That $400 cutterhead rebuild kit that let me finish the Yazoo River job

I spent $400 on a cutterhead rebuild kit for my 12-inch dredge last month and it saved the whole contract. The old bearings were shot and the teeth were down to nubs when I finally swapped everything out. Running smooth now with way less vibration and the production rate jumped back up to where it should be. Has anyone else found that these kits are worth the money or am I just lucky on this one?

3 comments

3 Comments

scott.miles27d ago

Hell yeah, $400 is nothing if it saves the whole job. Worth every penny when you're staring down a deadline.

morgan_bailey9312d ago

Jordan's got a point about the housing warp. I ran into that same deal on a old planer last year, rebuilt the whole head and it still walked sideways after three weeks. Had to pull the bearing seats and shim them with brass stock to get it true again. If you're already cracking open the cutterhead, might as well check the housing bores with a dial indicator first. That $400 kit won't mean a thing if the casting is pulling everything out of round.

jordan_webb26d ago

Scott said "$400 is nothing if it saves the whole job" but that math only works if the kit actually fixes the problem long term. I've put in rebuilds that ran great for a month then started chewing through bearings again because the housing was already warped. Sometimes you're just masking a bigger issue with new parts. I'd rather spend $400 on a used spare cutterhead and swap the whole unit instead of chasing worn out threads and alignment problems.