Kinda miss the old days of running a cutterhead by feel

I had to decide between upgrading to a modern digital control panel or keeping my old manual clutch setup on the Ellicott 370 I run on the Mississippi. I stuck with the manual levers because it felt more natural, but after three straight nights of heavy clay I started wondering if the automation would have saved my back. Any of you guys made the switch from old school controls and actually preferred it?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_rose1mo ago

That 370 is a beast in heavy clay, I remember running one on the lower Mississippi back in 2018. I actually swapped my old manual levers for a digital setup on a different dredge and honestly regretted it for the first month. The automation never quite matched the feel of knowing exactly when to clutch up through a thick seam.

wyatt7711mo ago

Man that's a rough spot to be in. I gotta hand it to @the_rose for sticking with the manual through that first month, I would have been cussing at the control box by week two. But you know what they say - if your back ain't screaming by hour six, you're not really working the clay. Sometimes I wonder if my body remembers the old days better than my brain does, like when I catch myself reaching for a clutch lever that's not even there anymore. Did you ever find a sweet spot where the digital system could handle the heavy stuff without fighting you the whole way?