CONSALLEN

 FORAGER RANGE
  (up to 3000 Kg winch pull)

LIGHT CABLE PERCUSSION DRILLING MACHINES

BOREHOLE DRILLING - WATER SUPPLY- INVESTIGATION - PROSPECTING


Consallen Group Sales Ltd., P.O. Box 2993, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 0ZB, UK. Tel: +44-(0)1787-247770; SMS (text) to: +447950-081067; e-mail: sales@consallen.com

FORAGER CABLE TOOL DRILLING  

A simple, and reliable low investment, drilling technology for boreholes. It will drill any material, including rock, and is not troubled by boulders cobbles, or large gravel. Requires no mud, mud pits, mud pumps, tanks, drill rods, hammers or compressors.

Shell & Auger differs slightly from other percussion drilling methods because a powerful winch enables tools to be pulled out that have been deliberately embedded, driven by heavy sinkers allowed to free-fall in the hole - see the video below. The rig can install and recover temporary steel casing. Several sizes of casing can be used in the same hole, as may be required by conditions.

It is a non-invasive and sensitive drilling method, allowing discovery, testing and water development, as progress is made. It is an appropriate method for water wells, for mineral prospecting, site investigation and remediation. This rig will drill to 125 metres (410 feet) with the standard winch drum.

At only 450 Kg (1000 lbs), the smallest standard machine can be man-handled on its own wheels to places which would be inaccessible to heavier equipment. It is both helicopter and canoe portable. The PROSPECTOR version with an aluminium engine & completely demountable tripod frame is about 75 Kg (165 lbs) lighter.

Picture:  Forager Type-G/2000 cable percussion 23hp diesel rig - made in the UK - a wide choice of drilling tools is available depending on the drilling task - see Primary tools list below - also flush jointed temporary casing. This mid-range version of the rig has a bare drum pull of 2000 Kg (4,400 lbs) and weighs 950 Kg. (2,100 lbs)
The alternative picture - on mouse-over - shows the next bigger version of the rig the Type G/2000 with a 2000 Kg winch capacity.

Why Cable Percussion?  PDF on the advantages of this traditional, but up-to-date, drilling system.
Everything needed for drilling is in the picture - no water, mud, mud pits, pumps or compressors required. Illustrated here drilling for rural irrigation in UK. Approximately 30 metres of mixed overburden (clay, sand, gravel, shell crag) over the chalk aquifer in eastern England - this well completed at 60 metres.

 


FORAGER CABLE PERCUSSION RIGS   

Rugged high quality UK made rigs with very low inputs - quick two man set-up and operation; they cover the entire range of materials, with nothing extra to buy if the ground is harder than you thought. Machines are permanent, long life and maintanable.

Designed and built in the UK for use world-wide. At their heart is the engine & winch combination; we use our own highly successful design of clutchless freefall drilling winch and good high torque engines, some with heavy flywheels providing additional 'grunt'.

They are suitable equipment for drilling contractors and NGOs producing typical rural water wells. Faster and cheaper than hand digging for rural development programmes - not stopped by boulders, and a profitable commercial investment for drilling water wells, site investigations, window sampling, remediation wells and other environmental drilling. Can be used for setting drive points, hydraulic (jet) percussion drilling, peizometers & insitu testing, geothermal drilling, and prospecting.

PERFORMANCE of drilling rigs is a combination of the machinery, tools & equipment, materials to be drilled and operator skill. In suitable conditions the Forager-55/1250 can provide boreholes with 8-inch casing to 15 metres; with 6-inch casing to 30 metres and with 5-inch casing to 60 metres. Open hole drilling to 145 metres has been achieved below 90 metres of 5-inch casing installed by jacking. Improved performance can usually be obtained by using hydraulic jacks to advance casing, rather than simple percussion. It is quicker than driving, can reach much greater depths, and can be done while drilling continues uninterrupted. Bigger machines in the range can be expected to improve on the above figures.

ready to tow to site
TOWING & MOVEMENT

The Standard Forager-55 rig weighs about 500 KG and when folded, can be towed by a small car or pickup, and is easily towed off road in conditions, which would be impossible with heavier machines.

Shown here is the Type-G/2000 rig which weighs under 1000 Kg and has full hydraulically damped over-run road brakes to comply with EU standards.

The balance - with the weight of the tripod counter balanced by the engine and winch means that it can be wheeled easily by hand between drilling sites. In very difficult situations, the rig winch can be used to pull both it and a vehicle into and out of a site or through streams.

Shown here with a 23 hp twin cylinder Lister-Petter TR2 diesel engine, with electric starting, charge windings and battery.

The PROSPECTOR version of the Forager-55/1250 rig has the aluminium Yanmar engine, which is about half the weight of a cast iron Lister-Petter engine of similar power. The light weight also allows the rig to pass over log bridges where necessary without risk. The rig can easily be manoeuvred into village compounds and erected in small spaces. It can be dismantled into sections no more than 3 metres long. It is helicopter, canoe & raft portable and is also suited to animal traction.

FREE-FALL WINCH    up to 3000 Kg pull.


The Consallen FREE-FALL WINCH is clutchless, and is controlled by two band brakes. An epicyclic (planetary) gear train is mounted within the winch drum, the whole being carried on self aligning bearings.

When hydraulically driven, an additional control allows the winch to be used in dual modes for power up and power down, while retaining the free-fall facility as required. This safe mode of operation allows the driller to carefully control tools as they enter or are withdrawn from the drilled hole in a manner that is safe for both helper and driller. The change between operating modes is immediate, and can take place whenever the drum is stationary - even when loaded.

Illustrated right is a Consallen diesel direct belt driven winch. They may also be hydraulic or electric powered. Bare drum pull capacities to 3,000 Kg. can be supplied with various drum capacities, and wire diameters to suit the intended use.

 
Winch
NOTE The HYDRAULICALLY DRIVEN versions of our winches provide power-up and power-down controlled lifting capability, for the safe handling of drilling tools, pumps, or other loads, including rig erection, while also providing the free-fall method of operation for drilling, driving casing or for work-over tasks:  see below - Hydraulic Powered Option. When belt driven, the winch is not a lifting device, and is intended only for use as a freefall winch in a cable percussion drilling context and for no other lifting purpose.

SPECIFICATION for the FORAGER-55/1250 'STANDARD' BUILD

  1. Winch single line (bare drum) pull: 1250 kg (2750 lbs)
  2. Weight of drilling tools suggested: 250 Kg (550 lbs). [Up to 500 Kg. (1100 lbs) for rock drilling.]
  3. Drum capacity: 140m (460 ft) of 10mm dia. wire giving a net drilling depth of 125 metres (410 ft).
  4. Tripod frame hoisting capacity 8,250 Kg (18,150 lbs)
  5. Height under top sheave 5 mtrs. (16.4 ft.)
  6. Lister-Petter hand crank start 10 hp diesel engine, mechanically driving the winch with multiple Vee-belts
  7. Road wheels (unbraked) & trailer towing gear - 50mm/2" ball
  8. Width over road wheels 1,300 mm (4'-3")
  9. Width after removing axle - 620mm
  10. Length on the road 6.6 m (21'-8") overall
  11. Towing weight (basic) 450 Kg (880 lbs). The wheel set capacity is 750 Kg (1650 lbs) allowing tooling to be carried
  12. 6, 8 & 10-inch temporary casing size suggested, for 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6-inch wells.
  13. Demonstrations can be shown at our works in UK and site Training Packages are available.
OPTIONS & EXTRAS AVAILABLE
  1. Bigger more powerful engines - up to 25 hp twin cylinder Lister-Petter TR2
  2. Electric start engines with charge windings & battery
  3. Hydraulic power take-off from engine
  4. 2000 Kg Casing winch - hydraulic
  5. Powered swivel for rotary drilling - hydraulic top drive Powered Swivel
  6. Alternative tripod sizes, including very short & other specials
  7. Larger drum capacity
  8. Alternative gearing ratios
  9. Hydraulic casing jacking systems
  10. Hydraulic casing rotator - good in granular and heavy soils also in hard materials using toothed T-C cutting shoes Casing Rotator
  11. Alternative wire sizes up to 16mm diameter.
How to drill by Cable Percussion   An outline of the 'shell & auger' method of cable percussion drilling process - a PDF file.

VIDEO: showing setting up the rig and cable percussion (Shell & Auger) drilling - 11Mb file.

Top

PRIMARY DRILLING TOOLS

The following is a list of drilling tools we frequently supply as a package with rigs intended for drilling holes by normal cable percussion (shell & auger) method at about 6 inches (150mm) nominal diameter in general soils - without casing. The list is suitable for drilling Basement Complex weathered overburden, glacial till & boulder clays, sand, gravel and cobbles. The same tools would be used if both 8-inch and 6-inch temporary casing were required:-
  1. Drilling wire in lengths to suit the depth envisaged - available to order up to 140 metres long. Supplied with swaged thimble eye one end and fused & tapered the other of non rotating crane wire 10mm dia. working load 1250 Kg.
  2. Attachment shackle - bow type - 3250 Kg. (7150 lbs) SWL.
  3. Sinker bars standard 100mm diameter weight 50 Kg each, threaded M/F with barring holes top & bottom. Normally 4 no. required & supplied. Also available in shorter half lengths, and by weight, to order. 50 Kg suits a two-man crew and satisfies EU Health & Safety requirements. SINKER BARS
  4. Threaded swivel bail for top sinker bar.
  5. Tool joint spanner - set of 2 no.
  6. 140mm dia. bailer with clack valve and threaded removable shoe - capacity 20 litres (Available to order up to 50 litres capacity) - See details of the bailer via this link: BAILER
  7. 140mm dia. Clay cutter with threaded removable shoe and threaded top to suit sinkers. See page about the various uses of a clay cutter (the 'Auger' in shell & auger drilling) CLAY CUTTER
  8. Basket catcher system for clay cutter comprising plastic catcher basket and 2 no. steel support rings.
  9. Stubber tool threaded to suit sinkers.
  10. Spade reamer - approx 180mm dia. - threaded to suit sinkers. SPADE REAMER
  11. Cross bit 145mm dia. threaded to suit sinkers - with hard faced welding cutting edges. CROSS-BIT
  12. Sliding hammer - light type - for driving cutting tools where required.
  13. Pair of snatch blocks to pull stuck tools - top one fits to tripod apex - working capacity 2500 Kg.
  14. Wire puller - 2000 Kg capacity for use with above snatch blocks.
  15. Universal shoe & shackle tool - used to remove shoes from bailer & claycutter and to tighten shackle pins
Other tools are available, including flush jointed temporary steel drilling casing and attendant handling, driving and recovery equipment. See details under the following link: CASING

HYDRAULIC POWERED OPTION

When driven by hydraulics, the winch can be operated in two useful modes. It can be used as a free-fall winch for drilling and bailing in the usual way, and after locking off the hoist brake, can be controlled by hydraulic valves for safe lifting - power up and power down. The second - safe lifting - mode allows controlled pulling of pumps and casing, and provides the ability to safely lift tools and enter them into casing. Change between modes is instant.

The hydraulic version is useful as a work-over machine for handling well pumps while retaining the ability to surge and bail during well development and cleaning of screens. The action of a bailer used in conjunction with a free-fall winch is several times more effective than air lifting in development and cleaning wells, and is cheaper.

Hydraulic operation can be with either integral engine driven system, or by separate independent power pack driven by a variety of power sources. These may be engine driven, electric motor driven or compressed air powered.

hydraulic version in use

hydraulic version in use on site in a suburban garden
HI-LO HYDRAULIC POWER PACK with a 7.5 Kw diesel engine delivers either high volume at low pressure for fast hoisting of tools, or low volume at high pressure for maximum pulling power. The change-over between modes is in automatic response to changes in system pressure. Max. operating pressure is 210 bar (3000 psi) and max flow is 60 lpm.

This useful independent hydraulic power source can provide power for rotary drilling, grout pumps, hydraulic casing jacking, and a work-over rig. This latter version of our rig is used for swabbing and bailing exising wells, in addition to hoisting and installing pumps, using the power-up and power-down control. It is also often useful to be able to handle power units separately from the winch and tripod.

The wheeled unit may be transported on the rig's operator platform, providing counter-balance to the tripod while towing. Operating the engine away from the rig eliminates vibration & fumes and reduces noise for the operator. The length of connecting tubes can be specified as an option.

PROSPECTING

The rig is shown being used to determine the volume of overburden that will need to be removed prior to open cast mining of rock salt in Saudi Arabia. Each hole showed the overburden depth and after penetrating a short way into the rock salt, an SPT was performed to estimate the overall thickness. In the background a rotary rig is core drilling at wider spacing to confirm the estimates.

The Forager-55/1250 is being employed to quickly and efficiently provide large amounts of data over a wide area, with little support or consumables required. Drilling is normally just a two-man job, but a training session was in progress here.

The standard rig is shown being used here, but a PROSPECTOR version is available with a light aluminium engine and a completely demountable shorter and lighter tripod, but similar capability. The PROSPECTOR version is suited to economical Placer (alluvial) sampling.
link to PROSPECTOR version of the rig
Prospecting/surveying in advance of opening an open cast salt mine

SITE SOIL INVESTIGATION WORK

Set up on a floating platform (pontoon), the Forager-55/1250 rig is shown being used for site soil investigation over water, in advance of a Civil Engineering project in Poland.

6-inch temporary casing is being used to support the holes, which were nominally 30 metres deep. The method allows the taking of both undisturbed (U100) and bulk samples. Standard Penetration Tests (SPTs) can also be performed at any required depth.

An adjustment to the layout would allow the rig to drive piles. See: PILING
Over-water site investigations - Poland Picture curtesy of:-  INGEO Sp. z.o.o., Gdynia, Poland   http://www.ingeo.com.pl

Home page: http://www.consallen.com/

Consallen Group Sales Ltd., P.O. Box 2993, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 0ZB, UK.
Tel: +44-(0)1787-247770; SMS (text) to: +447950-081067; e-mail: sales@consallen.com