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Pro tip: watching a barge unload in New Orleans changed how I handle my suction lines
I was down on the riverfront last month and saw a crew using a high pressure water jet to clear a clogged intake before they even shut down the pump. I tried it on my cutterhead dredge when we hit a thick clay patch, and it saved us three hours of downtime. What's your go to method for keeping the flow going when you hit unexpected material?
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evan_grant705mo ago
That's a solid tip about the water jet... we've all been stuck waiting on a clog.
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grantc805mo ago
Right @evan_grant70, it's the small fixes that save the whole day.
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taylor.brooke5mo ago
Oh man, you're both so right. That noise @grace_kelly45 mentioned is the actual worst, it just drills right into your brain. I had a job last week where we could have avoided a whole hour of that screeching if someone had just cleared the little stuff first. It really is all about catching the small thing before it turns into a huge, loud headache.
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grace_kelly455mo ago
Honestly, what gets me is the noise. A bad clog means running that jet forever, and the high-pitched whine just grates on you after a while. It's not just about the wait, it's about the whole shop having to shout over it. A quick fix with the jet is great, but preventing the big clog in the first place saves your ears, too. A little regular maintenance keeps things quiet and moving.
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