From comments I have received there is still interest in cable tool drilling and cable tool rigs. Certainly, these rigs have nowhere near the popularity they once did. The rigs and the cable-tool method of drilling have become almost mysterious, judging from what I have heard. So I plan to write a couple more columns about the old, old Bucyrus-Erie 20W I had years ago.
The 20W rig had a quality design and build. This was not by accident. The Bucyrus-Erie line extended and advanced the Armstrong Drill line, which went back many years. As I have written, Bucyrus-Erie bought out Armstrong Drill in the 1930s and about 1943 dropped the Armstrong name and built the rigs as Bucyrus-Erie. Despite good design and build, the 20W had a couple of weak points: the power unit and the mast.