplishes the trick easily with a foot or so to spare. Unhitch ing is a little slower as the elevators are not dropped so readily.
The derrick man also balances the drill pipe, casing or tubing as the case may be, so that it is screwed together easily.
Accidents occasionally happen. The derrick man may fail to lock the elevator, in which case the pipe may be picked up and then fall, or the elevators in unhitching may hit the platform and drop from the hook. The men on the floor are, however, on the watch for such accidents and seek shelter quickly. They are seldom injured.