Horizontal Directional Drilling - how it works

[ssmpatton]

What's cool is.people are amzed by it and have no idea what's going on u til they see it. Also I've neverr called it fly cutting. I've always called it reeming. Or a reemer. We just drillled roughly 450 ft of a gas main trailed rods went all the way. Up to a home.made 30" barrell reemer. It was hard but bad ass. Boring is one of a kind for.sure

[ssmpatton]

Ya the degree it goes in changes drastically. Its not always the same

[keithmti]

hddforums is a forum dedicated to the discussion of horizontal directional drilling, focusing on rigs produced by Vermeer, Ditch Witch, Case, Astec and American Auger.

[Twexcom]

Thumbs down for failing to illustrate the attachment of the fly cutter, this animation is incomplete. That is a major problem.

[digeiSemtex]

How can you make the pulled pipe not rub against the upper wall of the borehole. Is there a standard method to solve this or this is not that a big issue? thanks.

[ControlChemical]

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[MTIEQUIPMENT]

good video!

[atxlax]

How is the fly cutter at the bottom of the hole when the diameter of the fly wheel is larger that the hole itself?

[STUDIOLEX]

@atxlax Good question. What you don't see in this animation is that besides an IN point, there is an OUT point. Once the drill head arrives at the other end of the line above the surface (the OUT point) the drill head is replaced by the Fly Cutter. Then the Fly Cutter is pulled backwards through the bore hole to enlarge the opening....

[honduhchicken]

Great video, still didn't show me what I'm looking for. How does a horizontal directional drill navigate to the right place? I mean I see these guys drill a hole and pop out where they want it, you'd think because of the angle it would keep drilling downward!

[STUDIOLEX]

Thanks, first: there is a small (GPS) sensor in the first tube right after the drill head. And second: the drill head is not like in the animation exactly parallel to the tubes , but it has a very small angle (say 3 deg.) This way the drill head always tries to go in a certain position. By turning the drill head an tubes a little more to the right or left, the drill head will follow.... I hope that explains it a bit for you.

[mcgenetics]

Unreal, this is technology that people drive passed every day on their way to work, yet is constantly overlooked. I for one, won't take it for granted any more. Amazing. Keep burying that fiber!

[xxemagxx]

@STUDIOLEX

So the drill head has a universal joint between it and the shaft?

And does it drill the entire tunnel in an arc with a constant radius, or can you vary the curvature as you go?

[STUDIOLEX]

@xxemagxx The angle of the drilling rig to the field (at the beginning of the arc) is always the same (about 11 deg.) The drill head itself has a very slight angle (approx. 3 deg.) That angle is about 2 ft behind the head. That makes this setup flexible so that the arc does not have to have a constant radius. By rotating the complete pipeline it is possible for the drill operator to steer. We're making an updated version of this technique that'll explain this in more detail. So stay tuned!

[STUDIOLEX]

There will be an slightly updated version online pretty soon...

[AlexLPD]

Nice nice animation, very helpuf to understad how this process is made, Is that inventor  ?

[STUDIOLEX]

Thanks Alex,

All 3D work is done with Cinema 4D R11. Editing is After Effects.

[TrAAckhoe]

cool.