Old timer at the port told me my bucket angles were all off

After 3 years running the same dredge in Mobile Bay, a retired operator named Carl watched me for 5 minutes and said I was digging too steep, losing half my payload. He showed me how to flatten the angle by about 15 degrees and actually count the seconds on the swing. Now I'm pulling 30% more material per pass and burning less fuel. Has anyone else had a random veteran call out a bad habit you didn't notice?

2 comments

2 Comments

michaela161mo ago

...and here I thought my bucket angles were just fine because I'd been running the same spot for two years. Turns out I was basically scooping up more water than sand. Carl sounds like the kind of guy who could watch you for thirty seconds and diagnose a problem you spent months unknowingly creating. I had a similar moment with an old dredge hand up in the Pass - he pointed out I was rushing my swing because I was bored, not because it was efficient. Now I count Mississippi's under my breath like a kid in time out, but the fuel gauge doesn't lie.

wells.brooke1mo ago

Carl, the old bridge tender in Pascagoula, had me rethinking how I ran my bucket line after 30 years in the game. I used to think steeper was faster, but he was right - flattening out and timing the swing dropped my fuel burn by a solid 20 percent.