Found out how much sediment we actually move per hour and it changed my whole approach

I was digging through the manual for our Ellicott 370 last week, just trying to figure out a weird pressure reading. Stumbled on a chart that showed our average production rate in cubic yards per hour for different material types. Turns out when we're hitting sticky clay, we're only moving about 60% of what I thought we were. All this time I've been telling the foreman we're good for 200 yards an hour when really we're pushing maybe 120 in those conditions. Made me realize I need to adjust my estimates for job bids way more depending on the soil report. Has anyone else cross-checked their actual output against the spec sheets on their rig?

3 comments

3 Comments

oliviabutler9d ago

Yeah I just trust the book numbers now like I trust my own math after three coffees which is not at all.

angelamurphy9d ago

That thing about the clay really hits home... I checked our 370's specs against actual output last month on a mixed sand and gravel project and found the same kind of gap. The manual says we should be hitting around 180 yards an hour in that material, but with the fines and compaction we were barely cracking 100. Turns out the spec sheets assume perfect conditions and no downtime for cutterhead cleaning. Once I started tracking real production against the charts, I stopped guessing and started adjusting bids by at least 30 percent when the soil report shows anything with high plasticity. It's embarrassing how long I just trusted the numbers in the book without running any actual comparisons.

sanchez.ivan9d ago

...and the other thing nobody talks about is how the production charts don't account for the learning curve with a new operator. We swapped guys halfway through a job last spring, went from a guy who'd been running trenchers for 15 years to a kid fresh out of a two week training course. The spec sheet said 120 yards an hour on that sandy loam. With the experienced guy we were getting maybe 90. With the new kid we were lucky to hit 50. Ended up losing money on that contract because I bid it based on the book numbers and didn't factor in what happens when somebody's still figuring out where the jam points are.