maxm50•14d agoProlific Poster

Switched from draghead to jet pump on a sand job and it cut our downtime in half

We were running a 12-inch dredge on a harbor project near Tampa last month and kept losing production to plug-ups in the suction line. I suggested swapping our standard draghead for a jet pump setup even though the older guys said it was a waste. Took about 3 hours to switch over on a Tuesday morning and by Friday we had pulled 40% more material with zero clogs. Any of you guys tried jet pumps on fine sand or is it just a niche thing?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_claire14d ago

Wait, you swapped a draghead for a jet pump entirely? I thought you usually run a jet pump in front of the suction line while keeping the draghead for digging. From what I've seen, a jet pump just helps lift and fluidize the material, not replace the digging head itself. Still cool that it cut your downtime that much though.

bettymurphy14d ago

Yeah totally feel you on that @the_claire. It's rough when you have to rethink a whole setup just to get less downtime but sounds like it paid off for them.