LTR lights up the Bakken

Press Photo by Katherine Grandstrand Crews from LTR service a tank at the Dickinson location on Monday. The rental company broke ground on a new facility at the Five Diamond Development recently.

By Katherine Grandstrand

December 17, 2012 at 10:00 PM

LTR is planting roots in Dickinson. The oil field rental company broke ground on a new facility in the Five Diamond Development and recently joined the Dickinson Area Chamber of Commerce.

The new facility will be nice compared to their current Bakken headquarters, a yard and small office/shop kitty-corner to SolarBee just off Highway 22, Branch Manager Ralph Slavey said.

"We settled in Dickinson from the very beginning," he said.

LTR, which started as Light Tower Rentals in 1994 in Odessa, Texas by John Avary and Ted Hogan, rents not only light towers and generators, but winch trucks, heaters and a slew of other Oil Patch needs, according to its website.

There are a lot of wells in the Bakken that are not near existing electric infrastructure, so generators are needed not only for the drilling and fracking process, but sometimes to run a pumping jack until the electric companies can catch up, Slavey said.

The lights and generators are by far the most rented products, and others' popularity varies by season, Slavey said.

"It's hard to rent heaters when it's 75 degrees outside," he said.

The light towers are composed of four lamps similar to those used on athletic fields for night games, he said. The 26-foot mast holds 1,250 watt light bulbs. The generators range from 70,000 to 300,000 watts.

The light towers are used to light dark areas for safety and so crews can work through the night, he said.

LTR rents to anyone who needs the equipment they provide, including road crews, Slavey said.

"When they were doing (Highway) 22 up here all the light towers ... were ours," he said.

LTR plans to be in Dickinson for a long time, Slavey said.

It sponsors events at the high school, runs, race cars and rodeos in Dickinson, he said.

"We're big into the community," he said. "That's what we want to put back into."

LTR is located at 11085 32nd St SW in north Dickinson, but will be moving upon completion of its under-construction facility. Call 701-483-4636 for more information or visit http://www.lighttowerrentals.com .