Appreciation post: the old rope cradle method for soft bottoms

Been running a dredge near Galveston for 20 years now, and every spring I see new guys rig their cutterhead with chains because that's what the manual says. I keep telling them, on shifting sand or mud, a simple rope cradle spreads the load way better, and it won't scar the bottom like chain links do. Last month we pulled a 14-foot section out of a channel that had been chewed up by someone's metal setup, and the ecosystem there is still patchy. That rope trick costs maybe $40 in line versus $300 for chain, and it's quieter too, you can hear the pump better. Why did everybody stop using it, or is it just a Gulf Coast thing that never caught on elsewhere?

0 comments

0 Comments

No comments yet

Be the first to share your thoughts on this discussion.