Chipper Anybody using a Liberty Chipper?
- Thread starter lil_country
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DeeDubya
Silver Member
Actually I read the "Awful Product Review" and then ordered my Liberty shortly thereafter. Read the entire review and you will see why.
Awful Product Review: KPX WoodChipper - Nature's Harmony Farm Blog - One of America's Most Sustainable Farms
I just bought a Liberty. Haven't used it yet. The purchase experience was BAD. Ordered Jan 4, told i would have it by the end of January. Just got it April 10. Was charged in full on the day i purchased it. Was told I would be called when it shipped. I had to call to get any answers. Told 3 different arrival times and had to have staff waiting all 3 times which cost me $. Was told i would be upgraded to the 8 inch because of all the screw ups. Shipping label said they were sending a 6 inch, but Alex, the general manager, assured me an 8 inch was on the way. Haven't been out to my property to see it yet, but if it is a 6 inch, i will be pissed. Will repost when i see how it works. Overall, they get a 1 out of 5 on customer service so far. if the chipper is a 3 of 4 out of 5, i'll be happy. If not, i will not...
Liberty really needs to work on customer experience. As it stands, it sucks.
Liberty really needs to work on customer experience. As it stands, it sucks.
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DeeDubya
Silver Member
I had my doubts too, but they followed through with everything. The promo advertised $100 off and free blades. I had to email and remind them of both, but they did what they said. The chipper does well. Occasionally a small branch will jump over into the feed drive and throw the belt. Large lumps of foliage will cause the feed to disengage. But that was mainly with green cedar that has some thick leaves and tends to bunch up. After chipping but before shutting down (with the chipper spinning) spray some WD40 into the chute so that it sucks the spray in and coats the internals. It will help keep the knives from rusting. As with most things, it works better when smooth and shiney.
Well, disappointed. I did get the right chipper-the 8 inch. Got it assembled, on the back of my 52 horse Kubota. Started to chip, everything seemed ok. On the third load of brush (nothing more than 4 inches in diameter and some pine/redwood tree trimmings, the discharge chute plugged. Had to shut down the tractor, remove the chute, and dig the solid block of chippings out of the main body of the chipper that contains the flywheel. Put the chute back on and restarted everything, only to have the same problem 2 more times, the third time the plug was so bad it actually tried to stall my tractor! Each time, the discharge chute had to be removed and the plug cleared. And each time was only after about 5 minutes of chipping. The process of clearing the chute each time took about 8-10 minutes! Not a sustainable situation with all the brush we have to chip. Had to shut down with no real work done.
Am i doing something wrong? The hole that sends chips from the flywheel chamber into the chute is only about 4 x 4 inches, and the chute is the same cross sectional area, so it doesn't seem hard to figure out why this is happening.
After the long wait for this machine and brush building up on my property, i am disappointed. I am going to ask Liberty to take this machine back unless someone has a solution to this problem.
Am i doing something wrong? The hole that sends chips from the flywheel chamber into the chute is only about 4 x 4 inches, and the chute is the same cross sectional area, so it doesn't seem hard to figure out why this is happening.
After the long wait for this machine and brush building up on my property, i am disappointed. I am going to ask Liberty to take this machine back unless someone has a solution to this problem.
DavisHollow
Member
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2011
- Messages
- 29
- Tractor
- Yanmar 2610D
I've had that problem also with my Tomcat 8" PTO chipper, same design as the Liberty. It's designed to run at 540 rpm which is 2200 rpm on my tach (Yanmar 2610 diesel 31HP, 26HP at PTO). But I run about 1800 because I just don't like running at rated speed. I ended up jamming the chute with fresh cedar trimmings, the green stuff really tends to jam the chute. One time I just took the chute off and it cleared itself on restart. I did about 5 hours of chipping over several months. Then I jammed it again on skinny cedar branches with lots of green. It jammed extremely tight. Took off chute and it was crammed in so tight had to dig it out. Long story short, I parked it after not being able to clear it. 6 months later I figured it would be mulch, so I fired it back up and after some heavy clutch popping it cleared.
Solution. Run at rated RPM. Stay away from freshly cut cedar with lots of green matter still on it.
I did 4 straight hours of chipping at 1800 rpm on a pile of 6-month old cedar clippings, no problems. Its the fresh cedar that jams it up. And even then, I think if I just ran it at rated RPM I would have been fine.
Solution. Run at rated RPM. Stay away from freshly cut cedar with lots of green matter still on it.
I did 4 straight hours of chipping at 1800 rpm on a pile of 6-month old cedar clippings, no problems. Its the fresh cedar that jams it up. And even then, I think if I just ran it at rated RPM I would have been fine.
DeeDubya
Silver Member
About 90% of what I chip is green cedar. As you know Cedar sap is very sticky. Keep a big can of WD40 handy to spray into the machine while it's running. The WD40 dissolves the cedar sap and keeps everything shiny and slick.
Daves Maple Farm
New member
Managed to plug my BX42 chute too. Ran tractor engine too slow in effort to save fuel. Had to choose between fuel savings and plugging. Now run fast and dont get so frustrated! Forget fuel savings, these guys know what speed works best. Mahindra 2615 drives it with no problems.
....now.
....now.Well, I finally figured out the problem with plugging of my chipper. At the end of the shoot there is a black hood that was loose and lying almost all the way down. Was not allowing chips to easily exit and they would back up in the chute. I now prop the hood up and have had hours of plug free chipping. I have to say that with that problem fixed, and after a LONG wait for the machine, it does work quite well and i am happy with it.
DavisHollow
Member
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2011
- Messages
- 29
- Tractor
- Yanmar 2610D
The only good cedar is dead cedar.
buckeye4life
Member
I'm experiencing same issue. I purchased a backhoe and chipper back in mid March and didn't receive hoe till a couple weeks ago after being told it had been shipped several times when it had not. The chipper delivery keeps getting postponed. Now they are not expecting a delivery to their facility till early June. As another person said, A good deal is not such a good deal if you don't receive the product. What's worse, is they require full payment at time of ordering. Anyway, I have been given another 2 years added to the warranty of the hoe and later to the chipper and a $75 credit ( have yet to receive ) due to delay of shipment of the chipper. By the way, the hoe works great. In case you are interested in going with Liberty, keep in mind that they are backordering and you may not receive the item when you are execpecting.
reprosser
Member
Has anyone replaced the blades on the 8" Liberty Chipper before. My blades are dull, and I want to rotate to the sharp side, but getting to the bolts to remove the blades is difficult.
Manual says to remove the inspection plate on the side opposite from the cute - and I can see the nuts on the blades, but 1 of the 4 nuts is still inside the unit, so I cannot use a socket to loosen. It seems very awkward trying to reach around thru the chute with an allen wrench to hold the head of the bolt while loosening the nut with a socket for the 3 bolts I could reach. Not sure how I am going to get to the 4th bolt without further dis-assembly of the unit.
My chipper has worked pretty well, but I have broken the linkage between the feeder and gear box multiple times (once my wife dumped the clutch with high PTO rpm, so that was not the fault of the chipper). Replacing the linkage was not too difficult, but it seems to be a weak spot on the machine.
Replacing the belt from the flywheel to the gearbox required removal of the gear box because the pulley wheel is located very close to the chassis and you can't slip the belt between them.
One complaint I do have is that most of the bolts don't have lock washers, so they tend to loosen and fall off. I need to get an assortment of lock washer sizes and add them all around.
Manual says to remove the inspection plate on the side opposite from the cute - and I can see the nuts on the blades, but 1 of the 4 nuts is still inside the unit, so I cannot use a socket to loosen. It seems very awkward trying to reach around thru the chute with an allen wrench to hold the head of the bolt while loosening the nut with a socket for the 3 bolts I could reach. Not sure how I am going to get to the 4th bolt without further dis-assembly of the unit.
My chipper has worked pretty well, but I have broken the linkage between the feeder and gear box multiple times (once my wife dumped the clutch with high PTO rpm, so that was not the fault of the chipper). Replacing the linkage was not too difficult, but it seems to be a weak spot on the machine.
Replacing the belt from the flywheel to the gearbox required removal of the gear box because the pulley wheel is located very close to the chassis and you can't slip the belt between them.
One complaint I do have is that most of the bolts don't have lock washers, so they tend to loosen and fall off. I need to get an assortment of lock washer sizes and add them all around.
Sure I'm a little late but... see my posts:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...-liberty-chipper-post1496770.html#post1496770
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...-liberty-chipper-post1504464.html#post1504464
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...-liberty-chipper-post1509892.html#post1509892
But to my update on the Liberty Implements WC-8A (I unfortunately bought):
The welds on the bottom access door broke and the door fell inside the chipper! Darn bad design. Here are pictures of the result.
As you can see in the picture of the bottom door, it was folded in half and stuck in the chute. The fins from the flywheel where ejected through the chute... except the whole one... that stayed inside
I have tried for three days to get a parts list and availability of a new flywheel... no results... either parts people where not available, out on service call, etc...
I would not recommend anyone even considering Liberty Implements... or whatever they call themselves... BUYER BEWARE!
So, anyone know where I may be able to find a flywheel that will work as a replacement? Anybody know what it may cost... or should I just resign myself to having <$50 of scrap iron...
Learned a lot about chippers and what to look for when I buy a new one...
DeeDubya
Silver Member
I'm getting ready to order from Affordable Tractor Sales. Can you tell me where I can get more info on price and availability? and if it would fit the Liberty WC-8A?
I'm searching, but have not found anything else yet... and Liberty still has not returned my calls...
DeeDubya
Silver Member
It seems that Liberty should be able to give you some direction finding a dealer. High Quality Chippers & ImplementsI'm getting ready to order from Affordable Tractor Sales. Can you tell me where I can get more info on price and availability? and if it would fit the Liberty WC-8A?
I'm searching, but have not found anything else yet... and Liberty still has not returned my calls...
Update on repair... I was finally able to get the blades off the flywheel.
I broke two hex sockets (Husky from Home Depot... got them replaced for free... HD said I had to go direct to Husky, but when I called Husky they said HD sold do exchange).
I was able to brake the threads free by drilling a spot on the bolt head and used a punch and 2lb sledge hammer.
I broke two hex sockets (Husky from Home Depot... got them replaced for free... HD said I had to go direct to Husky, but when I called Husky they said HD sold do exchange).
I was able to brake the threads free by drilling a spot on the bolt head and used a punch and 2lb sledge hammer.
One would think... Well I just ordered the flywheel from Affordable Tractor... Liberty lost the sale... guess they are just to fat to care...
Well I hope this works out... I'll report back when I get the flywheel and get it installed... probably 10+ days...
