Update: My cutterhead hit 10,000 hours on the clock last Friday

We were pulling sediment near Mobile Bay and the number just rolled over. Some guys on my crew think we should plan a full rebuild now, but the foreman wants to push it another 500 hours. The maintenance logs look good, but that's a lot of wear on the bearings. What's the longest you've run a cutter before a teardown?

2 comments

2 Comments

alex_hall9121d ago

Check your service manual, the clock usually tracks cutterhead motor hours, not the actual cutterhead itself.

wesley_fox9221d ago

My buddy ran his cutter to 11,200 once, pushing it for a job finish. The whole gearbox seized solid a week later, cost way more downtime than a planned rebuild. He always said the logs looked fine right up until they didn't. Alex_hall91 has a point about the clock tracking motor hours, but all that vibration still goes through the head assembly. I'd lean toward the crew on this one, 10k is a good round number to stop and check things properly.