diff --git a/lib/bcoin/txdb.js b/lib/bcoin/txdb.js
index 42fee2b6..25192878 100644
--- a/lib/bcoin/txdb.js
+++ b/lib/bcoin/txdb.js
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ var assert = bcoin.utils.assert;
 var EventEmitter = require('events').EventEmitter;
 var DUMMY = new Buffer([0]);
 var pad32 = utils.pad32;
+var BufferReader = require('./reader');
+var BufferWriter = require('./writer');
 
 /**
  * TXPool
@@ -89,8 +91,8 @@ TXPool.prototype.getMap = function getMap(tx, callback) {
 };
 
 TXPool.prototype.mapAddresses = function mapAddresses(address, callback) {
-  var prefix = this.prefix + '/';
   var self = this;
+  var prefix = this.prefix + '/';
   var map = {};
   var iter;
 
@@ -152,29 +154,28 @@ TXPool.prototype.mapAddresses = function mapAddresses(address, callback) {
 
 TXPool.prototype._addOrphan = function _addOrphan(key, hash, index, callback) {
   var prefix = this.prefix + '/';
-  var orphans;
+  var p;
 
   this.db.get(prefix + 'o/' + key, function(err, buf) {
     if (err && err.type !== 'NotFoundError')
       return callback(err);
 
-    if (!buf)
-      buf = new Buffer([]);
+    p = new BufferWriter();
 
-    orphans = new Buffer(buf.length + 36);
-    utils.copy(buf, orphans, 0);
-    utils.copy(new Buffer(hash, 'hex'), orphans, buf.length);
-    utils.writeU32(orphans, index, buf.length + 32);
+    if (buf)
+      p.writeBytes(buf);
 
-    return callback(null, orphans);
+    p.writeHash(hash);
+    p.writeU32(index);
+
+    return callback(null, p.render());
   });
 };
 
 TXPool.prototype._getOrphans = function _getOrphans(key, callback) {
-  var prefix = this.prefix + '/';
   var self = this;
-  var orphans = [];
-  var i;
+  var prefix = this.prefix + '/';
+  var p, orphans;
 
   this.db.get(prefix + 'o/' + key, function(err, buf) {
     if (err && err.type !== 'NotFoundError')
@@ -183,14 +184,18 @@ TXPool.prototype._getOrphans = function _getOrphans(key, callback) {
     if (!buf)
       return callback();
 
-    for (i = 0; i < buf.length; i += 36) {
-      if (i + 36 > buf.length)
-        return callback(new Error('Incomplete orphan list.'));
+    p = new BufferReader(buf);
+    orphans = [];
 
-      orphans.push({
-        hash: utils.toHex(buf.slice(i, i + 32)),
-        index: utils.readU32(buf, i + 32)
-      });
+    try {
+      while (p.left()) {
+        orphans.push({
+          hash: p.readHash('hex'),
+          index: p.readU32()
+        });
+      }
+    } catch (e) {
+      return callback(e);
     }
 
     utils.forEach(orphans, function(orphan, next) {
@@ -933,8 +938,8 @@ TXPool.prototype._unconfirm = function unconfirm(tx, map, callback, force) {
 };
 
 TXPool.prototype.getTXHashes = function getTXHashes(address, callback) {
-  var prefix = this.prefix + '/';
   var self = this;
+  var prefix = this.prefix + '/';
   var txs = [];
   var iter;
 
@@ -996,8 +1001,8 @@ TXPool.prototype.getTXHashes = function getTXHashes(address, callback) {
 };
 
 TXPool.prototype.getPendingHashes = function getPendingHashes(address, callback) {
-  var prefix = this.prefix + '/';
   var self = this;
+  var prefix = this.prefix + '/';
   var txs = [];
   var iter;
 
@@ -1060,8 +1065,8 @@ TXPool.prototype.getPendingHashes = function getPendingHashes(address, callback)
 };
 
 TXPool.prototype.getCoinIDs = function getCoinIDs(address, callback) {
-  var prefix = this.prefix + '/';
   var self = this;
+  var prefix = this.prefix + '/';
   var coins = [];
   var iter;
 
diff --git a/lib/bcoin/workers.js b/lib/bcoin/workers.js
index 3743e179..3c9b4791 100644
--- a/lib/bcoin/workers.js
+++ b/lib/bcoin/workers.js
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ var HEADER_SIZE = 12;
  * Master
  */
 
-workers.MAX_WORKERS = +process.env.BCOIN_WORKERS || 30;
+workers.MAX_WORKERS = +process.env.BCOIN_WORKERS || 6;
 workers.TIMEOUT = 10000;
 workers.children = {};
 workers.uid = 0;