TIL a trick for clearing a clogged cutterhead on the old 'Mudcat' in shallow water

We were working the shallows of the St. Johns River and the head kept packing with roots. Instead of backing off and trying to flush it, we ran the swing winch at full pull while keeping the pump at low rpm. The extra torque from the swing motor helped shear through the mat without stalling the whole system. Has anyone else tried this on older mechanical dredges?

3 comments

3 Comments

matthew8782d ago

That's a clever trick for getting unstuck, but calling it a 'Mudcat' might cause some confusion. Those are usually auger dredges. The old mechanical cutterheads you're talking about are just called ladder dredges. Your method makes total sense for that setup though, using the swing to help the cut.

michaelcooper1d ago

Appreciate the clarification from @matthew878, as getting the right name for a tool is a common struggle everywhere.

stella_walker341d ago

Oh man, @michaelcooper is right about that being a common struggle. I've seen guys argue for ten minutes over the right name for a simple wrench. Getting the terms straight like matthew878 did is a huge help, so you're all talking about the same machine.