Sneak Preview: Bandera pushes land rig design to next level

A full article about Bandera Drilling’s new rig design will be published in the Sept/Oct issue of Drilling Contractor.

Drilling Contractor recently made a visit to Breckenridge, Texas, to tour Bandera Drilling’s Rig 9, a new-generation design unit that incorporates innovative automation technologies to keep crew members out of harm’s way.

Bandera’s Rig 9 includes an electric top drive, triplex pumps,
iron derrickman and iron floorhand, hydraulic disk brakes and air brake.

The primary goal when Bandera began designing its new rigs in 2006 was that no one would be in the derrick or on the rig floor during trips or connections. With Rig 9, said Bandera president Ray Brazzel, they’ve finally been able to achieve that goal.

The rig can rack 90-ft stands of pipe and collars and is equipped with an Iron Derrickman and iron floorhand. The Iron Derrickman is a racking board mounted pipe handling system that removes drilling hands from the racking board and drill floor, while the iron floorhand replaces the pipe spinner, Kelly spinner and manual tongs.

The Iron Derrickman used on Rig 9 can also be found on Bandera’s doubles rigs.

The rig also features 1,200-hp drawworks, an 1,150-hp AC motor and a 275-ton, 600-hp AC top drive. It can be moved and rigged-up in just one day, making it highly mobile. It also has a small footprint, able to fit in the same location as Bandera’s 6,000-ft capable doubles rigs – yet Rig 9 can drill up to 15,000 ft.

Click below to see DC publisher Mike Killalea’s on-site interview with Bandera president Ray Brazzel.