That weird buildup in the ladder tubes on my barge last week

I was running a cutterhead dredge on the Mississippi near Baton Rouge last Tuesday, and I noticed my ladder wasn't retracting smooth. Pulled it up to check and found this thick crusty layer inside the hydraulic tubes. Looked like some kind of sediment mixed with old oil. My buddy Mike who's been doing this 15 years said it's from not flushing the system after a big sand run. He showed me how to use a pressure washer attachment to clear it out in about 20 minutes. Saved me from having to pull the whole ladder and replace seals which would've cost like 800 bucks. Has anyone else seen this kind of gunk build up in their equipment?

3 comments

3 Comments

riveradams8d ago

Oh man, that exact stuff showed up in my loader's boom lines last fall. I mean, a good pressure wash after heavy sand work is basically a must now, it's wild how fast that gunk cakes up.

blake6918d ago

Pressure washing seals are a real pain to deal with if you blast them wrong, but there's a trick nobody talks about. If you spray a little bit of diesel fuel on the boom fittings before you wash, it helps break down that sticky sand dust without wrecking the rubber. I had a machine where the boom cylinders were pitted from trapped grit, and a diesel bath once a month kept the seals from drying out. Just don't let it sit overnight or the rubber gets soft. Works better than any soap I've tried for that hardpacked sand residue.

finley7298d ago

Pressure washing is great and all, but be careful not to blast the seals out. In my experience, a gentle low-pressure rinse first to loosen the grit, then a quick spray to get the rest, works way better than going full blast from the get go.