Shoutout to the crew that switched from a 4-inch to a 6-inch cutterhead on our old ladder dredge

We were working a sand bar on the Ohio River, pulling maybe 80 cubic yards an hour and fighting constant clogs. The boss brought in a new 6-inch head about three months back. The first week was rough, adjusting the swing speed and pump pressure. Now we're clearing over 120 yards an hour with half the downtime. Has anyone else seen a jump like that just from a cutterhead change?

3 comments

3 Comments

parker_campbell4d ago

Wow, that's a huge jump. I read a case study from a gravel operation that did the same switch on a smaller dredge. They talked about the bigger head letting them take a fuller cut without bogging down, so the swing speed could actually increase. Their production went up almost 40 percent, just like yours. Makes total sense.

wren_smith444d ago

My old truck got way faster after a bigger air filter.

faith_lopez484d ago

Whoa, that gravel operation story really proves it works.