2017 RETA Breeze Sept-Oct

SERVICE

The Shade Tree Mechanic, Volume XXVIII

If I was mak’in the laws Ya know, there’s been a lot of talk lately bout them politicians and what they want to do.They all seem to know what they wanta do, even if they don’t do it. I gotta think what would I do if I were ta be elected ta be king bee.

The first thing would probably be ta outlaw rust. Now I know that rust happens. But that don’t mean that you have ta let stuff just sit and rust. I checked with that internet place and here is what I found. 5 gallons of paint for $37.99 I pay a lot more than that for paint around the shop. But what I’m sayin is paint is cheap. I don’t understand why people don’t paint stuff more often. I’ve gotta a lot of spray cans laying around the yard. I primer parts after they get cleaned. Valve bodies, quarter panels, spare pipe nipples, almost anything that will get painted in the end gets primed in my shop. Color don’t really matter. I paint ta prevent rust. Just get a coat on it! I walk through the plant and see brown and instantly think paint. I write more work orders for painting than almost anything else. What do ya think it woulda cost ta save this? Paint!That’s all it takes. Here is an R/S strainer that needs replacin cause no one ever painted it. I know what you’re

thinkin, it’s only a strainer and not that expensive. But in order to replace it, I need ta pump down the line. Production will need ta be down long enough to pump it down and replace it. How much confidence do ya think I’d Pump down, pipin replacement, etc. Most of the time, this is found through mechanical integrity inspections or annual inspections. Savin a few pipes justifies the costs of my inspections. At my plant, I use production labor have in the rest of the system? What do ya think this costs?

durin shutdown days to paint. I order pizza for the paintin crew, turn up the radio and everyone enjoys the day. Last summer we had some of our employees kids come in and paint while they were home from college. If I can save one major repair I can pay for years of paintin. I was talkin with a buddy the other day an he was talkin about a $200,000 repair because no one ever painted anythin. That should be a crime, an if I was in office it would be. The Presidential Mechanic, under the shade tree. LOL

22 RETA.com