I
met Floyd Sensenig while attending the annual Rough and Tumble Engineers
Historical Association Exposition (www.roughandtumble.org) near Kinzers, Pa.,
in 2006. Floyd, his son and his employees were drilling a water well, and
demonstrating drilling with an old steam-operated rope drill. I only knew Floyd
for a short time, but in that time, I realized his life was in the well drilling
industry. The following is a condensed story of Floyd’s life in drilling, which
was sent to me by his family.
Floyd Sensenig, along with his brother Eugene, began well drilling as young
boys for their father, Titus Sensenig. Titus had three cable machines, one for
each of them. As Floyd grew up, he had different occupations, but always
maintained his love for well drilling. It was no surprise when Floyd and his
new bride, Mary (Martin) Sensenig, decided to buy the well drilling business
from Titus. The business came with the best cable rig and all the drilling and
fishing tools a young entrepreneur would need.
When Floyd and Mary’s firstborn, Brian, was 5 years old, Floyd bought his first
rotary rig. The rig had a table drive with a kelly and a high-pressure Davey
piston air compressor, to which Floyd added a blower to produce more air. The
air compressor was mounted on a 1960 International truck, along with a
low-pressure hammer. Later on, a hammer salesman came to the shop. He asked Floyd,
“What hammer are you drilling with? Why are you using a low-pressure hammer on
a high-pressure rig?”
The salesman allowed Floyd to test-run a high-pressure hammer on a job. The
high-pressure hammer drilled so fast that Floyd bought it. He realized it
wasn’t just the air compressor that made the drilling faster – it was the
hammer, too.
Floyd put a top-drive on the rig – one he made from a Dodge transmission. He
also added a screw compressor and a bigger diesel. Floyd put a newer truck under
it – which added more rod capacity – as well as a breakout wrench, water pump,
splash pan, bigger jacks and more hydraulics.
In 1977, the rig’s clutch needed to be adjusted. In a tragic accident, the
drive shaft caught his pant leg, and as Floyd grabbed the cable to free
himself, the cable wrapped around the drive shaft and his leg, tearing off his
foot. The doctor amputated Floyd’s leg to stop infection and to improve
circulation to the non-damaged part. Even with a prosthetic leg, Floyd continued
to drill, never allowing his amputation to handicap him.
While Floyd was in the hospital, still recovering from the accident, his
brother-in-law helped him out with the business. Drilling got into Ron’s blood,
too, so Ron bought a rig, and went into partnership with Floyd. Ron’s rig was a
Joy rig, and literally was in the weeds. They made the same modifications to
this rig that Floyd had done with his first one.
Thirty years later, Floyd and Mary bought out their business partner. The business
now consists of five rigs and two pump crews. Floyd continued to thrive on
giving the customer a good, honest job. Sometimes, that meant not making much
money on the job, but if it was done right, Floyd was
happy.
Floyd’s specialty in the drilling business was improving drilling methods,
inventing tools and trying new ideas – even if Floyd was told that it couldn’t
be done. Well drilling was Floyd’s passion; his upbeat and positive personality
affected everyone he met.
Floyd, a member of the National Ground Water Association, died doing the very
job he was so passionate about. His life ended on December
28, 2007,
but his strength and character live on in the lives of his beloved family: his
wife Mary, his sons – Brian and Shawn, married to Jodi (Martin), and daughter,
Amy – wife of Adam Wentling. His gregarious personality also is evident in his
five – soon to be six – grandchildren: Brandon, Brittany, Jeremy, Emily and Trevor Sensenig, and Baby
Wentling.
ND