@@ChickenPizza uhmm, if you want to be sarcastic, then shouldn't it be "for double the wages"? That implies that they already have a good life but still complain in petty stuffs. They didn't teach you that in sarcasm 101?
@@9622AvAtAr It's not my fault that you think every office worker makes a shit ton of money. Maybe do a little research before you try to instruct people you don't know on things you don't understand.
@@ChickenPizza who says we're talking about "every office worker"? You didn't know how to be sarcastic and now you display how you lack even comprehension? Wow what a killer combo dude 🤣
@@9622AvAtAr Who is we? Do you think the internet is some collective of like-minded individuals that you're special enough to be a part of? Get over yourself. You're a nobody.
Shout out, in all honesty, to all the white men in this world. Damn, white man be doin' some shit up. Makin' shit beautiful & comfortable for all of us!!! And we clown him & say he's the worst. Shit. I got respect for the white man.
@@luthervaughn1 I live in a farm area, never seen a black person working on a farm before. Also worked at Honda almost all their employees are white. Construction has a lot of natives. The people that cry racism and slavery literally work at Circle K or Uber eats.
Lol guy lives in a fish bowl and speaks for all ppl. My dad literally raises cattle locally. They meet other black farmers/cattlemen at least once a month. The issue is there aren’t many people of color that own heaps of land. Not many have had the opportunity to inherit it.
When I saw the title I thought it might be a video of me 50 years ago! Ha! I spent 50 years in the oil and gas business and Roughnecking was my favorite job, working derricks was the most coveted spot and my favorite! Hat's off to all my oilfield brothers who do a job most people couldn't or wouldn't want to do. It takes a special breed, willing to test themselves every day and they take great pride in their work. Most of us think we were the best there was, never met a derrickman who didn't think he was the best!.....Son of a Roughneck!
i was roughnecking offshore south africa. the assistant driller who i hated came to me and said go and relieve Mcdonald up the derrick. i am terrified of heights. if anyone else including the rig super had said that to me i would have said.......cant do it cause i am scared of heights. but for this dick.......i went up there hahahaha. two months later got the job......and still hated heights lol. the things the ego makes us do :D
Every word you say rattles my memories from the late '60s and early '70s. It's something you never forget. It was always hard work... and sometimes could be bloody dangerous if someone messed up. But the mateship and trust bonds you developed amongst your team and every team you ever became a part of had to be earned. A new boy on the team was watched like a hawk. "Is he dangerous? Is he a liability? Can we trust him? Will he pull his weight?" Those bonds once earned were something very special. You had become a part of a, well I still don't know what it was? Some kind of rare fraternity, maybe? But you did know it was something special. I've never experienced anything quite as tight as those drill floor bonds from fifty years back.
@@saintguns6758 Rigs are very automated now! Unless you're in some place that's very old, or without much to shell out for newer equipment, Kelly rigs and throwing chain are mostly a thing of the past. Maybe it's a better thing, I know a guy who lost his entire forearm to a chain spinning and tearing it off.
@@tnxjesus lmao u think that just applies to rigging? tell that to all the families who have starved to fucking death because they can’t feed their families because they have no job because some pos builds a robot that can do the same thing we can
I worked on a rig back in the late 70's and every move these guys made is still fresh in my mind. I knew what their next move would be before they made it. Not sure what in this video is supposed to make them the world's fastest but they are damn good. Smooth and coordinated. Every motion must have a purpose and set up the next move for yourself and partner. I envied the skill of an old roughneck I worked with named Leon. With a name like that you know he was born to work in the oil field. Anyway, Leon was a soft spoken older man who always wore long sleeve shirts with the cuffs buttoned. He was a chain hand and at the end of his shift the cuffs of his gloves wouldn't even be dirty. His movements were fluid , smooth, and steady with no wasted motion, and he was always smiling. Come to think of it I don't even remember seeing him break a sweat. Me on the other hand, I couldn't get a drink from the water can without coming back wet. I met a lot of hands back then but none like Leon. He was king of the rig floor and a real nice guy. RIP wherever you are, Leon.
Loved watching this, brought back a lot of memories I worked on big iron triples in South Australia and on Barrow Island off the northwest coast of Western Australia in the early 90’s Loved the work and the blokes I worked with ( most of them), wish I could go back, too old now
I was roughnecking for Bawden on the Piper Alpha in the North Sea in the late 70s, this brings back memories (except for the weather!) 12 hour shifts, 2 weeks straight. The work is hard & intense especially when you trip in and out on the same shift, but it was exhilarating, you get a bit of an adrenaline rush. I’ll admit I loathed being stuck out there, especially the first week; it was all about the money, but when you were busy the time passed quicker. No health & safety either, I still have scars from the sodium hydroxide burns (they added it to the drilling mud and didn’t bother telling us.) Glad to have done it, and being on the Piper, glad I stopped when I did.
You the man. I did the North Sea in the late '60s. two on and one off and sometimes a five weeker. Yes, well remember waking up and hearing the Draw Works humming. Having breakfast and doing a 12 hour shift to finish the trip out and then back in again. Health and Safety? What was that? Your health and safety depended on your crew mates. You all had to think and work as one and be 100% vigilant 100% of the time. Wintertime freezing night rain and cold... I'll never forget those nights!
@@cyvideoprods Ah yes, memories! The stink of fumes from the chopper when arriving on the pad, the sweet smell of the same fumes when leaving it😀 Being a decade earlier, it was probably even tougher for you out there. No more “North Sea Tigers” nowadays though… the drill floor is all automated from the warmth of an office, as I understand. They’d get a bit of a surprise if they had to go “old school!” 👍👍👍
@@justinneill5003 Yes, can still hear and recall all the sounds and smells. Pipe dope, dining room galley smells, diesel, mud... the mud!. The rigs are where I discovered Tabasco. I was the projectionist on a number of rigs, movies before turning in. Sadly, though, I had a couple of mates badly injured in SE Asia drilling for Sedco off Timor in '71. Gave it away after that.
@@neromachiavelli5670 Nah! US75K was the best I ever made. About A$85K back then. A decent wage in Sydney was about A$110. You could buy a house in Sydney for between $12-20,000, so that was big money back then. On average, that was for around 32 weeks of work a year. On offshore rigs, two weeks on, one week off. I was working a lot in SE Asia as that's where the money was. A lot of it exploratory drilling in the Timor Sea. Every six months they would fly you back to home base, wherever that may be. Then you'd come back, for another six month stint. Offshore drilling paid nearly double what I could earn on a land rig. Some of the best money if you could get a start, where you could earn up to $100k was if you could get onto the North Slope rigs in Alaska. In 1974 they started to use land rigs on the frozen sea ice. Rigging down when the thaw came in. Roughnecks in Alaska are earning no more today than in the boom years of the mid-'70s. They were good times, though. Fondly remembered.
back in 1974- 1977 I roughnecked on a double in the Permian Basin ( central west Texas ). Went to high school during the day and worked the night shift. We all got hurt, made good friends and showed what we were made of. There's nothing like pulling a " wet string" at night during the winter and getting rained on. You smell like "pipe dope and mud" until you've been away from the rig a couple days and have taken several showers. Saw a 17 year old chain chunker get 1/2 his foot cut off when a drill pipe dropped on his foot. Does anyone remember just how heavy those drill collars were ? I also worked a single lay down rig for Serendipity Dill Co. out north of Pecos, Texas. Never worked so fast and so hard on such and old junky rig. Good stories now tho. Billy from Abilene
Hey Sean, don't be an idiot. Nobody wants to lose half a foot at work. Roughnecking is an "honest job" work outside in the rain, sun and snow for 12 hours a day and night. The rig doesn't stop so if it's Christmas and it's your shift then your at work. Most guys (such as your self most probably) can't handle the work, it's back breaking and if you're the worm (low man on th totem pole) you are constantly getting screamed at. These guys work a dangerous job and go home bloody and bruised on a daily basis but you wouldn't want to run into them at the bar after work cause they'd still kick you ass for being such a shit talking punk. You can thank them though oil is in everything around you, not just in your gas tank. It's in paint, medicine, everything plastic including your precious Xbox remote, it's in the components of your tv and the tires of your prius, it's in your clothes and your food. You're welcome!
I've worked shit jobs like these and it's nothing to be proud of, working long hours so your girl can get away with cucking you behind your back. And the sad thing is these cucks deep down know and they lie to themselves to make themselves feel like their life isn't 100% dispensable in this society, not to mention you won't be able to find another woman because you're working long hours. They boast about honest hard work while smoking cigs and chugging energy drinks all day while most likely being hungover from the night before because deep down they hate their life, and all those bad habits that they share with their room temperature IQ buddies and coworkers they pretend to enjoy until they're addicted and slowly kill themselves... Unless of course they lose half their foot or worse for a company that doesn't give a shit about them 😆
Dangerous and very hard work. My dad did this type of work until he retired in his early 70's He only lost half a finger unlike many who lost a lot more. Much respect for these lads!
@@Drew15000 Anyone doing this type of work is a liability. The older guys tend to be safer from experience. Also most of the older guys tend to move to other less physical work positions on the rigs.
@@anthonyrichard461 I have no idea what they are doing but it looks like they added an extension to the drilling head? why do they need to do it so fast, why not take a minute or two so they dont lose a finger
@@Drew15000 anyone any age could do this. Safety is what gets most strong young bucks. A 60 year old man with all his fingers who has done this 30 plus years aint losing a finger I bet you that.
Roughnecked out of GC Kansas in the early 90s for a few years. Then I was offered a job on a casing crew. Loved running casing. Never regretted it. Teaches you hard work, camaraderie. Makes a man out of you that’s for sure. Great memories……
Blake Anderson yeah you can do it anymore because you’re a Pussy who collects a free check each week. Bumming off society while these idiots in the video make my family rich. Fucking peasants. And you dream of working like this for 40+ years????? No wonder people commit suicide lol
first rig i worked was gearhart drilling services , rig 6 , spinning chain had just been banned in australia but we were still throwing. no top drive no pipe spinners, pipe spanners & chain tongs . never experienced work like that in my life , nearly killed me in the beginning but i could not get enough. watching these fellas brings back the best days of my life
I roughnecked with Tom Brown Drilling on old wore out, Rig No. 10. 1973. In the hot sun and ice with very cold wind. Those Waukesha engines gave us relief from the bitter cold. Permian Basin.
People who don't take pride in hard work cant understand things like this. The 6 years I worked the oil field it was a competition to see who could bust their ass the hardest and fastest. We weren't unionized and didn't spend all day complaining about how hot it was or how tired we were. We showed up and worked 12+ hours giving it all we had so when that fat check came every two weeks you know that you earned it. We knew the whole time we were making some corporate suit filthy rich but we were taken care of. It was honorable to knock off at the end of shift covered in grease and mud. Makes you appreciate things more.
If you're still a roughneck after 10 years then you're not trying..... 10 years into that work and you're a driller or a tool pusher making twice the money and doing a 10th the manual labor.
The amount of skill and synchronicity going on here is amazing. I’ve done dangerous jobs involving massive amounts of solvents but this is something else.
Full disclose....... I put in my time in the West Texas oil fields. Continued on to school at Texas A & M. Worked as a crane operator, then got out there and hung steel as an iron worker. Crushed a heel and foot hanging "red iron", so had to take up a desk job. Moved to Orlando, Florida in 1983 and was a real estate agent/ broker for 31 years. Currently my retirement job I manage a boat marina weekends and work as a maintenance man in a hotel a couple days a week. 63 now, and proud of my past work efforts. Hope the young guys will make grasp life by the balls !!!! Hell yeaaaa !! A TEXAN 'till I die !
I was gripped watching this. I have no idea what they're doing. The internet continues to remind me how big this world is, and how much there is to this life. I watched everything they were doing, and no clue what it's all for
"Hit it like you live".... I started out in 1975 as a floor hand on a jackknife drilling rig in Fort Stockton Texas. This is exactly how it used to be back then on those old school rotary drive power rigs. We worked our asses off, didn't mind getting dirty, and took pride in doing the job. The new generation of rigs have changed for the better, but the young guys starting out today can't appreciate the improvements if they never experienced working on the older rigs.
I just really take pride in watching floorhands trip the kelley and making connection. The amount of activity involved near the draw works when this goes on is phenominal! Thanks guys for making all that oil makes possible! Hope your moneys are abundant and your days are safe!
Billy Carpenter, You write well, you've got a valuable story to tell. You were reared well, and are blessed to have had a appreciation of what you, and the other necks did. I pray we still have a few Texans with your grit. You helped your crew produce and you were well paid Y'all put fuel in my truck and kept my lights on. My boss in El Dorado, Arkansas, Dr Mark Dixon, worked out of Freeport off shore and on the deck of a rig, also Dr Dixon worked nights on rigs out around Smackover or Stephens, Arkansas while going to medical school at UAMS in Little Rock. Dr Dixon knew what work was and still probably is working his ass off. Also, Dixon has to be one of the best doctors I've ever worked with. We'd get med students or residents who had literally never had a job their whole life, come to our program and complain about how hard it was, and Dr Dixon would comment under his breath those Drs didn't know what hard work was. I've done my share, or close to it, doing hard work, labor, fencing, cows, long shore, construction, .machine shop was good, good money possible and always interesting. I appreciate all y'all with busted knuckles, you help us all have a better life, and I see a little John Wayne in you. American work ethic...made America the envy of the world-literally, and that's why they hate us. We'll just keep on going while the little, insignificant whinny bastards complain. Y'all have done well!
Unfortunately that era is likely at an end. I'm 30 and my generation is weak, but the next one coming of age. Thats when shit really starts hitting the fan
@@tgm_rka8888 yeah not joking, losing a thumb isn't the worst thing to ever happen to anyone. Pretty common injury in any industry when working with steel and hydraulics 👍
My dad was a retired TSGT from the USAF, he ran the jet engine shop. After doing each of the floor positions and as derrick man he became a driller. He's how I got working onto a rig. A good experience for me as a young guy.
13 years under my belt and the best is having a crew that work well together and look out for one another meaning these boys are like brothers from another mother and spend more time with each other than own family. sweet vid and love how prepared for next task they are and know what to do next, must have been working together for a while HANDS DOWN TO YOU BOYS love how all you hear is iron clanking and no talking PERFECT
No. what if it's a duster I have seen oil companies go broke with a few your not going to hit oil every time. And money only comes in after you pay for the well if a well only puts out 15 cubes a day a lot of times it mostly water 80 -90 % take a long time to pay for.. It took a long time to get were it is...
People who have never worked like this don't realize you get the same highs as excercise and weightlifting but also actually contribute to the world and get paid. Everyone should have to work like this once in their life.
Contribution to the world??? If making an iPhone is also contributing to the world, sure I guess drilling a hole in the ground is too. A contribution to the world would be an engineer figuring out how to fully automate drilling and mining and stop these guys getting killed and maimed all the time.
As someone who knows a bodybuilder that died because of chemicals taken took to stay buff, I have to agree this seems so much more fulfilling than being at the gym all day and posting on Facebook about muscles that don't actually serve any purpose.
@@crmags Where did the gas in the engineers car come from? Who forged the steel? Who assembled it? Who cut down the tree his pencil was carved from? All done so an engineer can sit at a desk and contribute to the world in their own way. You clearly have either never done blue collar work or have tried and failed. Your comment reeks of bourgeois elitism and I wouldn't be surprised if considered us proletariats to be yokels.
My oldest Brother worked on the oil rigs in the early 90s he worked there for about 4 years, until he lost his thumb when a pipe crushed it, and had to get lower back surgery when he slipped with a pipe. He was almost going to be in a wheelchair for that injury. The oil company paid him a large amount of money, so he wouldn't sue them. Its a dangerous job to pursue and not everyone can. I got alot of respect for these guys, they get paid alot so don't feel bad for them, they are the guys driving the brand new Lifted up 3500 HD Diesel pickups. They get paid good, but it's high risk of injury.
Awesome work brothers. From a deep sea fisherman. Love the rough and tumble of my job. It’s like a high for me putting your life in the hands of the oceans with your brothers. I’d like to end my career doing the mines.
@@darrylmcginty1296 I too worked derricks FOR TOM BROWN FWA SHARP GENE SLEDGE AND THE OFFSHORE CO. IN THE GULF OF MEXICO I NEVER SAW THE THE LEAD TONG HAND THROW THE CHAIN AS IN THIS VIDEO , NEVER IN MY 35 YEARS IN THE OILFILED.
Motorman is throwing “throwing” the chain, looks more like he walked it up rather than throw it. I had a buddy that worked for sharp for a very long time his name is Billy Joe Lamb. Ever know him? He roughnecked, drilled, pushed etc..
@@darrylmcginty1296 NO , I DON'T RECALL THE NAME, I BROKE OUT 1973 ON SHARP RIG 48 AND WORKED ON 47, OSHA SHUT DOWN 47 FAULTY DRAWORKS INJURED 4 MEN AND KILLED ONE SO I WENT TO WORK FOR SLEDGE DRILLER A.B. KANADY, SUPER WAS RED HASTING, FWA I WORKED FOR DRILLER ELMER LONG PUSHER WAS JAMES HIP. TOM BROWN THE PUSHER WAS NAMED NORM , DON'T REMEMBER HIS LAST NAME , HE PASSED OUT IN THE DOG HOUSE WATCHING HIS YOUNGER BROTHER WAS THROWING THE CHAIN WEARING RUBBER INSULATED GLOVES GOT CAUGHT IN THE CHAIN AND BROKE HIS ARM IN 4 PLACES LUCKY IT DID NOT GET RIPPED OFF. ANY OF THESE NAMES YOU KNOW ? YEP , MOTOR MAN WAS ALWAYS THE CHAIN HAND , BUT I HAVE SEEN SEVERAL VIDS WHERE THE LEAD TONG HAND THROWS THE CHAIN , LIKE THIS ONE.
@@darrylmcginty1296 I WATCHED IT AGAIN SAY YOU ARE RIGHT THE MOTOR MAN IS THROWING THE CHAIN BUT WE ALWAYS THREW ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE TONGS , HE IS ON THE INSIDE , WE THREW WHERE ALL THE WRAPS WOULD BE ABOVE THE COLLAR , IT LOOKS LIKE HE DID AS YOU SAID WALKED IT UP.
I don't understand what's going on here. Or how I got here. But as a woman I'm honestly not mad at the algorithm. That's some hard working men right there.
I was crazy about a roughneck. He quit school at 16 and went to work on a rig. He'd come pick me up and we'd run around all night. He was perfect. Always had a great tan, 6 pk abs and full of mischief.
It's a beautiful thing to watch an experienced crew work. I'll admit, my time on a drilling crew is limited, but I don't recall our rotary turning that fast.
1978 west texas ft stockton Going to school till noon, roughneck evening shift, is still fresh in my mind. "You can't get it you can't stay" was our motto. Not like today, easy push button everything.
Old school roughnecking #1. Miss that style, I broke out in '79 and had the fever in my blood ever since. A lot of hard work but very rewarding. Floorhands only payed 8.50 an hour.
My Daddy worked on a Drilling Rig when I was a little girl. I got to hand it to these men thats a dangerous hard job to do. The men that are doing it today for a living y'all have my Respect☺☺☺☺☺
I just started helping drill water wells and the size comparison to oil drilling is insane. We go 80-120ft down where we’re drilling and since the size is so much smaller we take about 30-45 seconds per switch. Today is only my second day but so far my favorite part is the baling and water lines (since that’s all I know how to do)
I was a driller in Utah back in the early 80s and we were drilling with air and form. You were supposed to let the pressure bleed off but the hands I had were real roughnecks and we broke it off and it blew over the crown Best crew I ever had. The air jammers told me that those quick connections were the only reason we could keep drilling with air. We were as fast as this video but no video in those days.
I'm an old man who just developed great respect for these drillers. I knew it was hard work and often dangerous. This is clearly a place where you have to know your job and do it well; much like working on an aircraft carrier deck or working steel on a high rise building.
Not a word spoken, perfect coordination. Also I love the way they obey all occupational safety rules like wearing gloves, a helmet and long trousers, but the manual didn't say anything about the shirts so they just didn't bother.
Real men who work together for the benefit of others. And they work really hard for their money. Something that does not happen much anymore. I would rather work with guys like this!!
Aye, that's some braw roughnecks ye've got there! As a retired roughneck masel', it fair maks me proud tae see siccan speed and precision in the oil field. Keep up the guid work, lads!
I once replace the finger board while it was drilling and rode the kelly block to the top and slid down the counterweight line. lol 1976 to 1982. Then started going offshore welding and diving.
DALE thebelldiver Gday Bell Diver, I was land rigs from 1982 to 1985 then off shore till 3 years ago. In China now working as Drilling Warehouse supervisor. But this video brought back memories
I hear ya. Where were you working in 82? the shit hit the fan in 81 and 82 and most everybody was out of work. Drilling rigs stacked out all over the place. I am the guy who invented the first LCM mixer the HULLHOPER. Which went belly up in 83. By then I was already into commercial diving. and doing UNDERWATER WELDING and map making. I was producing TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS FOR DREDGING COMPANIES.. Getting back to the oil field I use to do some wild as shit. like sliding down the weight indicator and riding the kelly block to the finger board and you know that's a big step over space 99' off the rig floor. We didn't do drugs then either. lol I bilt rigs from a pile of iron. from scratch. Every single part. Did you hear of BIG CHIEF, BONRAY, PARKER, VERSON AND CHOCRAN, WRANGLER, CORE, UNIT, these were a few of my customers and people I've built rigs for or just field service. I lived in OKC back then.
it sure would be fun to meet up with a bunch of old oilfield hands and have some beers. WE USE TO FIGHT ON SATURDAYS just for the fun of it and see who was the best fighter. I mean to knock the other guy out fighting. lol and we had fights in bars outside of bars in parking lots in bathrooms in the bar itself. damn........... lol dancin, F'N, FIGHT'N and havin a good ole time doing it. While RIG HANDS were out on the rig lol me and the welding crew was in town screwing the roughnecks whoring wives. In every oil field town in OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS. Indian Women too.
I miss it every time I see videos like this. Fast holing through the red bed was a blast once the collars were buried. My record was 1250' in 8 hours with a 12.25 milltooth. Hole was gun barrel straight too
I worked on rigs for Safari, D & B, Serendipity south of Abilene, Tex and west also. Making a connection was just routine work while you were taking car of other things.
Exactly! Spending your body capital instead of monetary or knowledge capital. Not for me as I'd like to have a much longer span of influence on our society, but interesting to watch nonetheless
@@noahpalladino The intrinsic value in directly creating a commodity or service for the public is hard to pinpoint, but the pride you experience as a blue collar worker is real and has merit that you may not quite understand.
My job is like the complete 1000% opposite of this. And still somehow I am jealous and envious of these guys... why? Because these men have something I dont even have an ounce of from anywhere. Respect...
Never worked in oil but many years building towers all over the US. Same kind of synergy with a good crew. Its a real pleasure when everyone is in top form and things are clicking along. Some days it was almost a let down to have to stop work for the day because you were making shit happen and you wanted to keep the momentum going. I really miss those days, young, strong as a bull and fearless. Nights at the bars near the hotel with guys you trusted your life with and you felt like kings of the world.
Hats off to guys like this. I work in the steel industry but my hardest days aren’t like this. We need blue collar people like this otherwise industries are gonna come to a halt.
Insane, we just witnessed 3 minutes of this extremely hard work, imagine 9 hours a day 5 days a week, I just hope this guys are very well paid, cause they deserve every penny
Idk what they're doing, but it looks A LOT more important than the people who do desk work. I only do carpentry and I have mad respect for these guys after watching this, makes me look like a florist in comparison lol
