Switched from cable to hydraulic dredge controls and wish I'd done it years ago

I ran a cable operated dredge for about 12 years before I finally tried a hydraulic setup on a job down near Mobile last month. The difference in fine control around buried utilities was night and day, my cutterhead didn't jump around near as much. Has anyone else made that switch and found it worth the extra maintenance?

2 comments

2 Comments

jade2711mo ago

Man that sounds like a game changer for sure. Running cable for over a decade has got to be rough on the nerves near utilities. Glad you finally got to try the hydraulic side, it's nice when something actually lives up to the hype.

bell.taylor1mo ago

Oh man you hit the nail on the head! The nerve wracking part is when you're digging near gas lines or power feeds, one wrong move and you're in a world of trouble. I learned the hard way to always call 811 before you even think about breaking ground, no matter how small the job seems. Another thing that helped me was marking everything with flags and spray paint, then taking pics so you have a record just in case. If you're ever dealing with a tricky spot near utilities, go slow and hand dig the first foot or so to be safe. Trust me, it adds time but saves a massive headache later.