Does anyone know of a way to cut large diameter wire rope economically? My cousin can get it for nothing, and he wants to cut it down to 3' lengths to scrap out. I'm talking large diameter, and massive amounts. 3" to 5" diameter. Hundreds and hundreds of feet. A torch is too time consuming, the gas is costly, and it leaves a LOT of slag. A guy he knows uses a diamond wheel, at slow RPM's to cut 1 3/4" stuff, but the larger stuff would take between 11 and 15 minutes per cut.

i have a freight train car tow line made out of ~3-inch wire rope, i found it abandoned at a jobsite and brought it home fer some yard art. i cant imagine an easy way to cut that stuff, the diamond saw may be the best bet.

Use a chop saw with a thin cutting wheel. 3/32" Sait makes a type 27 and 24 that last longer and cut faster.

G&J: Can I get a slight bit more info on Sait or where to find the info?

Sait makes some good stuff. Actually it is United Abrasives. I used the chop saw for mainly cutting hardened steel. I am not sure how well it would work on the large wire rope, could give it a try. You should be able to get them from Production Tool Supply or J&L Industrial Supply. Here is a pdf of the product:


Sait chop saw wheels

We use only Sait Z-tech and love them..
We get them from Fastenal and Tighton Tool, but may not be available to you.

I forgot about Fastenal.

Most of these places have counter sales, so purchasing should not be a problem.

Another thing I would try would be craigslist or some other online/auction option. You may be able to sell it for near scrap price and not have any of the costs and labor associated with cutting it up. Who knows, ya just might get a bundle for it.

Hydaulic cutters is the only tool I can think off that does a smoth fast job on this
http://www.gavnor.com/cat124_1.htm
don,t know if you can find something suiteable on that link, but something similar I think is the route i would presue

I supply a manufacturer of high quality cable cutters, but his product line is more geared to manually operated cutters, mostly for the electrical and telecommunication industries. I reached out to the owner for an opinion. He offered:

Thanks guys. I'll look at the links in a bit.

If you ever watched a TV show about Monster Machines, and saw a HUGE dragline working in a coal mine, the cables come off of that machine, and others like it. My cousin can cut them down in the field with a torch to 21' lengths or so, and then get them out of there. The recycle places won't pay anything for the pieces unless they are right around 3' long. They're steel, probably high tensile as well. He has access to 3" dia up to and including 5" dia. cables. I suggested a torch, but he said that it's too slow for the volume that he has to cut.

That is what he's looking for, but it must have a 130 mm capacity. He's wanting to cut wire rope that is between 76mm and 127mm in diameter.

We use holmatro to cut open car/helicopter wrecks in the rescuecrew training at our training center nice tools to woork with.
Don't know iff they can handle enforced wire but the suplier would know.
Rescue equipment suplier might be the place to look?
http://www.brook-industries.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=40

Paul, I had the same thought as you and looked at the Jaws of Life. They have a cutter that is supposed to cut thru 1.6" solid steel bar, but it has a jaw opening of 5.2" and a cutting force of 195,126 pounds

MOC-Ultra Cutter

I think this might be it
http://www.genscoequip.com/products/Hydraulic%20Cutting%20Tools
It's been modified for long lasting operation "scraping" instead off rescue operations.

Iff this can't do the job I think your bro. has to look at demolition tools machine operated

Paul, You Da Man!!!!! I believe he should be able to find something that would do the job on that site. Now cost might come into play, but at least you found the correct tool! He never mentioned what type of budget he had.

Thank you very much.

How about a plasma cutter? This involves the use of an arc welder equipped with specialized accouterments and a good sized air compressor. Did this stuff come from a walking dragline or something? Can the wraps of the wire bundles in the cable be separated so as to be dealing with smaller cross sections that can be cut by more conventional means?

Sounds to me like you need to find a larger scrap yard. The yards near me use a track hoe with shears mounted on it. The shears are like giant hydraulic pinchers. For a large quantity they ignore the 3' rule.

If I had to cut it up on site I would try a gas powered cut off saw. Sort of a chain saw engine with a chop saw blade. I think the one on our truck is built by Husqvarna. I see construction crews commonly using the Stihl saw.

Good luck and let us know how you handle it

Yep, the cable does come from a walking drag line. I believe one machine has an 80 yd bucket and the other has a 100yd or greater bucket.

The pieces are currently in 20' sections, and the scrap yard won't pay for them unless they are in 3' or less sections. They'll take them in longer sections, but won't give any $$ for them.

I don't know if the plasma would work with the different strands and if it was grease impregnated. My cousin can get the pieces for free, and was thinking that it might be a way to generate extra $$ on the side if he could sell the scrap. I've used a plasma to cut up to 3/8" thick steel. I don't know how large of a machine it'd have to be to cut the thicker stuff.

A guy that he knows rigged up a gang of slow speed cutters )like chop saws) with diamond wheels. He runs the 20' piece of cable on a table, clamps it down and makes 7 cuts at a time. But, all he can do is the smaller cable, the larger stuff is still just cut up and tossed aside. The saws cannot cut thru the larger stuff without having to roll the cable over and it takes too long.