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Used to run the cutterhead wide open all day, now I ease into it
Honestly, when I first started dredging on the Mississippi back in 2017, I'd just slam the throttle to max and dig. Burned through three cutter teeth in a single shift down near Baton Rouge. Now I let it spin up slow and feel the load first, saves me a ton on replacements. Anyone else learn this the hard way too?
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jade_butler11d ago
@hall.charles sounds like me busting a pump impeller last spring, total rookie move.
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hall.charles11d ago
Talked to my buddy who runs a dredge on the Ohio River near Louisville. He told me he used to do the same thing, just hammer down from the get go. Last summer he broke a cutterhead shaft doing that, snapped it clean off on a buried log. Cost him two days of downtime and a big repair bill. He slows way down now too, says it's not worth the rush.
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