Old timer in Galveston corrected my swing angle, saved 3 hours a day

I ran a cutterhead in the ship channel for 8 years and never questioned my swing speed. This retired guy from the Army Corps watched me for ten minutes and said my angle was too steep, digging into the bank instead of letting the current sweep material. He made me drop the ladder, slow the swing, and let the cutter bite a shallow, consistent pass. First full shift after that, I cut 40% less rework and my side winch cable stopped snapping. I fought him at first because it felt like I was barely moving, but the production numbers didn't lie. Anyone else get a random stranger's advice that ended up making their whole setup easier?

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ray_miller4129d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy down in Port Arthur had this exact thing happen with a tugboat captain. He was running a crane barge, and this old timer just walks up during a lunch break and says his boom angle was fighting the tide. Made him raise it maybe 10 degrees and shorten his cable drop. My buddy said he thought the guy was full of it, but by the end of the week he was using half the fuel and his lines weren't chafing against the deck edge anymore. He still talks about that guy like he was some kind of wizard. It's funny how you can do something for years and one random dude just sees it different.