Compared a cutterhead dredge vs a plain suction on a muddy pond job and the difference was night and day

Got called to clear out this retention pond behind a strip mall last month. The mud was thick and full of trash, like shopping carts and broken concrete. First two days I was running just a plain suction line and it was a fight. Clogging every 20 minutes, had to stop and dig stuff out by hand. Switched to a cutterhead setup my buddy loaned me and it cut the job time in half. The cutter just chewed through everything and kept the slurry moving. Has anyone else had a job where the wrong head choice cost you a full day?

2 comments

2 Comments

max_foster1d ago

Shopping carts and broken concrete in a retention pond? Man, that's nasty. I've never had to deal with actual garbage like that in a pond job, but I can totally see the plain suction line just giving up on you. That sounds like the kind of material that would make anybody wish they had a cutterhead from the first scoop.

faith_torres831d agoProlific Poster

My buddy Dave had to dredge out a pond behind an old auto shop once. They found engine blocks and rusted-out mufflers mixed in with all the muck. He said the suction line got clogged up so bad with a shredded tire that they had to spend half a day just pulling it apart and clearing the hose by hand. I remember him saying they were picking out bits of rubber and metal for a week.