a tube traveler and slitter for extracting a tube from a heat exchanger tubesheet and slitting the tube longitudinally into two segments includes two spaced apart deforming rolls having a nip between the peripheries defining a passageway . the periphery of each roll is serrated and has a cylindrical central portion of a larger diameter than the remainder of the periphery , and a cylindrical portion spaced from the central portion at each end of the roller , a truncated conical surface being between the cylindrical portions . the rollers extract and deform the tube into a configuration having a flattened central portion and a bulbous configuration at each edge . a rotary slitter blade is positioned for engaging and slitting each edge longitudinally . the axis of rotation of the slitter blades is downstream from the axes of rotation of the rolls .