The direct cost factors that impact on trenchless applications, such as drilling fluids and disposal are obvious, but it is the indirect costs of wear and tear and maintenance of equipment that are often overlooked.

Historically, mud recyclers were very large pieces of equipment; extremely costly and mainly used on large bores or when extreme environmental conditions dictated. The Mud Puppy’s entry-level price tag, small footprint and host of features, usually associated with much higher-cost equipment, demonstrates that mud recycling has now evolved into something that can be used by any contractor to reduce job costs for projects using drilling fluids.

The Mud Puppy is a true workhorse designed to remove cuttings and abrasive sand from the drilling fluid. Clean ‘mud’ means dramatically reduced wear on the mud pump, drill string and other rig parts saving equipment downtime and expensive replacement costs.

The MP170-2SC is capable of recycling over 1,300 litres of drilling fluid per minute and reduces the sand content down to less than 0.5 per cent. With a footprint of just 1.67 m wide x 3.35 m long and a dry weight under 1.8 tonnes, the Mud Puppy is easily transported and ideal for small, mid and some larger rigs.

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The unit has a 2,270 litre hot-rolled steel mixing tank, onboard venturi mud mixing system, double screen shaker, four cone de-sander systems and is supplied with the high performance 1,325 litre Sand Guzzler™ pick-up pump.

The MP170 is one of a range of recyclers manufactured by Tibban MFG Inc in the US and exclusively distributed in Australasia by DTH Products. The entry level unit, the MP85-2sc, boasts the same solid construction and equipment as the MP170 but with a reduced recycling capacity of 567 litres.

For larger rig operators, the Mud Puppy 255–100 is capable of recycling 1,890 litres per minute and features a 3,785 litre mud tank, 4 inch x 3 inch x 13 centrifugal mud pump and 300 mm Sand Guzzler 500GPM pick-up pump.