Sidewinder Power Drive

Description

The Sidewinder is not a drill but is a drive/lifting system used in conjunction with the hand augers. It is driven by an electric motor (power hand drill) and a winching system to help in both lowering and retrieving the drill string. The power hand drill is also used to spin the hand auger barrel during drilling. 

The Sidewinder extends the maximum practical depth of coring with a hand auger to about 30 meters. Like the hand augers, the Sidewinders are typically operated by investigators without assistance from IDP equipment operators.

Equipment Details

Name Sidewinder Power Drive
Type
Type
Power unit for hand augers
Number in Inventory
Number in Inventory
5
Max. Practical Depth
Max. Practical Depth
30 m
Hole Diameter
Hole Diameter
[NA]
Ice Core Diameter
Ice Core Diameter
[NA]
Ice Core Length
Ice Core Length
[NA]
IDP Driller Required?
IDP Driller Required?
No (while 1 person can operate the Sidewinder, a 2-person crew helps share the labor and speeds up the cycle time)
Power Requirements/Source
Power Requirements/Source
2 kW generator or solar cells
Estimated Drilling Time
Estimated Drilling Time

5 m - 2 hours
10 m - 3 hours
20 m - 5 hours
30 m - 8 hours

Time to Move (breakdown and setup)
Time to Move (breakdown and setup)
<1 hour
Helicopter Transportable?
Helicopter Transportable?
Yes
Light Aircraft Transportable?
Light Aircraft Transportable?
Yes
Shipping Weight
Shipping Weight

180 lbs

Shipping Volume (Cube)
Shipping Cube

6 (does not include generator or hand auger)

Comments
Comments

Shipping weight includes generator but not hand auger. 130 lb shipping weight without generator.

Documents

Citation Year
NSF Ice Drilling Program (2021) IDP Sidewinder Operations and Maintenance Manual. 1-21. 2021
Vladimir Aizen, Christine Foreman, Andrei Kurbatov, Erich Osterberg, Eric J Steig (2011) 10 year plan for Shallow Coring Capabilities (1-400 m deep). 2011 Ice Drilling Science Community Planning Workshop, April 15-16, 2011, Herndon, Virginia, USA, 1-5. 2011
Jay D Kyne, Joseph McConnell (2007) The SideWinder for powering a hand-coring auger in drilling and lifting. Annals of Glaciology, 47, 101-104. doi: 10.3189/172756407786857721. https://doi.org/10.3189/172756407786857721 2007

Photos

Videos

Videos

Project History

Displaying 1 - 15 of 34
2024 Arctic - Collaborative Research: AON Network for Observing Transformation of the Greenland Ice Sheet Firn Layer
2024-2025 Antarctic - Center for OLDest Ice Exploration (COLDEX)
2023 Arctic - Collaborative Research: AON Network for Observing Transformation of the Greenland Ice Sheet Firn Layer
2023 Arctic - Collaborative Research: NSFGEO-NERC: Recent changes in Arctic biogenic sulfur aerosol from a central Greenland ice core
2022 Arctic - Collaborative Research: AON Network for Observing Transformation of the Greenland Ice Sheet Firn Layer
2021-2022 Antarctic - Field Validation of ICESat-2 at Western Thwaites
2019 Arctic - Greenland: Quantifying Heat/Mass Structure and Fluxes through the Full Thickness of Greenland's Percolation Zone
2019 Arctic - Greenland: Refreezing in the Firn of the Greenland Ice Sheet
2018 Arctic - Greenland: Refreezing in the Firn of the Greenland Ice Sheet
2018 Arctic - Greenland: Quantifying Heat/Mass Structure and Fluxes through the Full Thickness of Greenland's Percolation Zone
2018 Arctic - Alaska: Measuring snow compaction on ice sheets to better quantify ice-sheet changes
2017 Arctic - Greenland: a Greenland Traverse for Accumulation and Climate Studies (GreenTrACS)
2017 Arctic - Greenland: Refreezing in the Firn of the Greenland Ice Sheet
2016 Arctic - Greenland: a Greenland Traverse for Accumulation and Climate Studies (GreenTrACS)
2016 Arctic - Wyoming: Biodiversity of the Longue Durée

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