Finally got the suction right on the old 8-inch cutterhead in the Willamette silt

I mean, we were losing like 30% efficiency on the spoil line because the mix was too thick. Tried the usual stuff, adjusting the pump speed, nothing. Then I remembered an old timer saying to crack open the water injection valve just a hair more, like maybe a quarter turn past the manual's spec. Did that yesterday and the line cleared right up, no more clogs. Anyone else have a weird little trick for dealing with that super fine river silt?

2 comments

2 Comments

stellablack9d ago

Honestly, that fine silt is the worst. We had a similar thing on a job near the Sacramento, but with the screen on the shaker. That ultra-fine stuff just kept blinding it over, turning into a solid sheet. Someone had the idea to swap out one of the finer screen panels for a slightly coarser mesh, just on one side. It felt wrong, like we'd let material through, but it gave the silt a path to move instead of pack in. Ended up keeping the overall throughput way higher, even with that one panel change.

jamie_taylor9d agoMost Upvoted

Good point, @stellablack, though that's technically a scalping shaker, not a desander.