Debate: Are smaller cutterheads worth the extra fuel cost or not?

I ran a 12-inch cutterhead on a job in Mobile Bay last week and burned through 80 gallons more diesel than I normally do with my 10-inch head. The material came up finer and the pump ran smoother, but that fuel bill hurt. Three years ago I swore by the smaller head for everything, but now I'm not so sure. The bigger head gets more volume but leaves bigger chunks that clog the pipe. What do you guys think, is the extra fuel worth cleaner production or do you stick with the brute force approach?

2 comments

2 Comments

thompson.christopher1d ago

Whoa, eighty gallons more in just one week? That's a pretty steep price to pay for smoother pumping.

gracecarr1d ago

Flip it around and think about what that eighty gallons is actually getting you. If your pump was running dry and burning up bearings before, a few extra gallons of lube is way cheaper than a full pump rebuild or replacement, trust me. Plus, if you're running a heavy crude or something with a lot of fines, that extra volume keeps everything flushed out and cool. Sometimes you gotta spend a little more on maintenance to save a lot more on downtime and parts later.