Noticed the new guys keep running the cutterhead too fast in sand

I was watching a guy burn through three teeth in two hours on a maintenance job near Baton Rouge last week because he had the RPMs cranked way past what the material can handle, and when I told him to back it off he looked at me like I was speaking a different language, so has anyone else had to deal with new operators who think faster always means more production?

2 comments

2 Comments

derek997d ago

Made them run a stopwatch on a test piece and showed them the numbers prove slower cuts last way longer.

anderson.gavin7d ago

I used to be one of those guys actually. When I first started I thought running the cutterhead faster was just getting more dirt moved per minute. It took a senior operator showing me the actual wear cost per foot of material to change my mind. @derek99's suggestion about the stopwatch test is dead on, seeing the numbers in real time really makes it click for most people. In my experience the new guys are usually just trying to prove they can work fast, not realizing the teeth alone can eat up half the day's budget if you burn through them that quick. Your mileage may vary but I've found that running it just below the chatter point in sand saves way more than any speed gains.