Switched from a cutterhead to an auger for sandy material and holy smokes what a difference

We were dredging a marina in Galveston last month and the cutterhead kept bogging down in the loose sand. After three days of clearing clogs every two hours I swapped to an auger head from a buddy's rig and we moved 40% more material in the first four hours. I always figured cutterheads were king for everything but the auger just pulled that sand right through without any plugs. The wear on the auger flights was way less than I expected too after 60 hours of use. Has anyone else switched heads for different bottom types or are you all sticking with one setup?

3 comments

3 Comments

harpery471mo ago

60 hours and the flights weren't chewed to crap?

casey_wood21mo ago

Flights were pristine but that's probably because the auger spent half that time just spinning in the air while we tried to figure out why the hydraulic fluid was boiling. The spoil came out looking like a wet concrete milkshake compared to the cutterhead which just threw dry gravel everywhere like a toddler with a bucket. Sides of the flights got chewed up way worse than the leading edges, looked like someone took a belt sander to them after about 40 hours.

jana_hart181mo ago

Did you notice any difference in how the spoil came off the discharge end with the auger compared to the cutterhead? Like was it wetter or dryer coming out, or did it spread different on the bank? I had a job last year where we swapped heads mid project and the water content change alone made a mess of our settling pond setup for about three days before we figured out the right pump speed. What kind of extra wear did you see on the auger flights after 60 hours, was it mostly on the leading edges or did the sides get chewed up too?