That weird vibration on the old Erie dredge finally made sense

Three years back, I was running a cutter suction dredge on the Erie Canal. Felt a low hum in the deck plates for weeks. Couldn't pin it down. Then we pulled the pump for a scheduled wear check. Found a single, fist-sized rock jammed between an impeller vane and the suction liner. It was just bouncing, not grinding. The hum was the exact frequency of the pump RPM. Never ignored a new vibration after that. Anyone else had a weird noise turn out to be something simple but easy to miss?

4 comments

4 Comments

jamie_adams2mo ago

Wow, I used to think vibrations were just normal until a story like this changed my mind.

caseythompson1d ago

My buddy had a similar vibration that turned out to be a loose heat shield.

-1

the_sam2mo ago

Ever hear a weird hum from a loose bolt?

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caseythompson2mo ago

Loose bolts can make some really strange noises, like the hum @the_sam mentioned. It's crazy how a tiny part can shake the whole car and sound like a ghost. You really have to track down every little rattle before it turns into a bigger problem.