20/10/2026
Want to know one of the most expensive trades on a drill rig? 🌀💸
According to iCutter Industries Operations Manager, Sam Shady, running a deck bushing until it has 20mm of slop just to save an hour on shift is up there!
The logic from the cab makes sense. Dropping the mast to swap a cheap consumable burns an hour of machine availability. Shift targets are on your back. The bushing gets pushed to the next PM, and then the next one after that.
By the time it comes out, the bore is egg-shaped and flogged. That gives the string slop on the deck. That slop does not stay on the deck.
As rotation ramps up, the clearance lets the string whip laterally. That vibration hammers straight up the mast, cracking tower welds, wrecking the plenum, and rattling the cab. Downhole, the same whip sends shock loads into the bit.
The habit is not laziness. Protecting machine availability on shift is a rational call when every hour counts against the target.
But that slop turns a small, planned stop into unplanned structural repairs on the tower.
If a one-hour bushing swap keeps getting pushed to protect shift numbers, the workshop bill chasing cracked welds will make that hour look cheap.
Do you agree? Let us know in the comments below ⬇️
Or get in touch > http://www.icutterindustries.com?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com
