Pro tip: I read a thing about checking your ladder pump seals before the cold hits

Claire Jenkins · 2026-03-16T10:00:18.756019+00:00

I was flipping through an old issue of 'Dredging Today' at the dentist's office, and there was a short bit from a guy who ran a cutter suction dredge up on the Great Lakes. He said he makes it a point to check and grease the ladder pump shaft seals every single week once the water temp drops below 50 degrees. He wrote, 'The cold makes the seals brittle fast, and a small leak turns into a big pump-down real quick.' It got me thinking... I usually just do a visual check at the start of a shift. But last winter, we did lose a whole afternoon on the Columbia because a seal let go and we had to pull the pump. Maybe doing a proper hands-on check with fresh grease is worth the ten minutes it takes. Has anyone else set up a specific cold-weather check for their pump seals?

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Pro tip: I read a thing about checking your ladder pump seals before the cold hits | Dredge Operators - Talk Freely