[QUOTE=company man 1;36072][QUOTE=Alf;36056] I’ve seen a lot of top drives with kellies on the floor. Of course that was back in the day when I rode my horse to the dock.[/QUOTE]
Seems to be becoming increasingly rare. We still have it on our list of things to check, but It has been a few years since I have seen a kelly on a deepwater semi or drillship. Every now & then I will spot an old kelly bushing laying around in the rig’s heavy tool store. Makes me realize how old I am getting when I ask an young AD or driller if they have a kelly onboard & they give me a blank look & then say they have heard that people used to drill with a kelly, but they have never actually seen it done. On the other hand, many of the land rigs we inspect have a kelly on hand as a backup in case their top drive fails.