theajohnson•8d agoProlific Poster

Guys keep ignoring the pump packing gland on their old ladder dredges

I've been running a 12 inch cutterhead dredge on the Columbia for about 15 years now. The thing I see most often with new operators is they let the packing gland on the main pump get too loose. They think a little drip is fine, but then it wears the shaft sleeve way faster. I had to replace a sleeve on my machine last season after just 800 hours because the gland was too loose and let grit in. It cost me nearly $2,000 in parts and a full day of downtime. A proper gland should have a slight weep, not a steady stream. Tighten it a quarter turn at a time until it's just a few drops a minute. Anyone else run into this and have a better trick for getting it set right?

3 comments

3 Comments

daniela858d ago

Remember the old guy who ran the dredge "River Queen" back in the 90s. He swore by using a dab of grease from the zerk fitting on the gland threads before you snug it down. Said it gave you a smoother feel for that last quarter turn. Never tried it myself, but he ran that machine for thirty years without a sleeve change. Makes you wonder about the old tricks.

mark_green8d ago

Let it run loose and just replace sleeves.

abby_martinez8d ago

Honestly, sounds like a lot of guys think that drip is just the pump crying about its job.