A cross-belt sampler (100) for material (70) on a belt-conveyor (60) has a cutter head (50), where the cutting edges (9) of the side plates (3,4) lie on lines co-incident with the axis of rotation (1) of the cutter head (50). The rear plate (5) lies on a plane parallel to the axis of rotation (1) and a truncated plate (6) eliminates a sharp corner in which the material (70) may be compacted. The axis of rotation (1) of the cutter head (50) is offset a distance (28) relative to the longitudinal axis of the belt conveyor (60).