Can we talk about how everyone swears by the short suction pipe?

Overheard a guy in the Port of New Orleans last month bragging that his 12 foot suction line is all you ever need for harbor work. I ran a 20 footer on my Ellicott 370 for 8 years straight, and the difference in slurry flow is night and day when you hit a deep cut. Short pipe might save you on fuel, but it beats the bottom to death and kicks up fines that clog the discharge before you know it. Has anyone else switched back to a longer run after trying the short setup, or am I the only one who thinks the trend is backwards?

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gibson.robert28d ago

That line about it beating the bottom to death really hit home for me. I made the same mistake back in 2019 when everyone was talking up the short pipe on the Gulf Coast. Ran a 14 footer for a season and watched our draghead dig trenches so deep we had to rework the cut twice. The fines issue you mentioned is no joke either, we clogged the booster line three times in one month. Went back to my 18 footer and never looked back. A longer run gives the material room to stay in suspension, and honestly the fuel savings folks claim never showed up on our monthly reports anyway. You are not alone on this one.