Pro tip: don't cheap out on cutterhead teeth like I did

I bought a set of off-brand teeth for my 12-inch dredge off some sketchy site last spring. Saved maybe $150 compared to the good stuff... first day out on the Klamath River, two of them snapped off in the first hour. Had to pull the whole rig and swap back to my old worn ones. Anyone else had bad luck with generic cutterhead parts?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_susan26d ago

Saving money upfront just cost you double in downtime and lost gold, guarantee it.

emmawood26d ago

Respectfully, @williams.jenny, there's something to be said for not blowing your whole budget on fancy gear before you know if the hobby sticks. Sometimes a cheaper starter setup lets you figure out what you actually need instead of guessing wrong on the expensive stuff.

williams.jenny26d ago

@the_susan nailed it. Sounds like you learned the HARD way that cheap teeth are just expensive scrap metal. My buddy tried the same deal with some generic ones off eBay, snapped three in a muddy stretch of the Feather River in like 45 minutes. Had to spend the rest of the day swapping parts instead of digging gold. Nothing like paying double for the PRIVILEGE of doing extra work, right?