Looking through an old dredging manual from the 70s and the fuel numbers are wild

Found my grandpa's copy of 'Practical Dredging' and it said a standard cutterhead could burn 200 gallons an hour... that's more than our whole crew uses in a day now. Makes you think about how much quieter and cleaner the new electric drives are. Anyone else come across an old stat that just stopped you cold?

4 comments

4 Comments

taraross1mo ago

200 gallons an hour? That can't be right...

angelarivera2mo ago

Old gear was built to last, not to save fuel. Those old burn rates got the job done in brutal conditions. Sometimes raw power beats efficiency.

rowanhernandez2mo ago

Totally get that mindset from working on old farm equipment. The sheer torque from those engines could pull through mud that would stall modern stuff. You just accept the fuel bill as part of the deal for that kind of reliability.

-1

west.casey2mo ago

Nah, that old gear wasted so much fuel for no real gain. Modern stuff gets the job done just fine without burning cash.