Method and apparatus for continuously processing conductor cable for disposal or recycling

A method of continuously processing a cable-to-be-recycled pulled from a pull zone, wherein the cable-to-be-recycled has aluminum strands surrounding a core, and wherein the cable-to-be-recycled is pulled during a pull from the pull zone by a puller during reconductoring or re-stringing, the method comprising:

• (a) providing a first stage cutter and,
• (b) simultaneously with, and during substantially the entire pull, feeding the cable-to-be-recycled continuously from the puller into the first stage cutter, wherein the first stage cutter includes at least one pair of the counter-rotating wheels having circumcising cutter blades positioned about the wheels so that the cutter blades close at a bight between the wheels so as to cut through the aluminum strands of the cable-to-be-recycled as the wheels rotate and the cable-to-be-recycled passes through the bight so as to expose the core, and wherein a tensioner system is provided to keep the cable-to-be-recycled substantially taut and fed into the first cutter stage, and wherein the tensioner system includes at least one non-contact sensor cooperating with the cable-to-be-recycled or the core.

An apparatus for continuous processing of a cable-to-be-recycled pulled from a pull zone, wherein the cable-to-be-recycled has aluminum strands surrounding a core, and wherein the cable-to-be-recycled is pulled during a pull from the pull zone by a puller during reconductoring or re-stringing, the apparatus comprising:

• a first stage cutter adapted to simultaneously with and during substantially the entire pull be fed the cable-to-be-recycled from the puller into the first stage cutter, wherein the first stage cutter includes at least one pair of the counter-rotating wheels having circumcising cutter blades positioned about the wheels so that the cutter blades close at a bight between the wheels so as to cut through the aluminum strands of the cable-to-be-recycled as the wheels rotate and the cable-to-be-recycled passes through the bight so as to expose the core, a tensioner system to keep the cable-to-be-recycled substantially taut and fed into the first cutter stage, the tensioner system including at least one non-contact sensor cooperating with the cable-to-be-recycled or the core, and a downstream core processor, downstream of the first stage cutter, adapted to continuously process the core from the first stage cutter for disposal or recycling of the core simultaneously during the entirety of the pull of all of the cable-to-be-recycled from the pull zone.