Had a long talk with an old timer at the yard yesterday

Guy named Don, been dredging since the 80s, told me I was running my cutterhead way too fast for soft clay. Said I was just churning the bottom instead of cutting it. Made me think, how do you guys figure out the right RPM for different bottom types?

3 comments

3 Comments

ruby_rivera7621d ago

Don's right about slowing down in clay but he's a little off on the why. You're not just churning it, you're actually packing the material against the cutterhead and losing all your bite.

finleyf8821d ago

My buddy Mike packed his cutterhead so bad in red clay last spring it took him two hours with a pressure washer to clean it out, exactly what @ruby_rivera76 described.

rose_hart20d ago

Oh man, I've been there with the packed cutterhead nightmare. You gotta feel the vibration through the controls more than watch the RPM gauge. In soft clay, I drop my RPMs way down and increase my swing speed a bit. That way you're actually slicing ribbons off the bottom instead of mashing it into a paste. If you see the discharge pressure start climbing but the flow drops off, you're packing it and need to back off or lift up. Don's got the right instinct just not the full explanation. Trust the feel of the machine more than the numbers and you'll figure it out quick.