Shoutout to the old timer who saved me from a clogged cutterhead near Baton Rouge

I was out on a job about 6 months ago, running a 12-inch cutterhead on a hydraulic dredge near the Mississippi river. Got a call on the radio from this veteran operator who had been doing it for 40 years. He told me to reduce my swing speed by half and add a little more water to the slurry mix. I did what he said and the suction picked up way smoother, no clog at all. Has anyone else gotten a random tip from an experienced hand that changed how you run your gear?

2 comments

2 Comments

xena_fox392d ago

Well, a 12-inch cutterhead on a hydraulic dredge is awfully small for river work, sure it wasn't a little bigger? Good advice from the old hand though, that swing speed trick is gold.

umamartin2d ago

Did you try adjusting the swing speed even a little slower than normal? On a similar job I found that cutting the swing speed in half stopped the cavitation issues and let the cutterhead actually grab the sediment. That small change made a big difference in how much material we were moving per hour.