Hot take: hitting 10,000 cubic yards of dredge spoil in a month... is it a good thing or bad?

I just checked my logs and I moved 10,200 yards last month on a river job near St. Louis. Some guys say that's a killer milestone that proves your gear is dialed, but I'm wondering if it means I'm pushing too hard and risking a breakdown or missing fines. Anyone else hit a number that made them stop and think?

3 comments

3 Comments

xenar141mo agoMost Upvoted

Are you tracking your downtime for maintenance, or just the run time? 10,200 yards is impressive on paper, but if you're burning through wear parts or skipping those 50-hour greasings to hit the number, the real metric is what you move over six months, not one month. I've seen guys brag about a big month and then spend the next two weeks chasing a blown hydraulic line or a cracked impeller. Was your pump running at full throttle the whole time, or did you back off on the cutter head to keep the material flowing?

ivan8219d ago

Listen, tracking only run time is how you end up parked with a pile of parts. You gotta log the downtime too, that's the only way to know if a big month is real or just borrowed from next month. I've seen @lee.lucas's joke about greasing being a "loose suggestion" blow up a swing bearing in about three weeks, it's not funny when you're the one holding the grease gun. Backing off the cutter head is smart if it keeps the material flowing steady, but full throttle into a clog just spikes your pressure and pops a line. Track everything, including the shit you don't want to remember, then you'll know if 10,200 yards is a win or a problem waiting to happen.

lee.lucas29d ago

My greasing schedule is more of a loose suggestion honestly.