Almost lost my cutterhead in the Mississippi last Thursday.

I was working a job near Baton Rouge, pulling sand from a tight channel, and my swing cable snapped without warning. The whole ladder started drifting sideways toward a submerged tree trunk I couldn't see from the cab. I killed the pump and dropped the spud fast, but the vibration from that trunk hitting the cutterhead was like a freight train. Had to call a dive crew to untangle us, cost me $1,200 and a full day. Anyone else ever had a cable go mid-cut and have to think on their feet?

2 comments

2 Comments

nina_jenkins17d ago

Goodness, $1,200 for a dive crew is rough. That shaking from hitting a hidden trunk would have scared me half to death.

sullivan.finley17d ago

Oh man, $1,200 just to find a trunk of junk underwater? That stings. And hitting something hidden like that mid-dive would have my heart pounding right through my wetsuit. I'd be swimming back up so fast, no way I'm sticking around to see what else is down there.