Equipment Comparison | Ice Drilling Program

Equipment Comparison

Hand Augers

Name	Hand Auger, IDDO	Hand Auger, PICO	Hand Auger, SIPRE	Prairie Dog Drill	Sidewinder Power Drive
Type	Ice coring	Ice coring	Ice coring	Ice coring	Power unit for hand augers
Max. Practical Depth	20 m (30-40 m with Sidewinder)	20 m (30-40 m with Sidewinder)	6 m	30 m	40 m
Hole Diameter	110 mm (4.3-inches) 132 mm (5.2-inches)	116mm (4.6-inches) 141 mm (5.6-inches)	120 mm (4.7-inches)	141 mm (5.6 inches)	[NA]
Ice Core Diameter	79 mm (3.1-inches) 101 mm (4.0-inches)	76 mm (3-inch) 98 mm (3.9-inches)	76 mm (3-inches)	98 mm (3.9 inches)	[NA]
Ice Core Length	1 m	1 m	0.5 m	1 m	[NA]
IDP Driller Required?	No	No	No	Yes, 1 driller	No (while 1 person can operate the Sidewinder, a 2-person crew helps share the labor and speeds up the cycle time)
Drill Fluid Required?	No	No	No	No
Trench Required?	No	No	No	No	No
Power Requirements/Source	Hand-powered or Sidewinder	Hand-powered or Sidewinder	Hand-powered or Stihl BT121 powerhead	Hand-powered; 2 kW generator or solar cells if using the Sidewinder	2 kW generator or solar cells
Estimated Drilling Time	5 m - 2 hours 10 m - 4 hours 20 m - 7 hours		6 m - 2 hours	5 m - 2 hours 10 m - 3 hours 20 m - 6 hours 30 m - 9 hours	5 m - 2 hours 10 m - 3 hours 20 m - 5 hours 30 m - 8 hours 40 m - 12 hours
Time to Move (breakdown and setup)	<1 hour		15 minutes		<1 hour
Helicopter Transportable?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Light Aircraft Transportable?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Shipping Weight	90 lbs for 20 meter kit	100 lbs for 20 meter kit	85 lbs for 6 meter kit	100 lbs	180 lbs
Shipping Cube	6	9	6	6	6 (does not include generator or hand auger)
Comments	Current inventory: eight 3-inch (76mm) augers three 4-inch (102mm) augers	Current inventory: seven 3-inch (76mm) augers two 4-inch (102mm) augers	Current inventory: 3 narrow kerf kits 6 wide kerf kits The SIPRE auger is made from stainless steel and is consequently heavier than the IDDO and PICO augers.	Shipping weight/cubes does not include the generator, Sidewinder or 4-inch hand auger normally used with this drill.	Shipping weight includes generator but not hand auger. 130 lb shipping weight w/o generator.
Restrictions

Agile Ice Coring

Name	4-Inch Drill	Badger-Eclipse Drill	Blue Ice Drill	Chipmunk Drill	Electrothermal Drill	Foro 400 Drill	Stampfli Drill
Type	Ice coring	Ice coring	Ice coring	Ice coring	Ice coring	Ice coring	Ice coring
Max. Practical Depth	300-350 m	300 m	25 m (200 m for BID-Deep version*)	0.90 m	295 m	400 m	100 m
Hole Diameter	145 mm (5.7 inches)	113 mm (4.4 inches)	288 mm (11.3 inches)	64 mm (2.5-inch)	104 mm (4.1 inches)		72 mm (2.8 inches)
Ice Core Diameter	104 mm (4 inches)	81 mm (3.2 inches)	241 mm (9.5 inches)	41 mm (1.6-inch)	86 mm (3.4 inches)	98 mm	57 mm (2.2 inches)
Ice Core Length	1 m	1 m	1 m	0.15 m	1 m	1 m	0.8 m
IDP Driller Required?	Yes, 1 driller (2 people required for drill operation)	Yes, 1 driller (2 people required for drill operation)	Yes, 1 driller (2 people required for drill operation)	No	Yes, 1 driller	Yes	No
Drill Fluid Required?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Trench Required?	No	Yes (1.5 m x 0.7 m x 1.5 m)	No	No	No	No	No
Power Requirements/Source	220 V, 5 kW generator	120 V, 3 kW generator or Solar and wind power system	120 V, 3.5 kW generator (5 kW generator for BID-Deep)	120 V, 1 kW generator	220 V, 5 kW generator		Solar panels or 2 kW generator
Estimated Drilling Time	100 m - 30 hours 150 m - 50 hours 200 m - 75 hours	100 m - 60 hours 150 m - 110 hours 200 m - 150 hours	10 m - 2 hours 20 m - 4 hours 25 m - 5 hours 50 m - 12 hours 100 m - 25 hours 150 m - 40 hours 200 m - 60 hours				20 m - 3 hr 50 m - 14 hr 100 m - 40 hr
Time to Move (breakdown and setup)	6 hours	4 hours	4 hours				1 hour
Helicopter Transportable?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Light Aircraft Transportable?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Shipping Weight	2600 lbs	2000 lbs	4,300 lbs	35 lbs	1200 lbs	1800 lbs	380 lbs (including tent, excluding generator)
Shipping Cube	146	160	270	2.3	66	200 m system can be broken down so individual pieces weigh less than 100 lbs and are under 6 ft3	appx 37
Comments	Complete unit operating is ~1000 lbs. Heaviest component is winch (on sled) at ~500 lbs.	Complete unit operating ~800 lbs. Heaviest component is the winch (on sled) 400 lbs. Winch control box 250 lbs.	* The depth capability of the BID-Deep is largely influenced by site/ice characteristics. The current equipment is likely reaching its operational limits and assuring acceptable core quality at depths of 200 m would require a re-design of the system.		Shipping weight includes generator and 100 or 200 meter winch, depending on the required depth; complete operating weight is 800-1700 lbs; uses 4-Inch Drill system winches	Shipping weight listed above includes all spares and shipping cases. For ultra-lightweight deployments, where spares and shipping cases can be left at a base camp, the weight of the winch, tower, one control box and one sonde is estimated at 604 lbs.	Operable in ambient temperatures down to -25°C. A back-packable tent for housing drilling operations is also included.
Restrictions

Intermediate or Deep Ice Coring

Name	Deep Ice Sheet Coring Drill	Intermediate Depth Drill	Replicate Ice Coring System
Type	Ice coring	Ice coring	Ice coring
Max. Practical Depth	4000 m	1650 m
Hole Diameter	163 mm (thin kerf cutter head) 170 mm (original cutter head)	129.6 mm (wet hole) 126 mm (dry hole)
Ice Core Diameter	122 mm (4.8 inches)	98 mm (3.85 inches)	108 mm
Ice Core Length	3.2 m	2.0 m	2.0 m
Rock Core Diameter	[NA]	[NA]	[NA]
IDP Driller Required?	Yes, 3+ (number of drillers required depends on desired drilling depth and drilling schedule)	Yes, 3+ (number of drillers required depends on desired drilling depth and drilling schedule)	Yes, see Deep Ice Sheet Coring Drill for more information.
Drill Fluid Required?	Yes	Yes
Trench Required?	Yes	Yes (3 m x 0.9 m x 3.5 m)
Power Requirements/Source	135 kW, 460 V 3-phase	35 kW, 460 V, 3-phase generator
Estimated Drilling Time		1,500 m - 85 days (assumes 24 hour operations)
Time to Move (breakdown and setup)
Helicopter Transportable?	No	Yes (see system weight/cube below)
Light Aircraft Transportable?	No	Yes (see system weight/cube below)
Shipping Weight	~136,000 lbs (~61,700 kg)	27,000 lbs (does not include drilling fluid, generator, generator fuel, or personnel)
Shipping Cube	8,500	1,875
Comments			See Deep Ice Sheet Coring Drill for more information.
Restrictions

Rock, Mixed Ice/Rock Coring

Name	Agile Sub-Ice Geological Drill	Winkie Drill
Type	Rock coring; ice coring/augering	Rock Coring; Ice Coring/Augering
Max. Practical Depth	700 m (maximum drilling depth through ice)	120 m using standard AW34 drill rod. Designed as a rock drill so should also be possible with enough time and fluid to drill 120 m of rock core.
Hole Diameter	62.5 mm	50 - 52 mm (augering), 86 mm
Ice Core Diameter		33.4 mm, 71.7 mm
Ice Core Length		1.5 m
Rock Core Diameter	39 mm	32.5 mm
Rock Core Length	1.5 m	3 m
IDP Driller Required?	Yes, 2 drillers (4 people required for drill assembly)	Yes, 1 driller (2 people required for drill operation)
Drill Fluid Required?	Yes	Yes
Trench Required?	No	No
Power Requirements/Source	120 V, 5 kW generator	Generator 2.5 kW
Estimated Drilling Time	Ice: 1m/minute Rock: 0.15 m/minute rate of penetration	Augering Ice: 0.4-0.5 m/min rate of penetration Coring Ice: ? Rock: 0.02-0.05 m/min rate of penetration Above values do not include rod tripping time (can be significant in deep holes)
Time to Move (breakdown and setup)	2 days	3 hours (set up time)
Helicopter Transportable?	Yes (see system weight/cube below)	Yes
Light Aircraft Transportable?	Yes (see system weight/cube below)	Yes
Shipping Weight	19,000 lbs (200 m); 31,000 lbs (700 m)	2,200 lbs
Shipping Cube	700	110
Comments	Intermittent ice coring possible by replacing non-coring bit with core barrel assembly
Restrictions	Current drill capabilities require ice at the drill site to be free of cracks and frozen to the bed.	Current drill capabilities require the drill site to be blue ice up to the surface, without cracks, and frozen to the bed.

Non-Coring

Name	Rapid Air Movement Drill	Sediment Laden Lake Ice Drill	Small Hot Water Drill
Type	Non-coring	Hot Water Drill	Hot Water Drill
Max. Practical Depth	95 m (the depth being limited by the length of the hose)	6 m	Reliable and efficient to a depth of 25-30 m
Hole Diameter	100 mm	76mm - 250mm (3 inches - 9.8 inches)	Variable (10 cm nominal)
IDP Driller Required?	Yes, 2 drillers	No	Depends on PI's experience (2 people required for drill operation)
Drill Fluid Required?	No	No	No
Trench Required?	No	No	No
Power Requirements/Source		2 kW Generator	120 V, 5 kW generator
Estimated Drilling Time		5" diameter x 6m deep in 30 minutes	30 m - 15 minutes
Time to Move (breakdown and setup)		30 minutes	20 minutes
Helicopter Transportable?		Yes	Yes
Light Aircraft Transportable?		Yes	Yes
Shipping Weight	22,664 lbs	415 lbs	3500 lbs; Assembled for operation w/o fuel: 2200 lbs
Shipping Cube	2971 cube	34 cubic feet	400
Comments	Weight of drill system in operation about 20,000 lbs
Restrictions

Borehole Logging

Name	Deep Logging Winch	Intermediate Depth Logging Winch	Logging Tower	USGS Deep Logging Winch
Type	Logging	Logging	Accessory for borehole logging operations	Logging
Max. Practical Depth	4000 m	1580 m	[NA]	4400 m
IDP Driller Required?	Yes (usually)	Yes (usually)	No	Yes (usually)
Power Requirements/Source	208 V (L21-30) and 125 V (L5-20); 8 kW generator	120 V, 3.5 kW generator	[NA]	208 V (Hubbell 231A) and 120 V; 10 kW generator
Helicopter Transportable?	No	Yes	Yes	No
Light Aircraft Transportable?	No	Yes	Yes	No
Shipping Weight	Winch crate is 3500 lbs Winch control case is 400 lbs	Winch crate is 900 lbs Winch control case is 75 lbs	180 lbs	4,260 lbs
Shipping Cube	Winch crate is 86" L x 60" W x 68" H Winch control case is 48" L x 48" W x 36" H	Winch crate is 57" x 42" x 35" Winch control case is 39" x 24" x 12"	58" L x 18" W x 16" H	135
Comments	Weights and dimensions above do not include a generator or fuel	Weights and dimensions above do not include a generator or fuel		Weights and dimensions above do not include a generator or fuel
Restrictions