Old-timer in Galveston had a point about slow swings

Last month a retired operator watched me work the cutter for 10 minutes and said my swing speed was leaving too much spoil. I argued it was about volume, but he timed my cycles and showed me 3 extra passes per cut because I was tearing material. Tried his slower pace for a week and my fuel use dropped 11 percent per shift, so maybe the old ways still hold up. Anyone else get a better result from easing off the throttle?

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parker_jones5020d ago

Slower swings cost you money in a different way though. On our job the cutter feeds the truck and every minute the crusher sits waiting is money we never get back, so 11 percent fuel savings can get eaten up fast if you drop your tons per hour. The real fix for me was matching the swing to the material, slow in the hard rock and wide open in the soft stuff, instead of running one speed all day. Curious what your tonnage looked like after the switch, because fuel per shift doesn't tell the whole story if your loads went down.

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