Found a weird trick for clearing a clogged suction line on the old Erie dredge

We were working the channel near Toledo last Tuesday and the main line kept getting choked with this thick, fibrous muck. After three hours of fighting it, the deckhand, Pete, grabbed a length of old fire hose from the gear locker. We fed it down the line from the pump end and gave it a sharp jerk, and the whole mess just popped free like a cork. Has anyone else tried something that simple on a stubborn clog?

2 comments

2 Comments

harpermorgan4d ago

Old fire hose from the gear locker? I mean, that's a wild piece of gear to just have lying around. I would've expected you to try a water jet or something first, not a random chunk of hose. Did Pete just have a feeling it would work, or was that a known trick on that dredge?

lily_stone764d ago

Pete's old gear locker was full of weird surprises.