A bolter miner is a new type of mining machinery with cutting and anchoring functions. In order to study the best pick layout of bolter miner cutting head. Based on the constitutive relation of Holmquist-Johnson-Cook (HJC), three simulation models of different cutting heads were established, and the whole crushing process of coal-rock was simulated by finite element method (FEM). The influence of the cutting head on the cutting performance under the condition of different rotational speeds and pick layouts was intensively studied. The results show that the relationship of load fluctuation coefficient among the three pick layouts is as follows: sequential type >hybrid type I > checkerboard type. The circumferential pick layouts can reduce the load fluctuation coefficient of cutting head. The rotational speed from 20r/min-40r/min, the torque linearly decreases with the increase of rotational speed. The rotational speed increases from 40r/min to 50r/min, the cutting torque is relatively stable. The specific energy of chessboard type is relatively higher than the other three cutting heads. The difference of specific energy between sequential type and hybrid type I is not more than 5.5%, and the reality of the simulation is verified by cutting experiments. The results were successfully applied to the first shield type bolter miner in China.