OBITUARY — Younie a career diamond driller

The former owner of Hydracore Drills of Richmond, B.C., Truman Younie, died recently of a heart attack. He was 67.

Younie spent his entire career in the diamond drilling industry, having started in 1951 with Heath & Sherwood as a drill helper. By 1965, he was field supervisor with that company. His work took him across Canada, including the Northwest Territories, and into countries such as Pakistan, Bolivia, Chile, Australia and Brazil. During the period 1963-68, he worked for the United Nations in Pakistan supervising drilling projects. In 1970, he moved to Vancouver and worked for Longyear as a bit technician. He then joined Arctic Diamond Drilling, where he organized many helicopter jobs.

It was during those difficult drilling jobs on mountainous setups that Younie began thinking of the design of a small, portable drill that would render easier the drilling of short holes in that type of environment. From 1972 to 1974, he worked for J.K. Smit, designing prototype drills. He then went into partnership with Fred Wink of Wink International Drilling, where he built the first Hydra Wink Drill (later called the Hydracore 28). This small, hydraulically operated drill, powered by a Volkswagen engine, became popular for helicopter jobs because of its extreme portability. (After Fred Wink left in 1979, the company name was changed to Hydracore Drills.) Younie designed the Gopher, Prospector and Pack drills, which have been sold around the world. All his designs reflect his preference for light weight and simplicity, which gave the drills the benefit of portability, ease of repair and maintenance.

Younie entered retirement after selling Hydracore Drills in 1994.