Published in the March 2006 American Longwall Magazine

C&A Cutter’s newest customer was mining in a coal seam along a major rock fault. The extremely difficult geology of the coal seam created various impediments for the mine with its current shearer drums, despite rated capacities.

Prior to discussions with C&A Cutter Head, the customer had two sets of shearer drums installed in the seam, neither one capable of mining over 17% without requiring rebuilds or replacement.

With a view to hurdle those limitations, the customer began looking for a solution that would allow it to mine the entire length of the panel without failing in seam; alleviating downtime and costly productivity problems.

Cutter Head stepped in and assessed the mining conditions and equipment requirements to develop a new style of shearer drum.

Cutter Head developed the customized shearer drum, the “6-Start”, and tooled it with the new “CA 200” tooling system to mine the remaining coal and rock fault taking into account the tough terrain. The 6-Start was installed and successfully achieved production goals by mining the remaining 70% without failure.

Upon completion of the panel, the 6-Start shearer drums were scheduled for routine rebuilds. When the equipment arrived at Cutter Head for assessment, the engineers and manufacturers of the 6-Start found the shearer drums in excellent condition, only requiring the replacement of three blocks on the gob end of the shearer drums.

Due to the success of C&A Cutter’s 6-Start design and CA 200 tooling system the customer has ordered several more sets of the 6-Start drums for installation in neighboring West Virginia mines.

No amateur to the shearer drum industry, C&A Cutter Head has more than 11 years of experience designing and manufacturing its OE line of shearer drums; and has captured almost 50% of the US market share in OE shearer drums.

C&A Cutter Head offers a range of shearer drums designed to mine in a host of conditions, from very arduous with high rock content to geologically pristine. The company has offices in Pennsylvania and Virginia and has supplied well over 500 shearer drums since the company introduced its line of equipment to the market.