The original rig's concept was an affordable top-head driven water well drill that used 20ft drill pipe. Simco also wanted plenty of torque and pullback while on a small truck to get into limited-access job sites. In addition, the rig was the first hydraulic top-head drive drill rig in its class size.

Simco still supports those old drill rigs and the very first 5000 WS drill rig from 1977 is still in operation in Puerto Rico.

The 5000 WS was in production for over 25 years but with the demand for bigger drill rigs with more capabilities Simco stopped building the drill rig and concentrated efforts on the bigger Simco 7000 and the smaller more compact Simco 2800.

Simco discussed bringing back and re-engineering the 5000 for today's market for several years. Finally in 2020 after years of discussion the decision was made to bring back the popular compact drill rig. However, the it needed some updates for today's drilling needs.

The new Simco 5000 drill rig 

By the end of 2023, Simco had the new 5000 ready to take to Las Vegas for Ground Water Week. On day one of the trade show the response was overwhelming to the new 5000, which has more torque, more pullback, and is the only one that can carry 200ft in the drill rig's carousel while still being underweight. The Simco 5000 fully loaded up weighs 20,540lbs. and is under the truck's allowed 22,000 GVWR.

In the development of the new 5000 Simco used things from both the 2800 and the 7000 rigs in its design. The result is a lightweight drill rig on a single-axle, Ford F-600 truck chassis. The drill has a drill rod carousel that holds 200ft of 3in drill pipe. The rig also has the same torque as the Simco 7000 which is 30% more than other rigs of the same size. The truck is all underweight on both axles and the total GVWR. Additional updates include an electronic screen to monitor gauges and other functions, greatly reducing the rig's weight.

Got a story? Email: duncan.moore@aspermont.com