Hagstrom Drilling hits 30 year milestone

It’s difficult to imagine back to the humble origins of Hagstrom Drilling, given the size and scope of their current day operations. When Paul ‘Haggy’ Musca launched himself into the industry in the early 1990s, he was a simple owner-operator with one drill and one support vehicle. Today he sits at the helm of a thriving company, with offices, staff, drill teams and equipment across the country servicing clients in a range of industries.

Hagstrom’s multidisciplinary approach ensures ongoing diversity in the locations they find themselves in too – from Circular Quay to the Kimberley, and from Christmas Island to some of the remotest parts of South and Western Australia; as well as beyond our coastline to the wider Asia-Pacific region. Their scope of work covers national and international projects – on both land and sea – for mining companies, construction companies and government infrastructure programs. “We specialise in Diamond and Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling, basically any complex drilling project,” explains Paul. It’s their multidisciplinary operations that have become the foundation of their decades long relationship with Sullair, further enhanced by the launch of their dedicated RC division a few years ago.

Sullair Sales Engineer Julian Forte has known Paul for more than a decade and worked closely with him over the past few years. “It’s been great to see Paul’s business expand over the years to what it is now, from a small to a very large operation.” Paul and the team are celebrating 30 years of operations this year and Sullair has been lucky enough to be part of Hagstrom Drilling’s growth journey, supplying them with their first compressor around two decades ago. With every drill rig upgrade or purchase, Paul has added a new Sullair 900/1150 portable from the High-Pressure Combo series to his collection.

“With our exploration/RC drilling division we rely on Sullair compressors because the work is so air intensive – it uses large volumes of air at high intensity, often in challenging locations. This is where the Schramm rig for example becomes essential. The compressor is built into the rig and the auxiliary air coupled with the rig gives us greater down-hole capacity so we can deal with groundwater and keep samples dry” explains Paul. “Clients want a dry sample so you need high capacity air to dry the sample out and beat the groundwater.”

Paul has seen demand for RC drilling increase over the last 30 years so having equipment that meets the evolving needs of the market is important. “Traditionally we’re a diamond drill company but more and more we get enquiries to quote for the RC air work, so we decided to invest more and develop our dedicated RC division”. Paul values being able to match equipment like the Sullair auxiliary pack with the Sullair equipped Schramm drill rig. “That helps us obviously with spare parts and maintenance because they’re the same brand and same quality.”

These Sullair machines are ideal for Hagstrom’s operations, offering the essential character traits of durability and longevity. Julian explains, “we don’t need to change things for Paul, there’s no need to keep modifying to adjust to his requirements. The product is solid, reliable, and durable. It offers low cost of ownership and a good ROI for the customer.” With so few electronic components, the machines are an easy to operate straight-forward solution that can be depended upon and won’t leave you high and dry in the middle of nowhere.

With global supply chains being challenging to say the least over the last two years, the value of a strong supplier-customer relationship has become more evident. Paul and Julian speak to each other frequently and work together on solutions. “Lead times have been unpredictable so it’s important to check in well in advance and help Paul anticipate equipment he might need, sometimes even before he needs it.”

A good relationship has to be about more than just service of course and Paul is experienced enough in the industry to be able to make discerning purchasing choices. “We’ve used alternative brands of air compressors over our 30 year history and have found the Sullair brand has proven itself in the field. We have a great relationship with Sullair and Julian – even better is that we’re neighbours at our offices in Canning Vale, Perth Western Australia.” Paul explains. “We’re proud to call Hagstrom our client,” says Julian. “They are so well regarded in the industry and it’s a real testament to the relationship that they continue to use our products.”

Interested in finding out more?

To find out more, download the 900/1150 portable brochure or talk to your local sales agent.