Discovered my screen was clogged with silt instead of rocks last Tuesday

I've been running a 12-inch cutterhead on the Mississippi near Baton Rouge for about 8 years now. Usually when the vacuum drops I assume it's a rock jam or something big blocking the intake. So last week I spent 3 hours shutting down, pulling the ladder, and checking the cutterhead. Nothing. Clean as a whistle. Third time I did it I finally took a closer look at the screen mesh itself. There was this fine silt packed in there, almost like mud but dry. You could barely see it. I rinsed it with a garden hose and the vacuum came right back up. Felt like a dummy but I bet a lot of guys make that mistake. Anyone else ever get fooled by something that obvious?

2 comments

2 Comments

robin_wright1mo agoMost Upvoted

Are you sure it wasn't just a different kind of rock dust?

elizabeth4381mo ago

Rock dust doesn't change composition that much just cause it's from a different place.