Since 1841, we have dedicated our time and resources to producing the highest quality oilfield products and services to help you get the job done efficiently and safely. From a spare part to a comprehensive drilling system, from rig-up to on-site support, we are here to assist you throughout the whole drilling process. A testament to our continual development of new technology to better serve you, our top drive line continues to grow today from the strong foundation laid decades ago. At the forefront of the top drive’s drilling industry revolution, George Boyadjieff and Jim Brugman of Varco partnered with Duke Zinkgraf to take the first steps of top drive development. The first prototypes were quickly developed and made their way into the field. Through the early groundwork years, top drive technology continued to improve; its value and potential in the oil industry were quickly realized by drillers everywhere.

Continuous engineering advancements led to the first AC-powered top drive in 1991 and further performance improvements. In 1997, the TDS-11SA Top Drive was developed with an 800 horsepower twin motor and quickly became the largest-selling single design in the product line’s history. Today, over 2,000 TDS-11SA top drives have been delivered to satisfied customers, and we’re continuing to advance our equipment line with new improvements and products. With your input, field service feedback and the experiences of the leading legacy top drive suppliers — National Oilwell™, Varco™, Hydralift™ and Bowen™ — we build the widest range and variety of high performance, reliable top drive systems in the world, providing you with the best selection to fit your specific needs.

Continuing to push drilling boundaries, we built off the successful TDX-1250 Top Drive with the 2014 release of the 1,500 ton TDX-1500, the highest rated hoisting capacity top drive on the market. Throughout our long history, we have been and continue to be at the leading edge of new development in drilling technology. In 2017 NOV developed the TDS-11HD, a higher torque and more powerful top drive that enables faster and deeper drilling, even in the most demanding well operations. The TDS-11HD features two 600-horsepower induction motors capable of 58,800 ft-lbs of continuous torque at 110 RPM.

• SoftSpeed™ II helps cure and prevent torsional stick-slip oscillations of the drill string over a wide range of conditions, including extremely long wells where competitive systems normally fail.
• Twister™ assists the top drive in rotating the drill string through desired angles of rotation to provide improved performance of directional BHAs without adding costly pieces of equipment.
• NOVOS enabled— NOV Top Drives are NOVOS ready, providing precise control and consistency.

With the merging of the three leading top drive suppliers – National Oilwell, Hydralift and Varco – the newly formed company under the NOV roof pulled together field service feedback, customer input and the experiences of the three design teams to develop the top drive designs for the future. Today, NOV produces the premier model top drives such as the TDX-1250 and the TDS-11SH.