Some of the heads I put on are very sloppy,and I`ve noticed that the casing is actually 13 3/8 inch on these instead of 13 5/8. I always thought 13 5/8 was the standard and excepted size. I done some research on this awhile back and from what I read[if it is true] is that the 13 3/8 size comes from China,it figures. I put a head on a few months back on this 13 3/8 casing,and the casing was out of round by a half inch,kind of egg shaped. When I told the company man he was hot,which I don`t blame him.Well I actually didn`t weld it on this casing,they had to truck in all new and good casing,which caused considerable downtime.The tool pusher actually had me there early doing a bunch of rig work while waiting to do the head. I realized the pipe was bad when I went to slip the cement shoe on prior to welding,and couldn`t understand why it wouldn`t fit. Who would have thought new pipe being out of round. You could tell by looking at it that it was not crushed or anything,just made kind of egg shaped,which explains it if that size does come from China. I like everyone else hate the junk that comes from China.

Shad, I hope things are at least getting a bit better for you there. I work for Freeport McMoRan who is a global mining company and one of the world’s largest. We have great control over our business and IMO I believe it is World Class. There is a very extensive process to work as a contractor for FMI, it works and I believe it is the right thing to do but I would not want to manage it as a contractor. I am fortunate to have almost complete control of our maintenance group and my expectations are very high. We built this mine with a culture that is sadly very uncommon in other mines including other FMI properties. My advice would be to learn all you can where you are at. Think of ways to make it more proficient even if they don't listen to you or implement your ideas note them because someday somewhere will ask you what you think and listen to your answer with an open mind. Shovel and Drag Line maintenance in the mines I have worked in and visited has impressed me in their abilities and craftsmanship. Usually mining outfits look for two years of related experience as a minimum. Start looking into the large mining outfits that do not contract all their maintenance out and have in house maintenance departments. I can tell you that I would feel honored to weld in some of the maintenance shops I have been around that repair Drag Lines. Some of these jobs pay 40-60 dollars an hour plus bennies, bonuses and retirement. I have made an excellent living in the mining field and will have no problem retiring in about 10 years. There are great places to work for as well as total crap holes in mining just like anything else. People with mining experience are getting harder and harder to find! I can't believe that I have not interviewed one mechanic in the last year with more than five years of Crushing Conveying/Milling experience? The biggest problem with mining is that usually mines are where people don’t want to live. Find somewhere good and stay a while and learn their process. If you don't like it there look for something better because I know firsthand that experienced people are not a mile deep waiting on these jobs anymore. I know you would like working and be able to grow in a good mining company.