Water Well Journal
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1411385
CLEAN AS MUD AN ACE IN THE HOLE It may sound like an oxymoron, but the concept of "clean mud" is at the foundation of MudPuppy Inc.'s successful three-decades-old business. The company's primary customers are water well drilling contractors, who must create a wall cake out of a mud mixture to keep the hole of a well open during drilling. Dirty mud not only weakens that wall cake, risking a cave-in, but also damages expensive drill rigs, shortening their life. MudPuppy Inc.'s mud-cleaning systems solve these problems by removing rocks, sand and debris from mud with a single piece of equipment. That's a big change from the traditional process, which requires hauling multiple machines to a site, digging a large pit, filling it with water and mud, and removing it all when the job is done. "You just bring your drill rig and MudPuppy to a site, and you're rocking and rolling," says Craig Henderson, owner of MudPuppy Inc. "That saves on manpower, overhead, jobsite set-up time — it can pay for itself on a single job." The company manufactures six MudPuppies today, all powered by Cat industrial engines, with applications extending to geothermal drilling, mining, slurry wall construction and more. MP255-100 and MP255-400 models, with higher- horsepower C7.1 U.S. EPA Tier 4 Final engines, also include a mud pump for even greater drill rig protection. "We put the mud pump where it should be — with the mud-cleaning system. Our equipment takes the beating, so our customers' drill rigs last longer, and they save money," Henderson says. STARTING WITH A CLEAN SLATE MudPuppy Inc. made the switch to Cat engines several years ago when it was time to transition to U.S. EPA Tier 4 Final models. The company takes pride in offering a quality product at an affordable price, backed by excellent customer service and a strong warranty — and support from the previous engine supplier wasn't meeting those high expectations. "I need to know my customers will be taken care of," Henderson says. "I believe 100% that through Caterpillar, they will be. And that means I'm able to sleep at night." REGION: Woodland, California SCOPE OF ENGINE USE: Cat ® C7.1 U.S. EPA Tier 4 Final / EU Stage V Engine CAT® DEALER: Holt of California WEBSITE: mudpuppyinc.com POWER PROFILE: MUDPUPPY MP255-100 & MP255-400 FEATURED TOPIC: Industrial Engines - SPONSORED CONTENT -