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Overheard a young guy at the supply dock say old dredges are just junk. Got me thinking. | Dredge Operators - Thought Shares

diana512•4mo ago

Overheard a young guy at the supply dock say old dredges are just junk. Got me thinking.

I was picking up some wire rope down at the Port of Long Beach last Tuesday, and this kid maybe 25 years old was telling his buddy our old Ellicott 8-inch is basically a dinosaur. Said it's all about the hydraulic dredges now, no point keeping that 'antique' running. I just nodded and paid for my stuff, but on the drive back I remembered pulling 12 hour shifts on that same machine back in '98 during the harbor deepening project. It's still got plenty of life if you know how to treat it. Anyone else have a machine folks told you to scrap that still does the job?

3 comments

3 Comments

wren6384mo ago

Why's everyone making sense except the guy who actually owns a fuel barge, @wood.eric?

the_jennifer4mo ago

Funny how the guys who never had to rebuild a swing cable on a leaking barge at 3am are the ones calling stuff junk. That old Ellicott might shake like a washing machine full of bolts, but you can fix every damn thing on it with a welder and some patience. New hydraulic stuff is great until a computer board fries and you're waiting three weeks on a part from Germany. Really wonder if that kid's ever had to actually keep something running past the warranty date.

wood.eric4mo ago

lol "patience" is code for "I've accepted that my equipment breaks down every other shift." Look man, I get it, old iron has its charm. But that Ellicott you're propping up probably burns more fuel in a day than those new hydraulics use in a week. And sure, a fried board sucks, but you know what also sucks? Spending half your shift welding up a swing cable that snapped because it's been rusting since 1987. That kid might never have patched a leaky barge, but he also probably hasn't had to cancel a job because his machine decided to scatter its guts across the river at 2am.