Just switched from a 6-inch to an 8-inch cutterhead on my suction dredge for a river job near Pittsburgh.
The 8-inch head moved almost double the material in the same time, cutting my project schedule by a full week, so what's the biggest upgrade you've made to your setup that paid off?
Glad the bigger head is working out, but that's a cutterhead, not a suction head. The suction head is the part that sits on the riverbed. Swapping the actual pump and power unit to handle the bigger hose was the real game changer for me, way more than just the nozzle size.
But the visible upgrade is what lets you do the job at all. A bigger cutterhead moves way more material, period. Without that, the better pump just pushes water faster. You need both parts working together.