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PSA: I used to run the cutterhead too fast on our Ellicott 370 until an old timer set me straight
For like 4 years I was running our draghead at max RPMs thinking more speed meant more dirt. That was until last March on a job near Baton Rouge when this 60 year old operator named Jimmy walked over and told me to slow it down to around 18 RPMs. He said I was just recirculating the material and not letting the buckets grab anything. Now I match the cutter speed to the material type - slower in sand and clay, faster if I'm in loose silt or trash. First week I tried his way I pulled an extra 40 yards per hour and burned half the fuel. The swing winches actually stopped overheating too. Has anybody else had an old head show you a trick that totally went against what you thought was right?
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james9953mo ago
Man I feel your pain... I ran my cutter at max for two years before someone told me I was basically just making fancy underwater mud pies.
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jason3283mo ago
Fancy underwater mud pies" is the most accurate thing I've ever heard. Did the same thing with my first plasma table, ran it wide open for months before a guy at a trade show told me I was just making giant sparks with no real cut.
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