Was sure the new 'smart' bucket teeth were just a gimmick, but they saved my pump on the Lake Erie project last week.

Our company got a demo set of those sensor-equipped teeth that are supposed to alert you to abnormal wear. I figured it was just a way to charge more for a basic part. We put them on the cutterhead for a channel deepening job near Cleveland. The monitoring app pinged me on Wednesday with a high vibration alert on tooth #7. I pulled it, and the base was hairline cracked, right where it seats. If that had let go completely, it would've chewed up the suction line and cost us a full day, easy. The foreman who pushed for them just nodded and said 'told you so.' Has anyone else run into a situation where a piece of tech you doubted actually paid off?

3 comments

3 Comments

kai_bennett3mo agoMost Upvoted

That foreman's "told you so" moment is priceless. A full day is the direct downtime, but the domino effect on parts and schedule is the real killer. Tech that stops a small crack from becoming a big mess is worth the side-eye at first.

the_joel1mo ago

Man, that reminds me of when my brother insisted on putting one of those little wifi temperature sensors in his smoker. I told him it was a waste of money, just use the built in thermometer like everyone else. Well, he’s smoking a brisket for the Fourth of July and his phone goes off saying the temp inside dropped 40 degrees. Turns out the firebox damper had slid shut and he never would have known until the meat was ruined. He saved that whole cook and I had to eat crow with my beer in hand.

victor2193mo ago

You said it would've cost a full day, but a wrecked suction line sounds like way more downtime than that.