Remember when we used to do it all by feel and sound?

I ran a cutter suction dredge in the Gulf for 15 years before they put all those sensors and screens in the cabin. Took me three days to trust the digital flow meters over just listening to the pump and watching the discharge pipe shake.

4 comments

4 Comments

marybutler14d ago

Read somewhere that old-timers on the railroad could tell if a wheel bearing was failing just by the sound of the train going over a crossing. Had their windows down listening for it.

troyknight14d ago

Heard a retired engineer say they could hear a bad bearing from a quarter mile away.

hannah_wells14d ago

Is it really that deep though? I mean, maybe those guys were just bored and wanted to sound impressive. Could they really tell a bad bearing from a quarter mile away with any kind of accuracy?

abby_cooper14d ago

That's fair enough Hannah, but I've actually seen this kind of hearing test done firsthand. My old mentor could point out a bad wheel bearing on a freight train from about 500 feet away while we were working a job near the tracks. He'd hear this specific low rumble that changed pitch as the train slowed down. Not every old-timer can do it, but the ones who've spent decades around machinery develop ears like a surgeon's hands. Your average bored guy? No way. But a guy who's fixed bearings for 40 years? I'd bet money on him.