PSA: A rattle gun trick for stubborn cutterhead bolts

Been running a dredge on the Mississippi near Baton Rouge for about 2 years now. The worst part of my job is when those cutterhead bolts seize up after a long shift in the mud. Last week I was stuck on one for 45 minutes with a breaker bar and almost called the shop. Then one of the older guys walked over and told me to hit the bolt head with a hammer first before putting the rattle gun on it. I tried it and the bolt cracked loose in maybe 10 seconds. Something about breaking the rust seal with the shock. That one trick saved me an hour of work that day. Anyone else use this method or got a better way to deal with seized hardware?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_shane8d ago

Hold up, I gotta push back a little on this one. I worked on a dredge down near Plaquemine for 3 years and that hammer trick usually just bent the bolt heads or mushroomed them out if they were too far gone. One time I wailed on a seized bolt with a 4 pound sledge, put the impact on it, and the socket split right down the middle. That was a bad day. I found that hitting the bolt from the side with a hammer first works better for me, not straight on the head, and then hitting it with some penetrating oil and letting it sit for 5 minutes before the gun even touches it. The shock works good for light rust but heavy mud and salt crusting is a different animal.

clairem388d ago

Heard my buddy snapped three sockets on one bolt doing this exact thing.