Spent a whole shift on a clogged cutterhead that turned out to be a snapped shear pin

We were stuck for 8 hours pulling up junk, thinking it was a massive cable wrap. The whole crew was stumped until the new guy spotted the broken pin during a coffee break. Anyone else ever miss something that simple because you were sure it was a bigger problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

sethanderson3mo ago

Honestly, that kind of tunnel vision happens to the best crews, not just the new guys.

the_simon3mo ago

Maybe it's just me, but that feels like letting people off the hook too easy. Sure, everyone makes mistakes, but calling it normal for the best crews sets a low bar. The whole point of being the best is having the focus to avoid those exact lapses. Kinda seems like we're mixing up rare human error with a regular problem.

jade_lane191mo ago

You said "the whole point of being the best is having the focus to avoid those exact lapses," but that focus isn't a switch you can flip on forever. Even the best crews are humans with limits, and research shows that tunnel vision is a brain response to stress, not just a lack of discipline. So yeah, expecting zero mistakes from anyone is setting the bar way too high, not too low.