Question about clearing tree roots from our creek dredge site

Our local council hired us to dredge Miller's Creek after last spring's floods. The bottom has decades-old tree roots from eroded banks. When we run the dredge, roots wrap around the cutter and stall the engine. I got tired of pulling it apart, so I rigged up a coarse steel mesh from an old fence panel. I bolted it to the front of the suction head. It catches roots over an inch thick but lets silt through. We clean it a few times a day, and it has cut our cleanup time in half. Maybe this could help others in woody areas.

3 comments

3 Comments

robin3938h ago

We used to use scrap conveyor belt strips on our old suction dredge for the same problem. If you can find an old truck tire sidewall or a piece of thick rubber mat, cutting fingers or slots into it can let water through but shred roots before they can wrap. The steel mesh is smart for catching them whole, but a heavy rubber curtain right before the intake might reduce how often you have to stop and clean.

the_ivan5h ago

Cutting fingers into rubber works, but curve them inward to shred roots way better before they hit the mesh.

the_gray5h ago

Man, that is such a huge headache to deal with. I've spent way too many hours up to my elbows pulling wet, slimy root wads out of a pump intake. The way they just wrap and bind everything up is the worst. Your idea about curving the fingers inward is really smart, it gets at the root of the problem, pun sort of intended. That pre-shredding step would save so much time and cursing.