Switched to a longer cutterhead and the vibe changed overnight

Honestly, I ran the same 24-inch cutterhead for like 5 seasons on my 8-inch dredge in the lower Missouri near St. Charles. Last month I swapped to a 30-inch with deeper teeth just to try something different, and the suction got way more consistent. I thought it would bog down the pump, but instead it chewed through that packed clay and gravel mix without the constant plugging. My helper even said it sounded smoother, almost like the whole ladder stopped vibrating as bad. Learned that matching cutterhead size to the material, not just the pump rating, matters more than I figured. Anyone else run a bigger head than the manual suggests, or did I get lucky with the setup?

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patb8624d ago

Told my buddy Larry about your swap, and he said the same thing happened on his 10-inch dredge up in Minnesota when he went two inches bigger on the head. He figured the extra bite just kept the material moving steady instead of letting it stall out, and he never went back.