Had a cutter head jam on a river job near St. Louis last fall.

We were pulling up a lot of old timber and hit a solid log wedged in the teeth. The whole rig shook and the pump pressure spiked past 80 psi. I had to shut down, reverse the ladder, and send a guy down with a cutting torch to clear it. Took us about three hours to get back to work. Anyone else had a bad jam and found a better way to clear it fast?

3 comments

3 Comments

richardfox1d ago

Cutting torch is slow, but sometimes it's the only tool that works.

dakota_rivera1d ago

Totally agree. Saw a guy use one to cut through a rusted trailer hitch that had basically become one solid piece of metal. No sawzall blade was getting through that mess. It's messy and takes time, but when you're dealing with thick, fused, or super hard steel, that torch just eats through it. Sometimes brute force is the only answer.

-1

the_dylan1d ago

Honestly a good carbide blade and some patience gets through most of that. Torches are a last resort for me.