WC46 Chipper need an enema

[RalphVa]

Was working the WM WC46 chipper, and the 2025R's rpm suddenly dropped to about 1700 rpm. Wouldn't go any higher unless I turned the PTO off. Oh, oh. Thought it was the fuel filter. Took it up the hill to the carriage house. Didn't bog any. Probably not the fuel filter.

Opened up the chipper top. Completely plugged up. The wife gave the chipper an enema while I changed the oil in the tractor's engine. First time to have had to do this. Probably have 20 or more FEL-sized piles of chips down there.

That's what the wife called it.

Ralph

 

[Rdrcr]

^^^^
Yep, that's happened to me on a couple occasions. However, I think it is because I'm feeding bad stuff sometimes. I toss in branches with fresh leaves, needles, twigs...rotten wood...all kinds of good stuff. Mine seems to get plugged up with fir tree branches and soggy rotten wood which I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to feed it.

Mike

 

[5030]

Because your knives are getting dull.

 

[mrmikey]

Mine seems to get plugged up with fir tree branches and soggy rotten wood

My SIN borrowed one to run off my tractor, same thing with fir and soggy wood. As long as you put a dry stick in there once in awhile all was good.

Because your knives are getting dull.

Brand new knives when we were using it..................Mike

 

[Rdrcr]

^^^^
That's how I try to do it... but, I still have experienced a couple blockages.

I probably have nearly 20hrs on my chipper. Sharpening the blades is probably a good idea.

Mike

 

[Zebrafive]

Grape vines is what plugged mine up. I no longer try and run any through.

 

[Underdog57]

Old rotten wood plugged mine up, turned it into powder and plugged the chute.

 

[Captain Dirty]

The WM WC46 has a noticeable taper to the discharge chute and a choke point several inches above the rotational flange. The 4" Wally I used had a similar constriction and would clog on green, pliant twigs and leaves. mrmikey's suggestion of an occasional dry branch worked sometimes, but often such dry branches were not available. Opening the clamshell to unclog was a PITA so I made harpoon-like barbed hook a couple of feet long and would thrust it down the chute (after stopping the chipper) to try to dislodge and extract the jams. Besides the tapered chute, another factor was (lack of) airflow. The owner of the Wally said he ran it at 1000 RPM without problem; I only had 540. Also any air-inlet holes in the rotor housing may become choked with chaff; be sure they are clear.

 

[oldballs]

In about 40 hours of operation, my WC68 has had a clogged chute only once. That was the time that I ran a lot of green White Pine branches thru it. Normally I burn the pine branches, but this time I wanted to just run them thru the chipper. I won't do that again. It was no big chore to hand dig the sappy sawdust out of the jam.

 

[5030]

They need to be run at rated RPM when chipping, always and knife to anvil spacing has to be right. I always used an old credit card to set the spacing. Sold mine a while ago. Easier to roast the stuff. Another trick if you call it that is to provide more air for the flywheel / fan by drilling holes in the access plate on the drive side of the chipper. The more air getting to the flywheel / fan, the less chance of clogging.

 

[oosik]

Ralph - I had that problem with the smaller Wallenstein chipper - BX42S. Combination of pine sap and green needles would plug the output chute. Until I found the complete solution - a bone dry limb every so often usually did the trick. This smaller Wally was mounted on my Ford 1700.

The complete solution - identify, fell, drag to pile - chip the FOLLOWING year. Allowing my small( 1" to 6" on the butt) pines to dry out for a year solved the problem with the smaller Wallenstein.

Now I have a bigger chipper - Wally BX62S - on my updated and bigger tractor. I can immediately chip the pines now. Considerably larger discharge chute, more HP, much higher air flow thru the chipper.

 

[s219]

Almost all chippers of this design will clog if fed only leafy/twiggy material or lots of evergreen material with needles. That stuff doesn't have a lot of momentum coming off the flywheel and can be wet or sticky. If you can feed a substantial limb (green or not) through the chipper periodically, it will clear out the chutes. I alternate materials whenever possible. Do some small stuff then send a big limb through every so often.

 

[5030]

My issue when I had a chipper was, doing something with all the chips. You can only put so many in the wife's flower beds. Why I prefer roasting. Big pile equals a small pile of ash that vanishes with the first rainstorm.

 

[coobie]

My issue when I had a chipper was, doing something with all the chips. You can only put so many in the wife's flower beds. Why I prefer roasting. Big pile equals a small pile of ash that vanishes with the first rainstorm.

How many trees are you cutting down on your estate to have all of them wood chips ?Just curious ??

 

[5030]

How many trees are you cutting down on your estate to have all of them wood chips ?Just curious ??

All storm damage. I have more than one 'estate', I own rentals.

 

[oosik]

I've used pine chips on my driveway. Very nice. Cuts down on dust and makes the "trip" super quiet. There is one down side. In the winter - if I blade snow off the driveway - most of the chips will go the way of the snow.

I thin my pine stands almost every spring. 900 to 1200 small pines. So - I end up with chip piles all over the property. They slowly "melt" down and blend in with the rest of the land.

 

[RalphVa]

How many trees are you cutting down on your estate to have all of them wood chips ?Just curious ??

The flood down there at end of May 2018 knocked down a lot of trees. We cleared out about a 100 yard long and 6 to 8 feet high pile of debris in 2019 when it finally got dry down there. Now doing the knocked over trees still in place.

 

[RalphVa]

I've used pine chips on my driveway. Very nice. Cuts down on dust and makes the "trip" super quiet. There is one down side. In the winter - if I blade snow off the driveway - most of the chips will go the way of the snow.

I thin my pine stands almost every spring. 900 to 1200 small pines. So - I end up with chip piles all over the property. They slowly "melt" down and blend in with the rest of the land.

I'll "grab" a load of chips in the FEL once I have the bush hog on and take the load up and put along the downhill tractor paths.

 

[oosik]

Chips make an excellent cover for road or trail. And they will inhibit the growth of grass - if that's what you want.

 

[RalphVa]

Plugged it up twice today. Too much green stuff, particularly little vines among the tops of the little trees that were cut down.

Noticed it quickly the 2nd time today. Could have reached into the chute and maybe gotten the pieces of vine out without having to open up the clamshell, maybe. Hardly anything inside the clamshell.