TIL a 3/8-inch cutter chain beats a 1/2-inch on a 12-inch dredge hose in rocky ground

I spent a whole day swapping chains on my suction dredge near the Rogue River last week. The 1/2-inch kept getting pinched on the rocks and slowing me down to a crawl (like 10 minutes per cleanup). Switched to a 3/8-inch cutter and got through the same spot in half the time with way less stress. Anyone else run into this issue with coarser material?

3 comments

3 Comments

park.miles16d ago

Man I felt this in my lower back, my chain swap game is basically just me cussing at rocks while my buddies watch and laugh. Switched to a 3/8 last summer on a similar setup and it felt like cheating, just chewed right through the rubble without that constant binding. Still managed to drop the wrench in the creek twice though, so maybe the universe balances these things out.

karencampbell16d ago

@park.miles nailed it, dropping the wrench is basically a rite of passage with these setups. I learned the hard way to keep a spare 3/8 chain in my truck because once you figure out the binding issue on rocky ground, you won't want to go back. Also try running a bit more water pressure through the hose when you hit those pinch points, it helps keep the chain tracking straight through the bottom of the cut.

hugos4616d ago

Have you tried keeping a cheap magnetic parts tray on your tailgate for that wrench? I do the same thing with a spare 3/8 chain like @karencampbell mentioned, and it saved me more than once when the binding got bad on shale. The water pressure trick is spot on too, I crank the hose up just a hair when I hit a pocket of clay and the chain rides way smoother through the bottom. That dropped wrench thing is just part of the deal though, I've lost two to a muddy hole on the same job site.