Foreman told me to grease the swing bearing every 40 hours, I thought he was joking

Laura Shah · 2026-09-03T09:40:05.041916+00:00

Been running a 20 inch cutterhead on the Fox River since March. Old foreman, 30 years in the trade, told me to hit the swing bearing grease fitting every 40 hours no matter what. I figured he was being overly careful, so I stretched it to maybe 80 or 100. Last month the bearing started making this low groan, then a squeal on the port swing. Had to pull the rig for 2 days and replace the bearing, cost the company around $1,400 in parts and lost time. He just looked at me and said 'grease is cheap, bearings are not.' Has anyone else learned that lesson the hard way with a maintenance interval they skipped?

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Foreman told me to grease the swing bearing every 40 hours, I thought he was joking | Dredge Operators - SMM Buzz