The old timer at the Bakersfield job showed me the rag in a coffee can trick for soaking tubes

Paige Hall · 2026-10-19T20:25:05.319029+00:00

I was fighting a tube bundle on a Tuesday night in Bakersfield, pulling and plugging and getting nowhere because the tubes kept slipping on me. An old timer watching me finally grabs a coffee can, stuffs some rags in it, and soaks them in water, then wedges each tube end into the wet rag before I pull. Took me 2 tries to get the hang of it but the rag grips the tube way better than my gloved hand ever did, and I finished the whole bundle an hour before shift change. Turns out the wet cloth also keeps the tube from spinning, which fixed the plug fit I was complaining about all night. Has anyone else used something like this on stubborn bundles, or do you all have a different trick for keeping the tube from slipping?

📢Hub Chatter

Loading…

The old timer at the Bakersfield job showed me the rag in a coffee can trick for soaking tubes | Boilermakers - Hub Chatter