Shoutout to the guy who told me to switch from cable to hydraulic dredge controls

I ran cable controls on my Ellicott 270 for like 8 years, thought it was fine. Got talked into trying a hydraulic setup on a job near Baton Rouge last fall and man, the precision is night and day. My swing speed adjustment went from guessing to actual smooth cuts, saved me about 2 hours per shift on cleanup. Anyone else made that switch and noticed a big difference in cycle times?

2 comments

2 Comments

lisa_jones2115d agoMost Upvoted

The difference in cycle times is real you just dont realize how much you were fighting that cable lag until you switch. I ran cables for about 5 years on a smaller dredge and the first week with hydraulics I kept overcorrecting because my brain was used to that delay. The biggest thing for me was the swing curve staying consistent through the whole cut instead of having to feather it every time the load changed. One thing nobody tells you though is watch your hydraulic oil temps on those long summer days, they can spike fast if you are running aggressive cuts and that will kill your precision just as fast as a worn cable. The cleanup savings sounds about right too, I cut my rehandle time by almost half once I got the feel for it.

johnson.lee15d ago

Hit @lisa_jones21 right on the head about those hydraulic oil temps, I blew a seal my second week learning because I was pushing too hard during an August heat wave in Alabama. Worth throwing a cooler on the return line if your rig didn't come with one, it'll save you from losing half a shift to flushing and refilling. The swing curve consistency is what sold me too, once you get that muscle memory down you can practically run the cut blind.