Switched from a 6 inch to an 8 inch cutterhead last season and it changed my whole view

I always thought the bigger head on my old dredge was just asking for more wear and tear, more fuel burn for not much gain. My boss in Mobile pushed for the upgrade anyway. After running it for three months on a channel project, we were moving 30% more material per day with only a slight uptick in fuel. The bigger bite just plows through the clay and shell beds we get down here without bogging down. Anyone else made a switch like that and seen similar numbers?

2 comments

2 Comments

terryrobinson19d ago

Thirty percent more material for just a little extra fuel? That's the kind of math that makes you wonder why we ever ran the smaller heads. Did you track the wear on the teeth compared to before, or did the bigger cut just make everything last longer?

troy_knight9219d ago

Honestly thought it was just hype at first. But the wear on the teeth was way less, even with the extra material. Totally changed my mind on it.