My old cutter bar seized up on me during a job in Norfolk last month

I was working a small channel dredge near Norfolk harbor and about 3 hours in my cutter bar just locked up solid. The grease fitting was clogged and I hadn't checked it in like 2 weeks because I got lazy. Had to tow back to the dock and lost half a day pulling the whole thing apart. The shop guy told me I should be purging the old grease out every 40 hours minimum not just topping it off. Cost me $180 in labor and a new seal kit to get it running again. Now I keep a logbook and mark every grease point check on the hour meter. Has anyone else had a cutter bar seize from not flushing the old grease out enough?

2 comments

2 Comments

hugo_coleman281d ago

YEAH that exact thing happened to me on a drainage job near Yarmouth last fall! I was being lazy too just topping off the zerk fittings every few days. The old grease got hard as a rock and the bearing spun inside the housing. I ended up with a trashed seal and a bent shaft. Cost me way more than your fix, something like $350 for parts and I had to wait 3 days for a new bearing to ship. Now I run it till I see fresh grease squeeze out the sides EVERY time before I start a job.

iris_dixon911d ago

My neighbor had a similar thing happen with his excavator's swing bearing... he was just greasing the fittings and never checked if the old stuff was coming out. Ended up with a bearing that looked like it had tar packed around it instead of grease. Now he keeps a grease gun in the cab and does a full purge every time he starts the machine.