Spent $1,200 on a new hydraulic pump for the old 8-inch cutterhead and it's still shaking like crazy

I was sure the vibration on the dredge was from the old pump, so I bit the bullet and got a new one from a supplier in Mobile. Put it on last week and the whole frame still rattles when you hit hard clay. Now I'm thinking it's the cutterhead bearings, which is a much bigger job. Anyone else had a pump swap not fix a shaking problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

henry1012mo ago

My old truck had a wobble at 55 mph. I replaced the tires, then the rims, and it turned out to be a bent axle flange. It's always the last thing you check. That kind of chasing a problem from one part to the next happens with all kinds of machinery, not just dredges. You fix the obvious thing and the real issue is still waiting.

joseph_hart2mo agoMost Upvoted

Ever check the drive shaft alignment like @henry101's bent flange deal?

oscarcooper5d agoTop Commenter

Always figured you could track down a vibration by process of elimination, but hearing how many hours people burn through doing it that way made me rethink. Seeing that flange example really drove home how sometimes the fix is hiding behind the obvious.