Company Profile

40 Years Providing Industrial Bolting Service and Technical Support

Introduction

Francis Torque Service is a leading industrial bolting service provider and hydraulic torque wrench manufacturer. For nearly 40 years we have provided turnkey bolting solutions including crews, equipment and technical support. We manufacture hydraulic torque wrenches under the trade name “Torq/Lite®”, sold world-wide. Our “hands on” experience and manufacturing capacity allow us to offer any combination of service, rentals, sales and technical support for your most critical bolting applications. Technical services and tool manufacturing are located in New Orleans with tool distribution centers located nationwide.

Work Experience

Our technical staff has safely performed and supervised millions of man hours of bolting over the past 40 years. Francis Torque Service has contracts and Master Service Agreements with approximately 200 clients, including nearly all the major upstream oil and gas operators, most of the independent operators and many downstream operators in the Gulf South.

Equipment Inventory

Francis Torque Service has the largest single inventory of calibrated hydraulic torque wrenches in the region. We’ve been building our tool inventory for nearly 40 years, ranging from ½” – 9½” wrenches with capacities over 100,000 foot pounds of torque.

Company History

In 1979, Dale Francis was the first to introduce hydraulic bolting services to the Gulf South. Forty years later, the Francis family continues a tradition of customer commitment and technical innovations.

1985 – Francis Torque Service introduced the first inline ratcheting wrench to the oil and gas industry. This single innovation reduced “flange make-up time” by 50% and significantly improved hand safety, by reducing the number of moving parts and minimizing the number of technicians needed to operate the tools. The “RBW” Ratcheting Box Wrench was awarded the Woelfel Best Mechanical Engineering Achievement Award at the 1985 Offshore Technology Conference and remains the basis for most industrial ratcheting wrenches manufactured today.

1998 – ASME awarded Dale Francis the BMEA award for innovation for the RT-Series Riser Wrench. The RT-Series wrench combines a “run-down motor” with a “ratcheting hydraulic wrench” thus reducing deep-water riser flange make-up time by 80%, decreasing the required manpower by 50% and eliminating several hazardous tools and steps in the process.

2002 – Francis Torque Service became the first ISO registered bolting service company in the USA. Torq/Lite®, our manufacturing division, continues to maintain ISO 9001-2015 accreditation while FTS works toward our API Spec Q2 certification.

2008 – The Robo-Spider™ combines six subsea Riser Tool wrenches which operate simultaneously and completely via remote control. Once again, Francis Torque Service has proven that safety, speed and accuracy can continuously be improved.

2010 – We proudly played a significant role in repairing the blown-out Gulf of Mexico oil well. Dale Francis designed and manufactured the tool that launched the repairs 5,000 feet under water. Our wrench provided the 45,000 foot pounds of torque required to loosen the bolts before the damaged flange could be removed. This started the process that allowed the leaking well to be capped and stop the flowing oil.

2019 – Francis Torque Service was approved by ASME as an elite ASME Bolting Specialist Qualification Program Authorized Training Provider.

Whether it’s making up a standard ANSI flange or breaking loose a mangled wellhead 5,000 feet under water, you can depend on the team of Francis Toque Service and Torq/Lite®. You can trust our 40 years of experience providing fast, safe and accurate bolting tools, services and technical support, world-wide.