Need help converting a chipper to PTO drive

[J_J]

I have an old Salsco Stallion chipper - shredder that has an 8 HP B+S on it. It will chip up to 4" but I chip 3" and below, usually maple and red oak. The problem is the engine is getting hard to start, the centrifugal clutch is getting tired, and it bogs down with nearly every branch. These were made with 13 and 16 HP engines too and I'm thinking of converting it to run off my PTO. The shaft to the chipper is 1". Is there an adaptor for 1" shaft female to a regular 1 3/8" spline male? Anyone have ideas?
Yep the blades are pretty sharp, and the anvil is adjusted. If it were all white pine, I'd have no problems. My PTO is 18 HP.

Thanks.

Any good Driveline type business can make one for you.

 

[Window Geek]

These small engines run at 3000 - 3600 rpm. The small chipper/sherdder I have is not direct coupled but has a driver sheave on the engine and a driven sheave on the chipper shaft w/v-belt of course. By your description I assume that the shafts are in line with a clutch separating them. If you need to speed up from your slower tractor pto rpm - and my guess is that you do - then to approach say 3000 rpm from your 540 rpm PTO (assumed) then you will need an approx. 5.6:1 speed up. If you had say a 4.5" driven sheave on the chipper then the approx sheave size on the engine shaft would be about 4.5 X 5.6, or 25" dia.

You might be able to live with a slower chipper speed ( I don't know if you have reductions of some sort in the existing chipper drive train) If you tried 2000 rpm the the sheave sizes would be (2000/540 = 3.7) assuming 4.5 driven, an approx. driver sheave would be 16.7. Lots of ways to go. The deal is with this set up you are trying to keep sizes as small and compact as is practical.

Thanks F. L. ,
The old manual says the B+S runs at 1875 RPM. I have the option of running my PTO at 1000 RPM but either way I've got to build a jackshaft setup. At that point, running 540 to say 2000 rpm should be "easy" enough. Your diameter recommendations work according to some close up photos of the Salsco 600 chipper on the web. Time to scale a photo and open the Grainger book. Oh yeah, and stop procrastinating and take off the old engine. Maybe take a few pictures along the way.

 

[Window Geek]

Any good Driveline type business can make one for you.

JJ
I've got to look for one of those driveline business that works cheep.
Seriously, where do I find an enterprise like that? Ask my machine shop buddies and real welder/fab people? Is this wheelwright work or automotive work? Sorry to ask such stupid questions, but if someone already knows how to do this (safely), I should at least look into it.

Thanks for all this extra input, guys. I thought this was going to be another orphan thread.

I'll keep you posted.

Paul

 

[J_J]

Anybody that does drive shaft, u-joints, etc should be able to build one for you, or a good machine shop, or welding shop. Ask your mechanic where they send their drive-shaft to be fixed.

 

[Ray2210]

I have been thinking about doing this with the chipper/shredder from my Troy Bilt Horse. I used a laser tach to figure out the the Horse is running the chipper at about 2000 RPM and that I'd need to gear it up 4:1. It's already belt driven internally so my plan would be to use a 4:1 gear box for compactness and simplicity. Anybody know where to get a reasonably priced gear box?

 

[J_J]

Try here.

Burden Sales Surplus Center

 

[F.L. Jennings]

I've been reading these posts with interest since the troybilt chipper/shredder I have is - and has - been sitting idle for a long time. The engine is still good but has always seemed underpowered to me as I used it. My interest is concentrated on input hp/torque from the engine or tractor you will be using. If you use some sort of shear pin set up then there is your safety.

In my case I have a no. 45hp Kubota (about 43 pto hp) and will have to use a shearpin or other safety coupling separation so that I don't blow up the chipper/bearings etc. since the original 4 cycle engine is not nearly that big.

Watch out for input torque/hp/rpm you can way overpower pretty quick, but with torque limiting through a simple flanged shear pin or similar weak link you can make it go. I'm thinking of using a spare universal shaft I have from a defunct bush hog.

I had a sawmill once I powered with a Buick V6 w/tranny and driveshaft that ran directly to a 20" driver pulley that rotated the 48" circle saw through a 8" wide flat belt.

You could either make the chipper free standing on it's own wheels or make/modify a frame so that it would mount as a 3pt hitch right on the tractor (if thats where it's going) Don't know what you have in mind here unless I over read it. I'm certain that it is a single knife chipper. I've designed 300tph chipmills that utilize 2000hp Carthage 15 knife X 30" throat chippers. Man will they eat wood at 200+fpm infeed!