Ditched the old cable arm for a spud instead on my 20-inch cutter in Mobile Bay

Had a choice between running a clamshell bucket or switching to a spud dredge setup for this tight channel job. Picked the spud and it cut my repositioning time by almost half, but man did it beat up my hull hard on the third day.

3 comments

3 Comments

taylor_young24d ago

That spud beat up your hull bad on day three" is exactly what I was wondering about. Nobody talks about how a spud setup can turn your hull into a punching bag in tight spots, especially when the bottom is uneven. I've seen guys switch back to cable arms just because the constant pounding cracked their plating on a 16-inch job. The time savings are real but you gotta check your hull thickness before you commit to that setup in Mobile Bay.

miles94616d ago

You ever try those rubber spud bumpers to take some of the edge off?

grantschmidt24d ago

Man, I feel that one. I ran a spud on a 20-inch in the Delta a few years back and it beat the hell out of my hull too. You gotta weld on some extra wear plates before you even think about starting, thick ones, like half inch at least. And check your rocker panels or whatever else is sticking down, because that constant banging will find every weak spot you got. The time savings are sweet until you're patching cracks every other week, that's for sure.