Three years in and I just figured out the angle thing

Was dredging a tight channel near the old marina in Port Arthur when my cutter head kept clogging. Old timer on the radio said I was way too aggressive on the swing angle - been running it at 45 degrees instead of maybe 25. Cut my cleanup time in half the next pass. Anyone else make it years before realizing a small tweak changes everything?

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green.jessica2mo ago

My dad ran a dredge for 30 years and always told me 30 degrees was the sweet spot. I blew him off thinking harder angle meant faster cutting until I burned out a motor last season. Now I just nod and set it at 25 like he said.

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harper_owens2mo ago

Who else has that one piece of advice they ignored for way too long? I spent two seasons running my cutter at 40 degrees thinking I was a hotshot, till I realized my "harder is better" attitude just meant I was on a first-name basis with the repair shop. Now I keep it at 25 and pretend I knew all along, like I'm some kind of dredging genius instead of a guy who learned the hard way.

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