Horizontal directional drilling is a muddy business. I’m talking drilling fluid in this instance. HDD contractors use drilling fluid or “drilling mud” for a variety of reasons — to cool and lubricate drill tooling, stabilize the bore hole, and carry excavated cuttings back to the surface. But it’s messy.

That drilling mud comes back to the surface loaded with soil, sand, rock, and other cuttings from the bore. Crews then need to separate those solids, manage the dirty returns, and either recycle the usable fluid or haul the mess away. 

American Augers is targeting this muddy problem with its new M150D Fluid Cleaning System. Cue this song. The model looks to be a nimble little self-contained unit. It cleans, mixes, stores, and moves drilling fluid for HDD operations in a transportable package. American Augers designed it to work alongside drills wielding 20,000 to 120,000 pounds of pullback. That’s a wide range, from smaller utility HDD rigs to fairly substantial machines. From the press release:

“Utility contractors have been asking for a compact fluid cleaning system that delivers the same level of cleaning performance as larger systems without the added size, setup time or complexity,” said Richard Levings, product manager for American Augers. “Instead of scaling down an existing cleaner, we built the M150D around the way utility contractors actually work. That allowed us to create a system that keeps crews drilling longer instead of stopping to manage drilling fluid.”

M150D brings fluid cleaning to a smaller package

I can see the M150D helping out in lots of utility work, where jobsites can get cramped quickly. This compact package is built around a 1,000-gallon tank and 150-gallon-per-minute cleaning capacity. The M150D measures 24.2 feet long, 8.6 feet wide, and 11.6 feet tall with its trailer. Total weight with the trailer comes in at 26,000 pounds. Despite that relatively compact footprint, American Augers packs in a three-panel Derrick Hyperpool linear-motion shaker, multiple pumps, separate dirty and clean-fluid tanks, and onboard power (via a Kohler diesel gen set).

Hydraulic leveling jacks help crews speed setup and teardown. The system can also transport its own fluid. Its 1,000-gallon tank lets operators move fluid to and from a jobsite without draining and refilling the system every time they relocate. That can reduce dependence on separate fluid trucks and water stops. American Augers splits that capacity between a 600-gallon screen tank and a 400-gallon clean-fluid/mixing tank.

A Derrick shaker handles the dirty work

The heart of any fluid cleaning system is separation. On the M150D, American Augers uses a three-panel Derrick Hyperpool linear-motion shaker. The shaker provides 15.4 square feet of non-blanketed screen area and handles up to 150 gallons per minute. Drilling fluid containing cuttings and other solids reaches the shaker, where screens separate those materials from reusable fluid.

American Augers also equips the M150D with an adjustable 150-gpm hydraulic pit pump. Operators can change flow to match drilling conditions instead of simply running one fixed rate. Tank agitation helps keep the whole process moving. Tank agitation “improves drilling consistency and control and reduces cleanout time by ensuring solids stay in suspension and pass through the separation systems,” says the online brochure, where I got most of this information.

American Augers M150D specs

Here are the big numbers fleet managers and HDD crews will want to know:

• Recommended drill size: 20,000 to 120,000 pounds of pullback
• Maximum cleaning capacity: 150 gallons per minute
• Total tank capacity: 1,000 gallons
• Screen tank: 600 gallons
• Clean/mixing tank: 400 gallons
• Shaker: Derrick Hyperpool linear-motion shaker
• Shaker panels: Three
• Screen area: 15.4 square feet
• Pit pump: Adjustable hydraulic, 150 gallons per minute
• Generator set: Kohler diesel generator set (photo above!) 
• Fuel capacity: 50 gallons

Watch our Ditch Witch Orange Intel walkthrough

If American Augers sounds familiar to Ditch Witch customers, there’s a good reason. American Augers operates within the Ditch Witch Division of The Toro Company. Ditch Witch, American Augers, and Subsite operate as brands serving the underground construction industry, with American Augers equipment supported through the Ditch Witch dealer network.

Earlier this year, we got a close look at Ditch Witch Orange Intel, the company’s telematics and fleet management platform. The system goes considerably beyond dots on a map. Orange Intel can connect data from drills, locating equipment, fluid systems, and mapping tools. We walked through Orange Intel at the Ditch Witch Conexpo booth with Cory Maker. Watch it above. Then subscribe to our YouTube channel!