Our Story

The LeBus History

The name LeBus has been around the oil field industry since it was just a blacksmith shop in 1900.

Beginnings

LeBus started out by manufacturing specialty tools for the booming west Texas oil fields. Tool pushers and/or owners would see a specific need for a new tool and LeBus would forge the new tools on demand. Soon LeBus was into the manufacturing and selling of fishing tools, drill collars, tool joints and rotary bits.

LeBus manufactured the "Eureka Pipe Wrench" and the "Slip Socket Overshot". The common element in each case was the hoisting machinery, specifically the drum and wire rope, which was the main "workhorse" of the drilling rig. LeBus noticed that the wire rope would not lay in a consistent pattern on the drum. This caused undue wear and scrubbing of the wire rope. Something better was on the horizon.

Our Story - Section 2
Our Story - Section 3

The LeBus Wire Groove Bar

The LeBus Company originated the LeBus Wire Groove Bar principle in the Year 1937 for application on the oil field drilling rigs. This was supplied in running lengths of bar form and in the early days of grooving drums, the LeBus groove bar was wrapped onto the drums in the same manner as wire rope, but of course at a much slower rate of speed. It was the helical form just as the rope was wound around the drum.

Shortly after World War II, Mr. Frank L. LeBus, Sr. was certain that by using some new innovations that the grooving material could become an important product to the consumer world. He then set about methods of using the groove bar to perfect the spooling of wire rope on hoisting drums, whether it be in the oilfields, logging fields, construction fields, marine area or wherever wire rope was spooled. Mr. LeBus came up with many different patterns and systems of spooling cable in an effort to obtain something that could be adapted to any industry.

LeBus Counterbalanced™ Spooling System

Today, this is known as the LeBus Counterbalanced™ Spooling System. It is the most advanced method of controlling the coiling of wire rope on a hoist drum. There is no practical limit to the number of layers of wire rope that can be spooled with complete safety regardless of the speed of the drum, or the size of the wire rope.

LeBus wire line spooling systems were originally developed to overcome the severe spooling problems encountered by the oil field drilling industry. However, in the past number of years, the LeBus System is now becoming well known and accepted in all phases of the marine industry, mining, logging, and with the general industry hoisting trade. Anywhere wire rope is wrapped onto a drum in multiple layers, there is a need for the LeBus Wire Line Spooling System.

Our Story - Section 4

Lebus International Today

LeBus International, in its continuing efforts to improve its spooling products, have followed the LeBus grooving pattern with a device that can compensate for the excessive fleet angles found on many drums. This device is called the Fleet Angle Compensator. It is a floating sheave on an eccentric shaft that redirects the line as it spools onto the drum. LeBus can also engineer diamond screw to match the customer’s drum. This can be integrated into a levelwind to form a positive levelwinding process on the drum.

Today LeBus is well known in many different industries, not only in spooling cable, but also in drum manufacturing, winches, levelwinds,sheaves, diamond screws, heavy fabricating and machining, earth moving equipment, and many other areas. As our history indicates, we are always striving to improve our products and always on the look out for new ones. Our roots are deep and our future is bright.

LEBUS is a globally operating company with factories and agencies in the USA, Brazil, China, Germany, the UK and Singapore. At all locations, we are led by the spirit of customer service, ready to offer wire rope spooling solutions anywhere in the world.