Removing a 4000 pound flywheel from a deep hole

We had to remove a large flywheel from one of our turbine pits in preparation of installing our new Kiser turbine. The flywheel was used for rotational inertia to produce 60 cycle power. Since we are tied into the grid, we always operate at 60 cycles. This was not true in 1918 when the plant was built. At high river flows the water submerges the flywheel and the spokes throw water into the 5000 volt generator. We decided it should go. The flywheel had a split hub and a solid rim. You can not cut cast iron with an oxy-acetylene torch. We went down with a gasoline powered cut off saw. We cut the pinch bolts on the split hub and proceeded to cut the rim at two diametrically opposite sides that corresponded with the splits in the hub. The saw would not quite make it through the center of the rim. We got a 16 pound sledge hammer and a wood splitting wedge. We drove it in the cut and the flywheel fell apart in two pieces. We rigged the two halfs out of the pit. See: https://picasaweb.google.com/frenchriverland/RemovingALargeFlywheel Sincerely, William K. Fay P.E. West Ware, MA