A thick steel plate through which a hole about one- sixteenth of an inch larger than the outside diameter of the drill rod on which it is to be used is drilled; the plate is slipped over the drill rod and one edge is fastened to a securely anchored chain, and if rods must be pulled because high-pressure water is encountered, the eccentric pull of the chain causes the outside of the rods to be gripped and held against the pressure of water; the rod is moved a short distance out of the hole each time the plate is tapped.