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Cutterhead chain snapped on a 24 inch Ellicott last Monday in Mobile Bay
Had to fish the pieces out of 15 feet of mud with a grapple claw after I tried pushing through a buried log, has anyone else dealt with that kind of hidden debris or did I just get unlucky down here?
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casey_lane732h ago
...the mud is the worst part, man. I had the same thing happen on a 18 inch cutterhead in the Gulfport ship channel a few years back. We were chewing through what we thought was just soft silt and then BAM, chain just let go. Turns out there was a whole buried concrete pier foundation from way back, nobody knew it was there. We spent two days with a grapple claw too, feels like you're playing the world's worst game of Operation. You didn't get unlucky, this stuff is just everywhere down here, especially near old wreckage or landfill.
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hugo_hayes1h ago
...and what @casey_lane73 said about old landfill is spot on, the Mobile Bay area is basically a trash pit under all that silt. We pulled up pieces of an old wooden ship, some rebar, and a car bumper on that same job, so you're definitely not alone. It's like the seabed is playing hide and seek with your cutterhead, and you always lose.
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