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Cutting and milling

Drum cutter

Twin-drum pick cutter fitted on the arm of an excavator, attacking a rock face in a cloud of dust
Two pick drums turning:
the rock is torn away without a blow, where the hammer would be too brutal.
Synthetic image.

Two drums bristling with picks, mounted across the tool.
They rasp the material instead of striking it:
you take off what you want, to the thickness you want, and the rest does not move.

Other names for this tool: pick cutter, transverse cutting head, cutting drum, profiling cutter.

The essentials
Family
Cutting and milling
Classes (t)
All
Coupler
All, by plate
Power source
Hydraulic, continuous function — flow and pressure: we calculate it with you for your machine

Identify your coupler →

01 Use

What it is for

On the left, the drum cutter profiles the rock face in parallel passes, without impacts. On the right, the breaker smashes a volume by percussion, it does not dress a face to profile. Computer-generated image.
the drum cutter profiles the rock face in parallel passes, without impacts the breaker smashes a volume by percussion, it does not dress a face to profile
Left: the drum cutter profiles the rock face in parallel passes, without impacts.
Right: the breaker smashes a volume by percussion, it does not dress a face to profile.
Computer-generated image.
Two pick drums attacking a rock face over their whole width, turning, in a cloud of rock dust.
It advances in parallel passes:
what counts is not the force, it is the width attacked at one go.
Synthetic image.
The picks break the rock down into fine fragments.
The face is cut to profile, without impacts.
Synthetic video.

The axis of the drums is at right angles to the arm:
the cutter attacks over its whole width and progresses in parallel passes.
It is the geometry of the surface — profiling a rock face, dressing the bottom of an excavation, taking up damaged concrete without touching the sound, stripping a layer.

The operator controls the depth by the position of the arm, and controls it finely.
That is what distinguishes cutting from everything else:
you do not break a volume, you take off a thickness, and the level obtained is the one you aimed at.

It does not replace the breaker on volume. To bring down a mass, percussion remains far faster and far cheaper in wear parts.
The cutter wins when the constraint is elsewhere:
precision of the level, cleanness of the profile, or a ban on vibration. See the hydraulic cutter page.

02 Key technical data

On which machine?

They exist for machines from 2 to 60 t.
For example, on an excavator over 20 t, the weight is generally from 1 350 to 2 600 kg.

What the tool does

For example, on an excavator over 20 t: cutting width from 900 to 1 400 mm, torque from 12 100 to 44 500 N·m.

What is needed on the hydraulic side

It generally needs from 30 to 600 l/min, at a pressure from 180 to 350 bar, depending on the size of the machine.

Figures taken from 8 models on the market.
Your study sets the exact value for your machine.

All the measurements found for this equipment →

How to read these values →

03 Your study

Have your machine checked.

Describe the material to be removed, the thickness aimed at and the surface to be treated.
Tell us also what is around it:
it is often the surroundings that explain why you are cutting rather than breaking.

What we need to answer you
  • Your machine Its make and its tonnage.
  • The auxiliary circuit Its flow in l/min, its pressure in bar, single- or double-acting.
  • The coupler in place Its system and its class.
  • The work The use, and the material.

Without these details, the study still begins: we will ask you for them.

Send my photos

or describe your need

Book an appointment with the specialist

Or call 01 84 16 55 49 · our lines are open 7 days a week, from 7h to 22h.

Written study within 3 working days, once the file is complete.

04 Choice

What determines the choice

  • 01 — The hardness of what you are attacking It is the criterion that rules out the most machines.
    Asphalt, concrete, soft rock, hard rock:
    they are neither the same picks, nor the same output, nor sometimes the same tool.
  • 02 — The useful width of pass It decides the number of passes, so the time.
    A wide cutter on a small machine advances more slowly than a narrow cutter properly fed.
  • 03 — The type and fixing of the picks They are the wear parts, and they are consumed quickly in abrasive material.
    Whether they can be replaced one by one, without taking the drum off, changes what a day costs.
  • 04 — The flow available, continuously The drum must keep its speed during the pass.
    A flow that is only just enough makes it slow down at the moment it bites, and the cutter rubs without taking off material.
05 Check

What is checked before ordering

  • The cooling of the hydraulic circuit A tool with a continuous function heats the machine.
    It is a question to put to the excavator dealer as much as to the supplier of the tool.
  • The dust and the water that will damp it down Dry cutting produces a great deal of it.
    If the site requires it to be damped down, you have to know where the water will come from and where the slurry will go, before the day itself.
  • The weight at the end of the arm at the real reach Profiling a face is done with the arm extended, often at height.
    It is the governing case, not work at the foot of the machine.
  • The interface Coupler designation or pin dimensions.
The general page
Breaking rather than cutting
Continuous hydraulics
To go further
A question about an attachment? 01 84 16 55 49 Send my photos