Tried a finer cutterhead on my dredge pump and it clogged way less

Everyone told me to stick with the stock cutterhead because finer teeth would just jam up more. I swapped to a 12-tooth model anyway on my job down near Baton Rouge last month. Instead of constant jams every 20 minutes, I ran for three hours straight without stopping. The material came out finer but it actually flowed better through the pipe. Has anyone else tried going smaller on teeth or am I just getting lucky with the sediment type?

3 comments

3 Comments

jordan_hill4h ago

Read a study that matched @max_cooper21's take on wider teeth spacing.

cameron_hernandez6910h ago

12-tooth swapped in last month. Sandy clay mix, zero jams. Stock was a nightmare every 10 minutes. Finer cut runs smoother. Way less backtracking to unclog.

max_cooper215h ago

Hang on, 12-tooth is actually a coarser cutterhead not finer. You went with bigger teeth spaced wider apart, which lets material flow through instead of grinding it into paste that jams things up.