Just realized my cutterhead is way more picky than I give it credit for

Three weeks ago out on Lake Martin, I ran through a section of sand and silt without changing my flow rate, and the cutterhead clogged up twice in one shift. My mentor always said to adjust for material changes, but I figured I knew better. How do you guys balance speed with reading the bottom ahead of time?

2 comments

2 Comments

wesleypatel19d ago

Blow through a spot of sand too fast and you'll learn the hard way like I did. Idk, it's funny how we always think we can read the bottom better than we actually can. I mean, I spent a whole season ignoring my flow meter because I thought I knew what I was doing, and then I hit this patch of mixed sand and gravel. Maybe it's just me, but I've started slowing down a bit when I see the color change in the water or feel the vibration through the controls. Took me way too long to learn that the cutterhead doesn't care about your pride, it just wants the right flow rate.

kim.emma19d ago

I read something from a dredge operator out in Louisiana once that kind of stuck with me. He said the bottom is alive, it shifts and changes every day, and you have to treat it with respect. That part about the color change in the water is spot on. I've noticed when it gets that milky brown tint, there's usually clay or silt mixed in and it can choke your line fast if you don't adjust. The vibration thing is real too, you feel that shudder and you know the cutterhead is working harder than it should. That meter is there for a reason, I guess we all learn that lesson one way or another.