After 12 years of running a cutterhead, I just learned I was shooting at the wrong angle

I was out on a job near the Port of Houston last month, dredging a slip that hadn't been touched in 8 years. The guy running the survey boat came up and asked why my cut pattern was leaving a 2 foot ridge every pass. I honestly thought that was normal, like a seam you just smooth out later. He showed me on his screen how I was swinging too wide and not overlapping enough, and I felt like a total rookie. Anyone else find out they were doing something basic wrong way later than they want to admit?

2 comments

2 Comments

phoenix84513h ago

2 foot ridge every pass" sounds like my first year trying to weld stainless with a grinder.

taylor_barnes5911h ago

Huh, I gotta disagree with you there. A grinder with a flap disc puts down a way wider consistent pass than anything I've seen from a wire feed. Two feet of good ridge means you're holding a tight arc and moving steady. If you're getting ridges that long with a grinder, you're either running too cold or you're not oscillating enough. Stainless is rough to learn, no doubt, but a grinder gives you way more control than people give it credit for. Maybe your technique was off back then.