Heard a foreman on the Ohio River say something that shifted my whole approach to cutterhead maintenance

I was swapping out a cutterhead on a job near Paducah last Tuesday and this older foreman walked by and goes 'you're scrubbing that thing too clean, leave the silt in the threads.' I always thought you had to get every bit of mud off or it would seize up. But he explained the silt actually protects the threads from rust and makes the next swap smoother. Has anyone else heard this trick or am I the only one who was over cleaning?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenixw1123d ago

Reminds me of how people strip all the seasoning off cast iron pans cause they think clean means shiny. Sometimes that layer of grime is doing the real work, just like the silt.

lindag3323d ago

Wait, you're telling me there are people who actually OVER-clean their cutterheads? That blows my MIND - all this time I've been scrubbing like a madman trying to get every speck off.

grays1323d ago

Don't you think the folks making those maintenance manuals just copy the same instructions without ever actually working the equipment? It's wild how much practical knowledge gets lost because nobody questions the official way of doing things.