25
Just realized my cutterhead speed was way off after reading an old manual
I was digging around in the archives on the Ellicott forums last night and found a service bulletin from 2018 for my 370 Dragon. Turns out I had been running the cutter at 38 RPM for years when the spec says 32 is max for the hard clay we deal with up here in Green Bay. No wonder I was burning through teeth every 40 hours instead of 60. Anyone else ever find out they were running way outside the sweet spot from old paperwork?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
wendygrant4d ago
Yeah, I heard about something similar from a guy I met at a dredging conference back in 2019. He was running a different brand, but he said the same thing happened to him with an old manual that had a misprint in the RPM specs for his cutter. He was chewing through bearings like crazy until someone pointed it out. It's crazy how easy it is to miss those little details in the paperwork, especially when you've been running the same setup for years. Your mileage may vary, but I'd double check the serial number on your machine against the bulletin, sometimes they change specs mid-production and the old manuals don't catch up.
2
harperschmidt4d ago
Oh man I feel this. My dumb ass ran a cutter so far outta spec once I basically turned all the teeth into nubs in like two weeks. Maybe I should start reading the manuals instead of just using them as coasters.
2