Serious question, why does everyone swear by the 8-inch cutter head for river silt?

We ran a 6-inch head on the Ohio River last Tuesday and cleared 50% more material than the crew using the bigger one, because we weren't fighting the drag and could actually maintain suction.

3 comments

3 Comments

brooke52024d ago

Depends on the silt type honestly. We had that same argument on the Missouri until we hit a patch of dense, sandy silt. The 6-inch head just couldn't get a bite and kept stalling out, while the 8-inch kept pulling. Your Ohio River silt might be that perfect loose slurry where a smaller head wins. Bigger isn't always better if you're just fighting the machine all day.

wells.miles20d ago

Yeah, that's the truth right there lol. My crew still gives me grief for that one time I insisted on the bigger head in what turned out to be basically soup. Spent half the shift just cleaning out the intake, felt like I was running a really expensive, angry blender. Sometimes you just have to admit the river's smarter than you are.

the_leo24d ago

Ever feel like the river just laughs at your equipment choices? Our 8-inch head is basically a boat anchor in anything but thick silt, so I get the appeal of downsizing. Guess we're all just guessing until the mud starts flying.