Shoutout to the foreman who yelled at me on the Mississippi River job

I was working a dredge on the Mississippi near Baton Rouge back in 2021 when my foreman stopped me from running the cutterhead too fast into a hard clay bank. He said I was going to burn up the motor and cost us a whole shift of downtime. Now I always ease into the material slow and listen for the engine strain before pushing harder. How do you guys handle variable bottom conditions without a lot of experience on the water?

2 comments

2 Comments

fisher.charlie1d ago

Oh, I bet that foreman saved you a world of hurt. That's the kind of lesson you only learn once, if you're smart. My question is, how do you tell if the bottom is sand versus clay or rock when you're just starting out? Is there a particular sound or vibration you listen for before you even touch the material? I imagine the engine load changes quicker than you'd expect on something like a dredge.

the_drew22h ago

Thing is you can feel it through your boot soles before the bucket even digs in.