Found a hack for clearing cutterhead clogs without shutting down

Ngl, I've been running my dredge on a tight deadline for a week straight and cutterhead clogs were killing my production time. I'd have to stop the whole operation, reverse the swing, and wait for the basket to clear which ate up like 20 minutes each time. On a whim I tried giving the swing cable a sharp jerk forward while keeping the ladder down and the pump running. It actually knocked the packed debris loose and flushed it through without a full shutdown. I did this three times yesterday on the same job near Baton Rouge and saved close to an hour total. Has anyone else messed around with cable tension to clear clogs on the fly or am I just getting lucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

claireo674d ago

Right but you're missing the REAL risk here, which is that sharp jerk on the cable can fray the wires inside the sheath over time. I worked on a rig where a guy did this trick for a month straight and one day the cable snapped mid swing, dropped the ladder HARD and bent the intake pipe. Quick fix now cost us three days and a welding truck. You gotta check for kinks and broken strands every other time you do this or you're gambling with way more than lost production time down there.

the_lucas4d ago

You mentioned checking every other time, but how often is that actually happening on a normal shift when people are rushing? Is there a rule of thumb for how many cycles before you absolutely have to inspect it?