Mr. Damon contracts The Swift Construction Company to make oil drilling equipment for a group of shady Texas wildcatters. They have to be watched constantly by Ned Newton to keep them honest. To make matters worse, one of them is eying Mary Nestor. Tom comes up with a new style rotary well drilling rig that cuts through rock 3 times faster than the existing machinery can. They go to Texas to try the new device and encounter all sorts of obstacles before Tom can prove the worth of his new invention and strike oil (Tom Swift Unofficial Home Page).