Debate: How long should a cutterhead rebuild actually take?

I spent 8 hours on a cutterhead rebuild last month for a 12-inch swing ladder dredge, and my foreman swore it should have been 4. But the bearings were seized and the wear rings needed shimming, which ate up the time. What's your typical turnaround when you hit unexpected snags like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

cora56226d ago

Four hours is optimistic, seized bearings alone eat half that.

hugog4326d ago

Eight hours sounds about right to me, you never know what you're gonna find once you crack it open. That four hour estimate is what people say when they're dreaming of a perfect world with no rust, lol. I've noticed the same thing happens with everything from fixing an old truck to building a deck, the real time always doubles once you hit the hidden problems. @cora562 nailed it, seized bearings are a whole different beast and they don't let you rush. It's like the universe has a rule that anything involving bearings takes twice as long as you planned.