Showerthought: The 2-foot rule saved my cutterhead after a supervisor yelled at me in Baltimore Harbor

I got chewed out by a senior operator named Dave last spring on a project near the Port of Baltimore. He saw me running the cutterhead too deep into a hard clay layer and said "back off 2 feet or you'll wrap your shaft in 20 minutes." I thought he was being dramatic, but just last month I ignored that rule on a Thursday morning job and wrapped a brand new cutterhead shaft on a 12-inch Ellicott. Cost me $1,200 in parts and 6 hours of downtime while the crew waited. Now I keep a tape measure taped to my console and check my depth every time I feel resistance change. What's your go-to rule for avoiding wraps on tough bottom?

2 comments

2 Comments

beth_mitchell16h ago

Man same thing @lucas63 said about his buddy in Norfolk. That harbor bottom is no joke, I swear the clay there grabs like concrete once you hit it. I had a guy on my crew try to muscle through a layer like that last fall and he bent a whole cutter shaft before I could even yell at him. The 2-foot rule is gospel for a reason, its not like the ground tells you when its about to screw you. I keep a piece of red duct tape at the 2-foot mark on my swing wires now just as a visual reminder when I get distracted.

lucas631d ago

My buddy Jake wrapped his shaft doing the same thing near Norfolk last summer. Cost him a grand.