Service Car No. 1 on a job site – 1934

On a cold December day in 1932, the first gun perforator assembly was lowered into a well in California. Attached to the device was a cable, which was connected to a large spool and winch on the back of a nearby flat-bed truck.

As a symbolic gesture for this historic event, the perforator tool inventor, Bill Lane (co-founder with Walt Wells of the Lane-Wells Co.), invited several of the guests and visitors to grab hold of the cable and lower the assembly into the well. It was a struggle because the tool was heavy, and everyone quickly allowed the winch on the truck to complete the task.

This experience strongly motivated Lane and Wells to invest in a specialized vehicle that would transport the tool to the job site, lower it into the well, activate the firing mechanism, and retrieve the device.

Unfortunately, there were no oilfield service vehicles on automobile dealer showroom floors or car lots. A new commercial vehicle would need to be purchased and converted into the first gun perforator truck. Soon after the New Year started, Bill Lane set out to find this vehicle.

The new 1933 truck

A quick study of the vehicles in the Los Angeles area revealed the best candidate: a 1933 Ford Model B 11?2-ton truck. Sturdy and versatile, this truck had attractive features such as a new 221-cubic in. V-8 engine (Figure 1) producing 75 hp, improved structural integrity from the 7-in. deep frame side rails, and the choice of a 157-in. wheelbase.
Together with its 20-in. wheels, 4,000-lb weight, and four-speed manual transmission, the vehicle seemed rugged enough to survive the rigors of the oil field.
Bill Lane purchased the truck for a whopping sum of US $700 and then took it to a Los Angeles custom body shop for conversion work. After cutting away the top and back of the cab, a rear body enclosure was added and the entire vehicle was painted dark brown.

A new winch and wireline spool was then attached to the truck, and a control panel which faced the cab was hooked up. A 7?16-in. diameter, single-conductor insulated wireline was wrapped around the spool (adding some 900 lb to the vehicle). Although it was only 3,000 ft (915 m), the wireline was long enough for well depths in 1933.
The Lane-Wells Company name and slogan (“Tomorrow’s Tools — Today”) and other promotional text were painted on the front and sides of the newly converted vehicle. After all, thought Bill Lane, you might as well advertise where you are working.

On the road

Driving the first perforation truck to a job site was a slow process. Although Ford advertised the vehicle as capable of reaching speeds of 80 mph, poor road conditions and the vehicle’s weight rarely permitted any travel faster than about 45 mph. This meant long trips from one well to another.

Drivers of the vehicle had to deal with no power steering, no air conditioning, no insulation for sound or temperature in the cab, and uncomfortable vinyl seats. A passenger in the cab sat directly over the 14-gal gas tank, and fumes from the evaporating fuel sometimes escaped into the cab.

In cold weather, the driver avoided racing the engine because the injected gasoline would leak past the cylinders and dilute the engine oil. In addition, turning on the headlights after starting the cold engine was a bad idea — the generator needed about one minute to adjust its charging rate to deal with the resistance of a cold battery.

New technology – for 1933

The vehicle did come with a few 1933 “high-tech” features. The single windshield wiper was activated by a button located just above the windshield in front of the driver’s seat. To the right of this button was a speed-control dial which, when turned, adjusted the wiper’s operating speed — a new feature for the 1933 truck.

Another new feature for 1933 was the instrument panel light switch. Mounted on the lower edge of the instrument panel, it enabled the driver to turn off the instrument panel light while keeping the headlights lit.

The ammeter, speedometer, and fuel gauge occupied most of the remaining instrument panel area (Figure 2).

The truck at work

Upon reaching the well site, the two-person crew would immediately arrange for electrical power to the vehicle (Figure 3). As the 1933 truck did not contain a power generator, power was provided by a Lane-Wells “dynamotor” that sat on the rig floor and was connected to field power lines.

The next task was to prepare the gun assembly. The perforator housing and the gun chambers were removed from a crowded storage area in the back of the truck. Using special wrenches, the crew threaded the gun chambers into the housing and connected the assembly to the wireline.

While one of the Lane-Wells crew (called the “Derrick Hand”) continued to work on the gun perforator assembly, the other (the “Shooter”) connected the wireline cable from spool to the control panel.

This panel contained a weight indicator, a wireline measurement instrument, a line-speed indicator, firing control switches, and electrical circuit meters.

When finished with a perforation job, the crew retrieved the perforator, disassembled it, loaded the components into the back of the truck, and tried to find a telephone to call the nearest Lane-Wells office; the truck did not carry a radio. The office then directed the crew to their next job.

The end of an era

The first service “car,” as it was known, worked in the field for seven years. Engine and transmission replacements as well as a stringent maintenance schedule ensured this vehicle served the needs of the California market during this time.

By the time the vehicle was retired from service, larger and more capable trucks were performing its service tasks. The first gun perforator service truck, though, will always have a special place in oilfield history.

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