Blew a hydraulic line on the Mississippi last Tuesday and learned a hard lesson

I was running a cutterhead near mile marker 300 when a fitting let go and sprayed oil everywhere like a fountain. Had to shut down for 4 hours waiting on a welder to patch it, cost me about $800 in lost time. Any of you guys carry spare hoses for every connection on your dredge or just the common ones?

3 comments

3 Comments

grant.nina2mo ago

Used to think spare hoses were overkill till a blowout cost me a whole shift.

paul3462mo ago

Totally agree with @grant.nina, one blowout taught me the same lesson the hard way. Now I keep at least two spare hoses for every machine I run. It's cheap insurance compared to losing an entire day of work.

troythompson23d agoTop Commenter

Paul346, you're not wrong about keeping backups, but two spares per machine? That's a lot of inventory to lug around. One good spare for each common size usually covers me, and I just order a replacement for whatever blew the same day.