Cable Tool Drilling
Drilling Methods
A traditional percussion drilling method that lifts and drops a heavy bit on a cable to pulverize rock.
Cable tool drilling — sometimes called spudder or churn drilling — was the dominant well-drilling method through the mid-20th century. It is slow but inexpensive in shallow, soft formations. Modern rotary drilling has largely replaced it for production water wells in Utah because rotary is faster, reaches greater depth, and handles hard crystalline rock far better.