My cutterhead jammed up on a job in Savannah last Tuesday

I was working a small channel dredge near the river mouth and hit a mass of old rope and fishing net. The cutterhead just stopped spinning, no warning at all. I had to reverse the swing and bring the ladder up to clear it, which took about 2 hours. Lost half the day on a 400 yard stretch. Anyone else deal with debris like that and find a quicker way to clear it?

2 comments

2 Comments

wendyw715d ago

Yeah but you're looking at this all wrong. That 2 hour cleanup probably saved you from a much worse situation down the line like tearing up your cutterhead bearings or snapping a drive chain. Dirty water with rope and netting is just part of the job, you can't avoid it in Savannah or any other coastal dredge spot. Next time try running the cutterhead in reverse for a few seconds before you bring the ladder up, sometimes that'll loosen the wrap enough to pull it off with a grapple hook from the deck. Honestly though I'd rather lose half a day than deal with a repair bill that eats up a whole week's profit.

nelson.gavin5d ago

Two hours just for cleanup? Man, that's brutal. I've seen guys in the yard spend almost that long just trying to get a seized cutterhead spinning again after a bad wrap. You're totally right about the reverse trick though, that little move has saved my bacon more than once when I've been tangled up in old fishing line.