Chipper Unknown brand chipper wont feed

[Jmsvickers]

Hi all, I have a unknown make model wood chipper that I borrowed from my folks. They got it and never used it but a handful of times but my pop said it kept jamming on him. I took an look at it and noticed three rows of the feeder roller teeth snapped off. It looks like the manufacturer used some type of hard rack teeth for the roller teeth. Unfortunately (or maybe luckly) the welder must have been hung over when they made it as there was zero penetration into the teeth. I made some teeth for it out of mild steel that were the same height as the factory teeth.

I put it all together and fired her up using my kubota l2501 and everything looked good, I put a stick in it and it wouldn't feed still..... the blades are plenty sharp as the cuts are incredibly smooth and clean with no visible burns to the wood. I can get the chipper to auto feed when I hold a branch up as high as I can in the chute but I'm not sticking my arm too far in there to hold up the branch.

I checked the height if the roller and the feeder roller is as close to the repaired dummy roller as it can be due to the design. I watched the rollers and the bottom roller doesn't seem to want to roll and the feeder roller just chews the branch rather than feeding it into the blades.

Any ideas? Also I am not sure of all the terminology for the chipper. Again I cant find a make or model anywhere on the chipper to help but it's a yellow PTO operated chipper.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Code54]

A few photos may help us get a better idea of what could be wrong. If you can post some we may even be able to give you the make/brand.

 

[Agvg]

The blade is also a part of the feeding, if the angle is wrong the blade will not help the feeder.

But the lower feeder roll is stuck or is it powered and the mechanism doesn't work as designed?

 

[Jmsvickers]

I'll try and get some photos, and if I hold the branch up toward the top of the chute it will feed itself, which makes me think the blades are fine I could be (and probably am) absolutely wrong though. The bottom roller is not powered, the top roller is powered but it just "chews" the branch instead of feeding it to the blades.

 

[mikester]

Congrats on the new chipper. If its anything like my Chinese chipper then quality control involves applying lead and cadmium based paint to hold parts together and hide defects. You have two options available to fix the problems:
1. If you like metalwork heres your chance to customize the chipper every time something breaks. Use your fab shop to make custom parts. Fix welds, etc. Wear an appropriate respirator. Be prepared for regular clockwork repairs. As you make improvements breakdowns will be further apart and you get real fast at making repairs.
2. Put on a fresh coat of paint and sell it on Craigslist.

I chose option 1. Eventually I will have an awesome chipper. Put on safety shields. Watch your hands and loose clothing.

PS. My chipper is an 8 inch model that had a mechanical belt driven feeder. I replaced the mechanical feeder drive with a hydraulic motor and made the operation reversible. When I feed in larger logs, the log starts to form a lip on the bottom which prevents it from feeding. Picture a pair of scissors where the blades dont touch trying to cut paper. The short term solution is to reverse the feed, rotate the log 180 degrees, then feed again to cut off the lip. Long term solution is to rebuild the chute to reduce the clearance between the blade and chute (fix the scissors).

BTW your welder probably wasnt drunk, only half blind and using wet rods.

 

[oosik]

Just "spit balling" here. Figure out why that bottom roller won't roll. Can it be turned by hand? You should probably be able to turn it by hand.

A picture or two might get the brand and you could find an owners manual.

What you decide to do should be based upon the need for an operational implement.

I use my Wallenstein BX62S every spring and chip around 900 small pine trees. Thinning my pine stands.

My only problem - everything leading up to the chipping is hard work. Felling, dragging, piling. The chipping is fun.

 

[Jmsvickers]

I can roll the bottom roller by hand, it is free spinning and the bearings feel good (no drag). The teeth on the rollers dont engage each other which I believe is on purpose to prevent wear and there is no real reason to have them touch that I can think of.

Since the chipper is still my folks I would like to get it running. If they choose to get rid of it I may try and buy it if I can get it running right especially since my tractor runs it well.

How did you convert the feeder to hydraulic? How difficult was it?

I dont have much fun chipping, I prefer cutting and dragging the trees! Different strokes!

I'll get photos later today when I get home.

 

[Jmsvickers]

Looking at photos online, my chipper looks very similar to the woodmaxx series of chippers. The feed roller drive train appears to be similar. And the overall design looks the same.

 

[ericm979]

Things I'd check listed below. I'm assuming it's similar to my Woodmaxx 8H except not hydraulic.

Is the powered upper roller turning the right direction?
Does it travel up and down freely (so wood can pass under it) when the springs are disconnected?
Is the spring tension strong enough to grip but weak enough to let the roller move up as the wood feeds?

 

[Jmsvickers]

So I think it's a WC-6 chipper, based off my research today.. I'll try and upload pics....