JAN/FEB 2026 RETA Breeze

SERVICE

The Shade Tree Mechanic Volume LIX

Know When to Punt!

don’t have the parts and expertise we need. Let’s get a contractor in,” or, “Let’s put it back together and get what we need for the next shutdown.” But they didn’t; they continued to pull things apart and hoped it would work out. It didn’t. And when did I find out? At startup. Well, at what was suppose ta be startup. So, how did I fix the machine? We got what we could overnight and made a couple things in the shop. “A good lathe and a good mill and sometimes you can find a way.” Phone support from the contractor helped, a lot. We will have to tackle it again at the next shutdown, but we can run today. More importantly, how do I fix the process? Well, same as always, trainin’. I don’t expect the impossible, so tell me when I’m asking for the impossible. Communicate; even when you think I won’t be happy, tell me. Communicate early, and tell me we may have a problem, so I can start working on a backup plan. Please don’t read this and think I don’t want the team to try. I just want them to understand when all of their expertise and desire won’t get the job done, we need to know when to punt. The shade tree grows outside of the little town of Broughton, Ohio. Where everyone is always welcome, the beer is always cold, and something is always needin fixin.

to learn for the next time. I expect my contractors and factory repair representa tives to work with my team and teach them. But here is my complaint, and this is what prompted this discussion. We need to know when to bring someone in, and call them before we spend three days working on it, knowing we can’t fix it. Or, more likely, we should have known we couldn’t fix it on our own. So, there is a short shutdown, three days. A machine is running, but we are nursing it. So, we decide to tear it down and fix it over the shutdown. We’re thinkin’ maybe a full day. Here is where I screwed up. I turned it over to the third shift team. They tore it down and began repairs. Early on, they knew we didn’t have all the parts we were gonna need. Nor did they know how to take it apart. There were some worn parts that weren’t supposta wear. I think they may have “worn” a little more when they tried to take it apart. So, do you think anyone told yours truly? Of course not! The blame goes to me, and I shoulda asked. This was a typical short shutdown. Everyone was working on something. We had a couple of contractors working, and I just lost track of it. What I would want in an ideal world is for the team to hit the radio and say “Hey, we

I never expected to write about this. I’m not happy about it. But I opened my mouth after a few too many, and here I am. Anyway, so’s I was at the shop complainin’ about a problem I had at work the other day. Vern listened and decided it needed to be an article. Vic doesn’t stop by the shop, so hopefully, I won’t back myself into these corners now that he is the RETA-RSES Publications Committee Chairman. Congratulations, Victor! I love it when someone dives in and attempts a repair on somethin’ they haven’t done before. Let’s face it, we always have first-time repairs in the plant. So, I want the boys and girls to stretch their wings and attempt repairs. I think they learn a lot; and when they are successful, it gets us back up and runnin’ quicker. I don’t want to discour age that, ever. So, my rant the other night to Vern was more about what happens when it goes wrong. Should we attempt to fix everything on our own? Is there a time when we need to call in the experts right up front? As much as I want to say no, I can’t. There are times when we should know right up front that a problem is beyond our capabilities. We need to call in an expert or scuttle the repair and come back in the future. Even when we bring in the experts, I still want my team to be involved; I want them

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026