1. vb. [Drilling]

To place a stand of drillpipe in the derrick when coming out of the hole on a trip. The rig crew racks back pipe after the stand is unscrewed from the rest of the drillstring. The floor crew then pushes the lower part of the stand away from the rotary table to a position on one side of the vee-door. While the floor crew is pushing the pipe, the derrickman gets ready to pull the top of the stand over into the fingerboards. Once the rig crew has the pipe in the correct location, the driller slacks off on the drawworks, allowing the stand to rest on the drillfloor. This takes weight off of the elevators previously supporting the pipe at the top, so the derrickman can then unlatch the elevators and pull the top of the pipe into the fingerboards for storage. Modern rig designs have automated pipe-handling equipment that moves the pipe. When tripping the pipe out of the hole, racking back pipe may occur every two to five minutes for hours at a time.

See related terms: come out of the hole,  derrickman,  elevator,  fingerboard,  rotary table,  stand,  vee-door