My boss told me to run the cutterhead at 12 rpm in that thick clay, and it worked

We were digging a channel near Mobile and the bucket was just clogging every pass. He said to drop the speed way down from our usual 18, and after an hour the whole operation smoothed out. Anyone have a different trick for heavy material?

2 comments

2 Comments

brookes3722d ago

Ever try a little water injection right at the cutter? We had a stubborn stretch of gumbo up in Tennessee and a small pump on the deck made all the difference. It just kept things from sticking long enough to get a clean cut. Slowing the head down like your boss said was key too, it gives the material time to clear.

nina_butler22d ago

Wait, water injection on a cutter head? That sounds like a recipe for turning everything into a slick, muddy mess. In my experience, gumbo sticks worse when it gets wet because it turns into that perfect sticky clay. We had way more luck using a dry lubricant like powdered lime sprayed right at the cutting face. It coats the gumbo and keeps it from bonding to the steel.