I finally took my foreman’s advice about slowing down on the swing cable

For years I ran my dredge like I was racing the clock, always pushing the swing cable hard to get more yardage. My old foreman, Dave, kept telling me to ease up and let the machine do the work. I figured he was just being slow and old school, so I ignored him for about 6 months. Then one day I snapped a 5/8-inch wire rope right at the sheave, and it whipped back and nearly took out the hydraulic line. That repair cost us $400 and a full shift of downtime. After that, I started running at half the swing speed he recommended, and I actually get more consistent material now without killing the equipment. Have any of you had a boss or older hand give you advice you thought was wrong, but later realized they were right about?

2 comments

2 Comments

adams.henry23d ago

You ever notice how "take it easy" always ends up being the most expensive lesson to learn?

angelas7823d agoMost Upvoted

Oh goodness, that's a good one. But I'd say it's more like learning it the hard way than it being expensive.