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The old timer who showed me to let the cutterhead do the work instead of pushing | Dredge Operators - Chatter Central

The old timer who showed me to let the cutterhead do the work instead of pushing

I spent my first few years on a dredge just jamming the ladder down and pushing through everything. Thought that was how you got the job done fast. Then this guy named Mike who retired a few years back took me out on a job near the Sacramento River delta. He watched me for maybe 10 minutes and told me I was wearing out my pumps for nothing. He showed me how to ease up on the swing speed and let the cutterhead chew its way through instead of forcing it. I was skeptical but tried it on a thick clay patch we had been fighting. The solids flow actually got more consistent and I didn't have to stop and clear clogs every 20 minutes. Felt like cheating honestly. Has anyone else had a moment where slowing down actually made the whole operation faster?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_elliot4mo ago

Yeah Mike knew what he was talking about. That whole "let the cutterhead do the work" thing took me a while to get too. I used to think faster swing speed meant more production but all it did was beat up the pump and the lines. Once you get the feel for the right bite size and let the material break up on its own you end up with way less downtime. It's counter-intuitive but it saves money in the long run especially on wear parts.

verawhite3mo ago

I ran a dredge for 12 years on the Mississippi and I gotta say I disagree with this. We tried the whole slow and easy approach and it cost us a whole season of production. The cutterhead lets you take bigger bites if you run the swing speed up. Our pump never had issues because we kept a close eye on the vacuum and adjusted. Slow swings just let the material settle back down before you get it in the suction. We had a guy who insisted on the old school way and his loads were always smaller. I'd rather replace wear parts every other year than leave money in the bottom.

susan_bell4mo ago

That reminds me of this guy I used to work with on the old pullboat we had, Tommy. He had this way of swinging the boom that looked almost lazy, you know? Real slow and easy. I asked him about it once and he said the current was like a partner, not a enemy. He'd let the river push the bucket just enough to grab the bottom and then lift. Took me a season to get the hang of it, but once I did my load times got way better. Same idea I guess, fighting it makes everything harder.

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