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Serious question, why does everyone swear by the 8-inch cutter head for river silt?
We ran a 6-inch head on the Ohio River last Tuesday and cleared 50% more material than the crew using the bigger one, because we weren't fighting the drag and could actually maintain suction.
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brooke5207mo ago
Depends on the silt type honestly. We had that same argument on the Missouri until we hit a patch of dense, sandy silt. The 6-inch head just couldn't get a bite and kept stalling out, while the 8-inch kept pulling. Your Ohio River silt might be that perfect loose slurry where a smaller head wins. Bigger isn't always better if you're just fighting the machine all day.
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wells.miles6mo ago
Yeah, that's the truth right there lol. My crew still gives me grief for that one time I insisted on the bigger head in what turned out to be basically soup. Spent half the shift just cleaning out the intake, felt like I was running a really expensive, angry blender. Sometimes you just have to admit the river's smarter than you are.
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the_leo7mo ago
Ever feel like the river just laughs at your equipment choices? Our 8-inch head is basically a boat anchor in anything but thick silt, so I get the appeal of downsizing. Guess we're all just guessing until the mud starts flying.
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