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A deckhand on my boat in Mobile Bay told me I was running the cutterhead too fast for the bottom type.
He said he could feel the whole ladder shaking and it was chewing through the teeth. I slowed it down by about 30 RPM and the vibration stopped completely. The teeth are lasting twice as long now and we're moving more material. Anyone else had a crew member point out something obvious you were missing?
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river_rivera4516h ago
That part about the teeth lasting twice as long really hits home. I read a story from a dredge operator up in the Great Lakes who had the same thing. His new guy kept saying the engine sounded "angry" on a certain sandbar. They finally listened and adjusted the pump speed. They went from changing out sections every week to every three weeks. Sometimes you're so focused on the big picture you miss the simple fix.
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stella9047h ago
It's wild how often the new guy spots what the old hands miss, like @river_rivera45 said. Makes you wonder how much money and time gets wasted just because nobody wants to hear "the engine sounds angry.
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