ray363•2mo ago

Shoutout to the old foreman who told me to stop babying the levers

Back on a job in Portland last summer, my foreman Jim watched me feather the swing so slow on a pick he said, 'You're gonna burn out the brakes treating it like a teacup.' He had me run a 10-ton test pick at full speed and the load settled fine. Anyone else ever get called out for being too careful and found out the rough way works better?

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cooper.phoenix2mo ago

Ray's got a point, that load test was more about whether the thing would shift than the feathering damage. But I've seen guys run swing brakes feather-light for years without a hiccup, it's the constant in-and-out that really cooks the motor seals.

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ray8012mo ago

Haven't you got that mixed up a little? A 10-ton test pick at full speed wouldn't really tell you if the brakes are going to burn out from feathering. That's more about the swing motor overheating than stopping power.

3

riley_schmidt2mo ago

Yeah I heard some guys talking at a shop about how continuous feathering just cooks the swing motor hydraulics over time.

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