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BUILDING A LEGACY ON INNOVATION AND GROWTH

This drilling company continues to break into new markets and champion the development of its employees as the path to success.

Written by Dawn Killough

Produced by Stephen Marino

How the World’s Largest All Terrain Directional Drill Adds to Your Maxi-Rig Fleet

The world’s largest All Terrain Directional Drill, the Ditch Witch AT120, offers a powerful alternative for maxirig operators facing work increasingly happening in more compact urban jobsites. This drill complements larger machines, enhancing productivity and efficiency while delivering impressive power and performance. With 15,500 ft•lbs of rotational torque, 120,000 pounds of thrust and pullback, and 3,000 ft•lbs of inner rotational torque, the AT120 can handle demanding projects traditionally reserved for maxi-rigs.

The drill offers significant potential for return on investment for operators in the underground construction industry. By bridging the gap between traditional maxi-rigs and smaller, mid-size drills, the AT120 allows companies to take on a wider range of projects, potentially increasing their project portfolio and revenue streams.

One of the AT120’s key advantages is its improved fluid management system. By utilizing dual-pipe technology, it reduces the risk of inadvertent returns, a common issue with maxi-rigs that can lead to costly cleanups and downtime. This dual-pipe system also allows for a smaller mixing system, reducing the overall jobsite footprint and simplifying logistics.

Transportation and setup are significantly streamlined with the AT120. Unlike maxi-rigs that require multiple trucks and on-site assembly, the AT120 can be transported with fewer vehicles and quickly set up using remotecontrolled backing and anchor dropping. Its built-in pipe loader further enhances efficiency, eliminating the need for additional excavators on site.

The AT120’s compact design allows for easier maneuvering in tight urban spaces, minimizing the impact on surroundings. This reduced footprint, combined with less equipment to manage overall, leads to more productive and profitable jobsites. Additionally, the AT120 enables a simpler tracking process, allowing for walk-over locating instead of the more labor-intensive wireline systems often used with maxi-rigs.

While not a complete replacement for maxi-rigs, the AT120 bridges the gap between traditional large-scale equipment and the demands of modern, urban jobsites. It offers operators a versatile option that can tackle complex projects efficiently, making it a valuable addition to any HDD fleet looking to adapt to evolving industry needs.

Company Contact Info: Ditch Witch

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As Cory Baker, the new Chief Operating Officer for Hard Rock Infrastructure, starts his latest adventure with the company, he’s looking at an optimistic future fueled by innovation and growth. He sees his new role as being about new opportunities, technologies, and acquisitions, but also ensuring that the best practices the company has developed over its 22 years are being followed.

The company has been innovating since it began in 2003. Now with offices in Monahans, El Paso, and San Antonio, Texas, and 350 employees, the company was started by Robert Myers IV with “one man, one rig, and a pocketful of credit cards.” Recent changes include branching into new markets, fostering an exemplary safety program, and continued investment in their people.

Breaking into new markets

Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) technology is a relatively recent development that became widespread in the 1970s. This means everyone’s learning as they go, Baker included. “We’re still learning,” he said. “When I entered this field, when we did a 2,500- to 3,000-foot drill, that was a big deal. Now we’ll do those all day long with no problem. We’re now doing 12,000-to-15,000-foot drills.”

The company began drilling for oil and gas companies, but they’re expanding into other utilities and renewable energy. “We don’t really care what’s on the end of that drill. The drilling process isn’t going to change whether we’re doing water, sewer, communication, renewable energy, electrical, oil, or gas.” Their current

emphasis is on providing infrastructure, not just drilling for oil.

They recently acquired HDW Construction & Drilling and are now providing auger boring. This process is better for going underneath existing infrastructure and for sewer and water lines that need to be installed at a specific slope.

“There’s not a dollar made that’s worth somebody even getting a scratch on their hand.”

Cory

Baker, Chief Operating Officer

“We have to bring things forward and keep moving the technology forward to grow. Sometimes you don’t even know what you want. One of my favorite quotes ever is from Henry Ford, he said, ‘If I’d asked everybody what they wanted, they would’ve said faster horses.’”

Safety is priority one

“Our safety is second to none,” Baker said. Their safety department is well-staffed and well-structured. Safety personnel are always on-site, performing safety audits on all their crews. Crew leaders participate in weekly safety training on safe operating procedures each Monday at 7:30 am.

“Our safety department’s not going out there to shut rigs down. They’re going out there to coach, mentor, and help continue the growth of the culture because it should never stop growing. It should never be good enough. We

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always have to be better today than we were yesterday.”

Baker realizes that workers aren’t working for fun, but to support their families. “They’re out here sacrificing with time away from family. They’re missing things with their kids to make a living, to make sure they want for nothing. At the end of the day, we want to make sure they’re able to go home to them.”

“There’s not a dollar made that’s worth somebody even getting a scratch on their hand.”

Fostering growth and success

Baker credits “the industry” for his development and rise to COO. “I wasn’t the best student in high school. I barely graduated. I didn’t go to college. I didn’t have any of those things. I came out here, and I worked hard, and this industry gave me a chance. This industry saw something in me. It gave me hope and put me in a position I never imagined. I promise you, no teacher ever thought I’d be in this position.”

Baker started on his directional drilling journey because a friend he met while working on a pipeline called and suggested he look into it because he thought he’d like it. Baker took the chance and started as a laborer for S & S Cable in Point, Texas. “It’s not like I was talented in any way, shape, or form. I just was relentless, is what I tell everybody. There

wasn’t a path of failure. There was only a path to success. I wasn’t taking anything else.”

“There wasn’t a path of failure. There was only a path to success. I wasn’t taking anything else.”

Cory Baker, Chief Operating Officer

After working at S & S, he met Vernon Harris, owner of Ranger Directional in Louisiana, and worked with him for 17 years. Then, in 2014 he met Hard Rock’s owner, Myers, and has been working with him since. “I’ve been so blessed by so many people. It’s been an incredible journey and something I’ll always be grateful to each and every one of them for.”

Hard Rock is highly structured, a characteristic

Baker says is part of why they’re a leader in the HDD industry. They’ve separated out specialty roles, so no one works in multiple positions. “We have the CEO, COO, CFO, CCO, and four officers under them. We have general managers, safety managers, and equipment managers. People aren’t sharing hats. These are separate roles.”

Hard Rock focuses on the internal development of its employees over hiring from the outside. Training and development are a priority for all. “That comes back to the culture. I tell our guys all the time, our job as leaders is not to create more followers, but to create more leaders.”

While there are a lot of opportunities in the industry, workers must still work hard to reap

the benefits. “We will hand you an opportunity, and it’s your responsibility, your obligation, to take advantage of that opportunity and move up. Our guys are very, very fired up from the bottom up. This is the type of company where there’s not anybody who can’t be the next CEO, COO, or the next general manager. There are not very many companies that can say that.”

And his employees are motivated. All field personnel are part of the company’s profit sharing program, which recognizes when crews meet specific margin goals. Additional accomplishments can result in additional bonuses. An employee recently earned a yearly $65,000 bonus based on his performance.

Thriving on Challenges

The Hard Rock team recently finished a complicated project in Corpus Christi, Texas, where they drilled a 6,200-foot crossing for a 24-inch pipe. Challenges included an 18-degree horizontal curve combined with a vertical curve on the exit and a tight staging area for the pipe. The team roped the lengths around a 1,000-foot radius before they could be installed through the borehole.

“Our job as leaders is not to create more followers, but to create more leaders.”

Cory Baker, Chief Operating Officer

Hitting some particularly hard rock, they used one of their HDD rigs and hand tunneling to complete the project.

Baker advises young workers wanting to enter the drilling industry to, “Come into it with an open heart and a fierce spirit, and realize that it won’t happen overnight. You’re not going to come in and become COO overnight. Show somebody your loyalty and they’ll invest in you. And that’s the biggest thing.”

Hard Rock Infrastructure

HARD ROCK INFRASTRUCTURE: