Big Problem Big Solution!
When I was a young salesman a huge opportunity came my way which turned out to be one of the single largest projects and sale that I’ve personally closed. Way back when, ocean going tugs would, by industry practice, “dump” their used wire into the ocean once the wire had reached the end of its life span. After many thousands of miles of towing huge barges with these large diameter ropes the tugs would pay out the rope and let it settle at the oceans floor to dissipate and corrode.
As many “old” practices fade to black in the US, so did the dumping of used wire rope into the ocean. The practice was very practical as it saved the tug boat weight returning to port and got rid of no longer useable wire. When the tug landed at port they merely had to bring the new wire rope dock side and install the new wire onto the tug’s winch. Once installed the tug was back in business for another load.
The rope usually was and is a 2-1/2” diameter IWRC wire rope at around 4800’ in length close to 57,000LBS. The Coast Guard vessels would cruise up beside the tugs and see if the ship’s tow winches were full or empty with wire rope. The tugs typically had two winches on board one main and one back up winch. This was easy for the Coast Guard to visually check and see if the drum was full or empty. If the drum did not have wire the tug would get pulled over and slapped with a $10,000 fine for the infraction of dumping their wire into the sea. This was an extremely steep fine at the time; in fact it is a steep fine today. The fine would probably be $100,000 in 2011 dollars. $10,000 was certainly fines that tug companies wanted to avoid.
The problem with coming back to port with wire that was damaged or worn was the process of disposing of the wire shore side. The process involved cutting used 2-1/2” diameter wire in small 3’ sections so it could be disposed. The wire rope had to either be re-spooled on a large reel and taken to an offsite location and cut up or cut up on the dock. Cutting the wire on the dock would take up valuable dock space for week or months to perform this labor intensive task. Re-spooling the wire was a major job in and of itself not to mention cutting 3’ pieces off a reel is a two or three person job, the tug companies did not have this time.
The other problem was that my new friend and potential client, the tug boat captain, had no idea where he was going to get his new tow wire. I of course knew where to get the wire. One of my good friends in New York was the only company on the Eastern Seaboard that had that size wire rope in stock.
Another big problem was installing the wire on the tug in Miami. Miami is a huge source of supply and material TODAY but not so much in the late 70’s early 80’s. How were they going to get 57,000LBS and 4800’ of wire off their boat and install a new wire in a reasonable time frame? It is not a free ride being moored to a commercial dock, it costs mucho dineros!
The tug boat captain made me a deal. If you can get this wire off and take it away I will buy the wire from you. Great! I immediately sprang into action. My heart was beating fast this was my chance to shine. Remember this was a time before cell phones, email, text message and all the current instant communication tools. Yes we did survive and do business prior to modern technology. I went to a “phone booth” for readers who never experienced a phone booth it is a place where Clark Kent turned into Superman. That is exactly what I did, I transformed into a super man and changed the way tug boats change wires. First I called the “old man”, my Dad, JD Raulerson who survived WWII and the shipyards by “figuring” things out on the fly. JD and his close friend and WWII buddy got to work designing a never seen before “portable” reeling machine. The reeling machine was able to achieve 30,000 LBS of line pull. They designed this machine on the fly without engineered drawings, just their brains and imaginations, they didn’t even have a computer!
The next call went to my friend in New York to make claim to the 2-1/2” wire. Gene said “sure Bobby we can help you out. I’ve never trucked a reel that size that far but we are on the job.” As it turned out my friend miscalculated the load on the flat bed. The bed of two (2) trucks collapsed under the load of the enormous reel of steel rope. The flange of the reel stood about 8’ in height made of solid oak and the bed of the trucks caved under the pressure. After the second flat bed truck caved my friend in New York had to rent a “heavy haul” truck designed to haul machinery and obtain a special permit. Once loaded, the truck headed south to beautiful Miami.
Hearing all of this news made me break out in a heavy sweat. Would I be able to close this job? Would it all work out as I saw it effortlessly working in my mind? Time would tell. In the meantime my dad JD and his buddy were working around the clock fabricating their gargantuan portable winch. The questions rolled in my mind keeping me awake nights and on edge for countless hours. Would I be a laughing stock of the industry or a champion of innovation and design by necessity?
Well I will give you the short version. JD and his buddy delivered the portable reeling machine and another large jack stand down to the docks in Miami. The wire rope showed up finally. Our guys attached the old wire to a reel stationed on the portable reeling machine and pulled the old wire off without a hitch. We “jacked” the new wire up on the other jack-stand and installed the new wire. We poured the new spelter socket onto the end of the wire and the tug was underway in a few days.
The tug boat captain was extremely happy that the job got done so quickly and efficiently. The tug was on to pull more heavy loads of cargo through the ocean and back to making money. We solved two of his largest problems at the time, he could not find the wire and we disposed of his old wire saving the company thousands of dollars.
Our guys in the shop were even happy as I let them cut the wire up on their own time and take to the recycle yard and keep the money. It took them around a year to cut it all up but they got it done.
It has been over thirty years since this job but it still stands out in my mind as a huge milestone in the history of Consolidated Rigging. It was my first large sale and a monumental challenge that I thankfully came out victorious; I got some much needed sleep once that job was complete.
In the words of the late John Lennon “In life there are no problems only solutions”. That’s our motto at Consolidated Rigging. If you need help with your tug boat wire or any other rigging give me a call.
P.S. If you call I still answer the phone M-F 5 days a week
Bobby Raulerson (President, CEO)
Tags: Barges, Boat Weight, Coast Guard Vessels, Cruise, Diameter Wire, Fade To Black, Infraction, Life Span, Oceans, Offsite Location, Ropes, Tug Boat, Winches, Wire Rope
