About Us
Milt Skillman, Founder
I started in 1979 rebuilding valves as Skillman Rebuilt. Around 1983, I began to invest in drilling oil wells. When the oil crash of 1985-86 hit, valve sales slowed down considerably. At the same time, oil prices went below ten dollars a barrel, and it became very important to manage costs. Making oil is making money and having pump inefficiency or failures lost me money and repairs cost me money.
When you have a rod pump failure, the pump repair is the least cost when you take in to account lost production and rig time.
When you are the one paying the bills, cost matters!
I wanted to know what failed and why it failed. I would personally go with the pump to the pump shop to see what parts of the pump failed. If a pump part was worn or broken, the pump shop repairman would go over to the shelf and get another part just like the one that just failed, and put it on the pump. You heard me right! We have proof this part will fail so let's do it again, so we can get the same result. Of course the repairman didn't say that, but that is what they did, and that is what I thought. No wonder the major down-hole pump manufactures are multi-million dollar companies with millions a year in sales!
I wanted to change the way things have been done for the last one-hundred years and give pump shops the ability to become pump fixers, and not just part changers.
The heart of down-hole pumps are the fluid seals, the barrel to plunger seal, and the ball and seat seal. The balls and seats go into cages and makeup what are known as the Traveling Valve and the Standing Valve. The pump shops had five gallon buckets of wore out balls and seats, and fifty-five gallon barrels of beat out cages.
To me, it looked like a good place to start.
My first product was the Skillman Cup Cage and that started the beginning of what is now Skillman Oilfield Solutions. We make only the best pump parts for any given application. We don't offer good and better. Our lowest grade of material in making our pump parts is 316L stainless steel, and we only go up from there. If you want average, go with the big boys. If you want to solve your rod pump problems, and save money, then give us a try. After 36 years of ongoing hard work, dedication, and engineering excellence, we have finally become the world's smallest--and best--down-hole pump manufacturer.
When you have a rod pump failure, the pump repair is the least cost when you take in to account lost production and rig time.
When you are the one paying the bills, cost matters!
I wanted to know what failed and why it failed. I would personally go with the pump to the pump shop to see what parts of the pump failed. If a pump part was worn or broken, the pump shop repairman would go over to the shelf and get another part just like the one that just failed, and put it on the pump. You heard me right! We have proof this part will fail so let's do it again, so we can get the same result. Of course the repairman didn't say that, but that is what they did, and that is what I thought. No wonder the major down-hole pump manufactures are multi-million dollar companies with millions a year in sales!
I wanted to change the way things have been done for the last one-hundred years and give pump shops the ability to become pump fixers, and not just part changers.
The heart of down-hole pumps are the fluid seals, the barrel to plunger seal, and the ball and seat seal. The balls and seats go into cages and makeup what are known as the Traveling Valve and the Standing Valve. The pump shops had five gallon buckets of wore out balls and seats, and fifty-five gallon barrels of beat out cages.
To me, it looked like a good place to start.
My first product was the Skillman Cup Cage and that started the beginning of what is now Skillman Oilfield Solutions. We make only the best pump parts for any given application. We don't offer good and better. Our lowest grade of material in making our pump parts is 316L stainless steel, and we only go up from there. If you want average, go with the big boys. If you want to solve your rod pump problems, and save money, then give us a try. After 36 years of ongoing hard work, dedication, and engineering excellence, we have finally become the world's smallest--and best--down-hole pump manufacturer.