That "quick fix" cutterhead trick saved me $2k in Tulsa

My cutterhead was clogging every 40 minutes on a sand job near the Arkansas river. My foreman said to just keep reversing, but that burned a full shift. I tried pulling the suction line and running water through the inspection port while slowly rotating the head. Took 15 minutes and cleared a packed buildup that would have meant a yard visit. Anyone else got a field trick for clearing clogs without pulling the whole ladder?

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taylor_young2mo ago

Man that water through the inspection port trick is gold. Had the same thing happen up by the Platte last summer, packed so tight we thought we'd have to torch it out. I rigged a garden hose to the port and ran it while I had the guy on the controls do a slow reverse for about 10 minutes. Stuff came out in chunks like wet concrete. Saved us from pulling the whole ladder and losing another half day.

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lindab492mo ago

Figure out the water pressure first, cause if your hose can't keep up with the pump, you're just pushing that packed mud deeper into the housing. I mean, we tried that same trick on a job down by the river and it made things worse, the chunks just wedged against the intake and locked everything solid. Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather spend the half day pulling the ladder than risk cracking the housing from the back pressure.

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