TIL shutting down the cutterhead too fast can snap a hydraulic line

Overheard a guy at the supply shop in Galveston say he blew a $1,200 line by killing the cutterhead while it was still under load. I always just yanked the lever without thinking twice. Anybody else ever cooked a line that way or am I the only one?

3 comments

3 Comments

rubyk263d ago

Hang on @the_taylor, is it really that cut and dry though? I've seen guys kill a cutterhead fast for years without snapping a line, and the real problem is usually a worn seal or a kinked hose that was about to go anyway. That 270 you mentioned might have already had a weak spot, and the quick kill was just the final straw. I'm not saying slamming the lever is a good habit, but I've done it on my own rig plenty of times and never popped a line. Can you say for sure the seal wasn't already weeping before he hit the lever?

the_jennifer3d ago

That 270 story hits close to home. I remember a buddy of mine had a 290 that would weep from the swing motor seal for months. He'd just wipe it off and keep running it. One day he killed the cutterhead hard and the whole hose blew right at the fitting. The seal was already shot and that shock load just found the next weakest point. I think a lot of these blowouts are really just old hoses or seals that were ready to go anyway. The quick kill just speeds up the clock on something that was already ticking.

the_taylor3d ago

Felt that one, man. I watched a guy cook a line on a 270 back in the day, same exact thing. He just hammered the lever back and the whole boom just dropped, hydraulic fluid everywhere.