Atlas Tubular LP, Robstown, Texas, buys and sells new API prime pipe, new surplus casing and tubing, and used oil country tubular goods worldwide. In addition to buying and selling tubular goods, Atlas upsets and threads pipe. It also operates a complete reclamation center that can straighten pipe, clean the inside and outside, inspect threads, remove paraffin, water- or sand-blast pipe insides and outsides, modify couplings, provide properly gauged rings and plugs, burn out internal coatings, test pipe hydrostatically and electromagnetically, and inspect drill pipe and casing measuring up to 36 in. in diameter.
Founded 40 years ago by experienced pipe inspector John Hubbard, Atlas Tubular today operates a total of six locations in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Colorado. Hubbard’s daughter and two sons are also involved in running the company.
Atlas Tubular relies on a fleet of Manitou M Series straight-mast forklifts to handle drill pipe, both in its yards and in the field.
Atlas Tubular’s 45-acre Robstown headquarters, southwest of Corpus Christi, Texas, houses shops that perform a wide range of pipe and casing services, as well as acres of pipe and casing inventory. Atlas uses a fleet of 10 Manitou M 40 and M 50 forklifts to handle all of the drill pipe that comes through the facility. They unload it from incoming trucks, set it in storage racks, carry it to and from processing, and load sold pipe onto trucks for shipment.
“We use the Manitous to handle all of our drill pipe, which comes in sections that measure from 1.5 in. to 3.5 in. in diameter and from 32 ft. to 40 ft. long,” said Hubbard. “The Manitou M 40s and M 50s can pick up 25 to 30 pieces in a load, tilt the mast back, and carry them easily over the uneven hardpan ground in the yard. We order them with fork carriages that are about 8-ft. wide in order to balance the pipe sections without needing special clamps or grips.” In addition, Manitou’s forklifts come standard with a hydraulic accumulator that softens ride and lets the load travel more smoothly regardless of terrain.
Atlas also relies on the Manitou rough-terrain forklifts to load purchased pipe from sites in the field. Hubbard says the company has a couple of four-wheel-drive units that are particularly good at working in mud, wind, and other adverse conditions.
An M 40 forklift can lift up to 8,000 lbs., and the M 50 up to 10,000 lbs. Both have a maximum lifting height of 21'7", an 11'0" turning radius, and 11 in. of ground clearance. Each is powered by a 94-hp. diesel engine and can travel at up to 16 mph.
Atlas Tubular has been using Manitou forklifts almost exclusively in its drill-pipe handling operations for at least 12 years. “I’ve had several brands of forklifts over the 40 years I’ve been in business, but the Manitous have done the best job for us, so we’ve stuck with them the whole time and have used them exclusively in the pipe-handling part of our business for the past 12 or 14 years,” said Hubbard. “If we replace one, we replace it with another Manitou.”
Atlas typically operates 10 hours per day, five days per week, but works longer hours, including around the clock and up to seven days a week, when needed. “It’s the oil field, so you do whatever’s needed to get the job done,” says Hubbard.
With that kind of demanding work schedule, Hubbard also appreciates the reliability of the Manitou forklifts. “We maintain them, and they seem to be durable. They don’t break down very often and our mechanic says they are low-maintenance units and are easy to work on, too. If I wasn’t happy with them, I wouldn’t own 10.”
