Changed my mind about running cutterhead speed at max all the time

I used to run my dredge cutterhead at full throttle thinking it cleared material faster, but last week on the Missouri River I noticed my slurry density kept dropping and I was burning through teeth. A older operator on site showed me how backing it down 15% let the pump work better and actually moved more dirt per hour. Has anyone else seen better production by slowing the cutter down?

3 comments

3 Comments

hernandez.gavin7d ago

Same thing happened to me on the Green River. Slower is smoother.

iris_barnes877d ago

Wait, you mean slowing down actually makes things smoother on the Green River? I used to be all about trying to power through faster when I hit rough spots on the water, thought I was saving time or something. But after a few trips where I just ended up tired and frustrated, I started paying more attention to folks like @hernandez.gavin and it finally clicked. Last time out on the river, I forced myself to take it easy on a tough section and everything felt ten times more controlled, I barely splashed at all. Kinda changed my whole approach to paddling, no joke.

henry_anderson547d ago

Totally feel you man, that moment when it clicks feels like a whole new world opens up on the water. Slowing down really does make everything way more controlled, it's wild how much smoother things get when you stop fighting the current.