That old timer at the Wando River dock changed my mind about cutterheads

Had a chat with a guy who's been dredging since the 80s and he said the new carbide-toothed cutterheads actually wear down faster in heavy clay than the old hardened steel ones do. First time I heard someone with real field experience talk against the new tech - what cutter setup do you guys run for tough clay?

2 comments

2 Comments

colemiller2d ago

I read that same thing in a dredging trade blog a few months back, some engineer from Texas A&M was saying the carbide teeth lose their edge faster once you hit that sticky blue clay because the impact is less forgiving than steel that can flex a little. My buddy runs a 20 inch hydraulic dredge on the Mississippi and he swears by the old forged steel heads with a wider tooth spacing for clay, says the carbide ones just clog up and wear uneven no matter how good they are. The old timer must have been around for a lot of jobs to see that pattern firsthand.

dakotaknight2d ago

Fair enough, but I've seen carbide hold up way better in those clays once you dial in the water pressure right, the clogging is usually more about the operator not adjusting flow than the teeth themselves.