A simple trick to stop dredge lines from freezing over

Dredging in the cold months is a pain, especially when the discharge line freezes solid. We lost a whole day last winter because of it, lol. I started mixing in a bit of marine-grade antifreeze with the slurry, just a small amount. It lowers the freezing point enough to keep things moving. On my last job, we did this and had zero freeze-ups, even in sub-zero temps. Just make sure to check local regs so you don't mess with the environment. Hope this helps someone else out there!

4 comments

4 Comments

thomas_campbell3919h ago

Try wrapping the lines with insulation first.

rose42218h ago

Worked for me last winter with some pipes in the crawlspace. The foam tube stuff from the store stopped the dripping cold... kept things from freezing up. Made a real difference without having to call anyone.

blake_owens14h ago

Last winter on a site in Michigan, we used both heat tape and thick foam insulation on the dredge lines. I mean, the insulation alone helps a lot, but adding a heat source makes it almost foolproof. Maybe it's just me, but wrapping it right is key, like overlapping the seams and sealing them with tape. Idk, we had temps down to -10°F and still no freeze-ups. Combining that with a bit of antifreeze in the slurry, like the OP said, seems like the best bet for really cold jobs. Just makes sure you're not relying on one thing to do all the work.

taylor_butler10h ago

Yeah read something similar once. They were talking about glycol mixes for industrial lines. Same basic idea as the antifreeze trick.