Echo Bear Cat Chipper

[Alan46]

Hi All,

We have an Echo Bear Cat chipper, model 73454 PTO.
One of the belts came off the pulley. I can’t seem to find any info on the proper way to disassemble to get to the inside of the pulley area
It’s a 2005. I’ve searched YouTube with no luck. I have the manual but no instructions there! Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated!

 

[Alan46]

Update……..Called Echo. Luke the tech guy got me squared away, all better now!

 

[TerryR]

Good to hear, Alan. I have the same model, but have never had to deal with the belts, so far. It's been a good machine for me.

 

[Alan46]

Good to hear, Alan. I have the same model, but have never had to deal with the belts, so far. It's been a good machine for me.

Yes it has been a great machine for me too.
Not as detailed to do the job as I thought.
Have you been greasing the bearings often?
Very important!

 

[Powellcrazy Gearman]

Would you mind sharing fix or any experience details for any of us with similar or considering such a machine

These posts are always helpful

 

[TerryR]

Not as detailed to do the job as I thought.
Have you been greasing the bearings often?

Are you speaking of the manual when you say it's not detailed? Yes, you are right about that. As I recall, it's mainly about the trailer model and gives almost no info on the three-point model, among other issues.

I found greasing to a bit of an issue. The front bearing on the flywheel shaft is hidden under the belt guard, which is a pain to get off. So I cut a small hole in the top of the guard and extended the grease fitting with some pipe fittings:

I also had trouble getting to fitting on the end of the lower shaft -- the hole provided in the frame is too small for any grease gun I could find. So I extended that one with some hose to a spot on the side of the frame:

 

[Alan46]

Are you speaking of the manual when you say it's not detailed? Yes, you are right about that. As I recall, it's mainly about the trailer model and gives almost no info on the three-point model, among other issues.

I found greasing to a bit of an issue. The front bearing on the flywheel shaft is hidden under the belt guard, which is a pain to get off. So I cut a small hole in the top of the guard and extended the grease fitting with some pipe fittings:
View attachment 814541


I also had trouble getting to fitting on the end of the lower shaft -- the hole provided in the frame is too small for any grease gun I could find. So I extended that one with some hose to a spot on the side of the frame:
View attachment 814542

I should have said not as difficult as I thought to remove the cover!
Great idea about the fittings, if it’s not patented I’d like to copy it

 

[Alan46]

Would you mind sharing fix or any experience details for any of us with similar or considering such a machine

These posts are always helpful

I will later today. I’m actually using said chipper now. Just came in to feed the dogs!

 

[TerryR]

Great idea about the fittings, if it’s not patented I’d like to copy it

Be my guest.

I found the hose and fittings for the lower one, and adapters, at GreaseExtensionHoses.com -- not cheap, but having the right parts made it easy. The fittings on mine are 6mm, not an easy size to find around here.

 

[TerryR]

Would you mind sharing fix or any experience details for any of us with similar or considering such a machine

Other than the grease fitting issue I described above, it's been a great machine.

I had about 6" cut out of the chute in order to fit in my shed.

I've never had an issue with the chute plugging, an issue I see mentioned from time to time. I like that there are lots of positions available for aiming the chute, so you can aim it between trees if you are shooting into woods, or spread out the chips if shooting into a field.

It's very easy to access the blades for sharpening. Just remove one bolt and tip the top cover and chute to the side and they are exposed. Much easier than a chipper-shredder I had before, which was a total pain.

It's manual feed, which I think is perfect for the typical property owner. The feed chute is pretty low for manual feed, which makes it easy to lift even 15-foot saplings into it. The opening is around 6" which makes it reasonable to feed stuff with side branches up to about an inch if it's green.

I've never looked at similar models in other brands because I've never found dealers for them less than two hours drive, so can't say how they compare.