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CHAPTER 10

Working in the oil fields can be very dangerous. I've seen people get their arm broken in half, or their leg snapped. I also replaced a few people who were killed on the rig. One time our company had to drill an oil well right outside of Cleveland, Ohio, where the rig before us had tried to drill, and hit a formation. The special formation in that specific area had extremely high gas pockets. They weren't ready for it, so the whole crew was burned to a crisp. Now the company I was working for would be trying to drill that hole.

The job sight was more than two hundred miles away from home, which meant staying away from home until the hole was drilled. Our shift was what they called morning tower from ten thirty at night till six thirty in the morning. And it worked out that it was our shift that had to drill through that formation. Our company had even called a special fire fighter crew from Texas, to stand by while we were drilling through the formation. There were ribbons tied out by the lease road, which went to the main road. Drill pipes were laid down from the hole we were drilling, up to a hundred feet away from the rig. The pipes were connected to a blowout preventor.

We arrived at the rig around ten o'clock that evening, a couple minutes early. The other crew was two hundred and fifty feet from the special formation, they called Ariskina sand, and they had a smile on their faces when we arrived that evening.

As they were leaving the rig, they told us, "We hope to see you guys on the other side." That meant, GOOD LUCK!

Our crew was tense that night, but we tried not to let it show. We were prepared to do this job properly, and keep the rig from blowing up, or burning down even if it meant we died trying. Four of us watched all the pressure gauges and all the equipment. We each had our own post for that night. When we got within twenty-five feet of the formation, we all got together and made sure everyone knew what to do, in case of a major blowout. When we hit the formation, the pressure started to rise.

Two of us chained the drill pipe to the rig floor so it couldn't blow out of the hole and set off a spark. After that one of us went out to the mud pumps, and started pumping mud down the hole when it was necessary. Another one stood by to close off the blowout preventor. Two other guys were standing on top of the rig floor, watching the gauges up there. Within ten to fifteen minutes the pressure gauges started to go back down again. We released the chains and bushings tied to the rig floor to keep the drill pipe in the hole. The pressure was now down again.

We could start drilling a little bit, but the stage was still critical, and would remain that way until we drilled another fifteen to twenty feet. It took us over an hour to drill another fifteen to twenty feet. The pressure kept going up and down, but we survived it without a scratch. We were glad to see our relief show up the next morning. We completed this well in about ten days. Everything considered it went well.

I didn't get to go home after this well was drilled, because we had to drill another well at another location. We started drilling the next well, after the surface pipe was set, which was roughly between seven and nine hundred feet. One morning after we got off from work, we went to our campsite, which was really just a big tent. The four of us ate breakfast, then went into the tent and laid down for a couple of hours. Between eleven A.M. and twelve P.M. there was a rattle on our tent door. We all woke up and there was our tool pusher, which he is the man in charge of the three crews that ran the rig.

In his deep, booming voice the tool pusher said, "Time to get up boys." So we did. By one o'clock, the driller, the tool pusher and I were at a bar where they served food and liquor. We ordered a sandwich and a beer. After we were there for a while a couple other oil field hands and business men who were all oil field related, showed up. Somebody was constantly ordering a round of drinks for everybody. Before we realized what was happening, we were drunk. The tool pusher and the driller were both my friends, because I was a hard worker and made sure I carried my load.

My driller's Daddy owned the company, so I felt like I was in safe hands. That afternoon I asked my driller, "Don't you think it's time to go back to the tent?"
"Don't worry, David. I'll take care of you." We got back to the tent that evening about eight thirty, both of us feeling no pain. The other two hands were upset because of the condition we were in. Nevertheless, we went to work at ten P.M.
When we got up on the rig floor, one of the evening crew looked at us, and said, "David, you and the driller got in the sauce, looks like."

They were all laughing and joking with us, and I felt relaxed and happy. As I was changing into my work clothes, I noticed my driller, the evening tower driller and the tool pusher were talking together.

All of a sudden, my driller said, "Yoder, come over here, and put your clean clothes on again." The evening tower crew is going home tonight, and they got room for one more. That means you, Yoder." I was surprised.

"Don't worry about it," the driller said. "I'll put your name in the book, and you'll get paid." I couldn't believe what I was hearing, but the tool pusher backed up my driller's words. "Go ahead, Yoder, you deserve it," said the tool pusher. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to go home and see my wife and children.

I arrived at home about two A.M. that morning, and knocked on the door. Fran opened the door and for a moment, just stared at me. The next morning when our girls woke up, they had a surprise: Daddy was home.

I got to spend the whole day, and part of the next with my family before I had to go back to work. But I did have to go. Soon we finished up that well, and drilled a couple more in that area. Then, we moved the rig back into the yard. The yard was only five miles from our house. All the crews worked on the rig in the yard.

In the meantime, our company was making changes. My driller got promoted to tool pusher, so that left the morning tower crew without a driller. I didn't want the job, because it was too hard to find good help. It sure took a special person to work in the oil fields. Most people would only work a couple of weeks, until they got a good pay check in, then they quit. And you worked in the mud, the rain, and all the cold weather during the winter month. I didn't mind that, much.

What I didn't like about it was that the work was never really steady or secure. You'd have to rely on drawing some unemployment during the years' time. In the late seventies it was usually just in the spring of the year. However, in the early eighties, things started to change. Oil fields were no longer as steady as they had once been. Sometimes, we went out for only three holes, then back in the yard, and get laid off. Then, it was either draw unemployment, or, if you were lucky, go to work for another drilling company.

A couple of days later our rig left the yard, and lucky me, one of the other hands I was working with took the drilling job. The deal was that he had to hire me as a derrick hand. We drilled a couple wells down in the southern part of Ohio. I worked with the company until the fall of 1984. We worked hard and made good money.