American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2018 - 107

ARTICLE

REPRINTS

Rocky Mountain Oilﬁeld Warehouse manufactures and markets a portable system that
lets well technicians optimize rod pump spacing without climbing on equipment or putting their hands between pinch points. The system's hydraulic lifting device can raise
and lower the rod string, which RMOW says eliminates the need to turn the pump on and
off repeatedly during the process, a boon for safety and speed.

ground with unsure footing;
* Remove lockout/tagout and disengage the pawl and brake to roll over the
pumping unit again;
* Lockout the pumping unit and reengage the brake and pawl to remove the
stack-out tool and bottom clamp; and
* Remove lockout/tagout, disengage
the brake and pawl, and restart the pumping unit.
If the technician eyeballs where to
put the clamp incorrectly, the entire
process must be repeated, Eubank mentions. He says this is undesirable given
the time and risks involved.
"To reach the top clamp, the technician
often has to climb all over the wellhead
or get on a ladder that is set up in the
back of a pickup, creating a chance he
will fall," Eubank says. "Also, if the brake
slips while he's adjusting the clamps, he
could lose a finger or a hand."
Eubank adds that the process is slow
and hard on the pumping unit. "Rolling
the pumping unit over to create the gap
needed to adjust the top clamp often
causes the bottom clamp to slam into the
stack-out tool, which strains the prime
mover and the string. The system is designed for smooth strokes, not sudden
slams and jolts," he explains.
"The hydraulic lift eliminates the risks
to people and equipment," Eubank emphasizes. "The technician starts by shutting
down the pumping unit, putting the lift on
the stuffing box and attaching a temporary
clamp above it. Then the technician connects the lift to a hydraulic pump and uses

the lift to raise the rod string. Once it is
high enough, he places a permanent spacer
between the top clamp and the carrier bar
from a safe distance using a special pole."
Finally, the technician bleeds pressure
from the lift to lower the rod string until
the top clamp rests on the spacer, turns
off and removes the lift, and restarts the
pumping unit, Eubank outlines.
"During the entire process, the technician's feet never leave the ground and
his hands never get between a pinch
point," Eubank says. "Instead of rolling
over the expensive pumping unit on a
homemade stack-out tool to raise and
lower the string, he leaves that to a purpose-built hydraulic lift and keeps the
pumping unit completely locked out
throughout the whole task."
Between the lift's precision and the
permanent spacers, which come in three-,
six- and nine-inch sizes, Eubank says this
approach makes it easier to optimize spacing and compression ratios. "It is also
much faster than the traditional process,
saving money on man hours performing
this task, and much cheaper than renting
a crane," he says. "Once the pumping
unit is locked out, inserting or removing
a spacer should only take 10 minutes."
The hydraulic lift has performed well
in Williston Basin winters and Texas summer heat, Eubank reports. With the ability
to lift 60,000 pounds, he says it should
easily handle even the longest strings.
"Most of the components are stored in a
rugged case, and we designed all of them
to be easy to maintain," he adds.
r

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2018

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