A drilling machine includes a feed cable system which operatively couples a rotary head to a tower. The feed cable system includes first and second pull up cables and an equalizer bar, wherein the equalizer bar is coupled to the first and second pull up cables. The equalizer bar drives the rotary head to be held in a level position so that it is restricted from tilting. The drilling machine includes a slack take up device which couples the equalizer bar to the tower. The slack take up device is repeatably moveable between extended and retracted conditions.