Just make sure when you put it all back together, you tighten the non drive side down first with that big bolt and washer that goes in the end of the shaft. If you don't and do that side last, there's a good chance you'll side load the driven side bearing and that will cause it to fail prematurely.
That bearing isn't press fit to the shaft but they can act like it after being together for all of those years. The new bearing comes with the housing and everything so don't worry about cutting the housing and race to get it off. Just be careful to stay out of the shaft while you're cutting.
You're looking at $160-170 for both bottom feedwheel bearings depending on the year. They're really not too bad to change either, a little heat on the inner bearing race will help if they're rusted right on there.
There is always a little gap between the top and bottom feedwheels. Can you take some pictures of it so I can see if anything looks out of the ordinary?
That's a tough one @CutHighnLetFly , I don't have one of those machines in the yard. What engine do you have on it? Have you tried having yours recored?
If you want to give me a shout when you're by the machine I can walk you through what to look at on the back side of that panel, you might be able to fix yours! 989-772-8818
That seems really strange. I can't think of any PTO manufacturer that would make a PTO or replacement shaft that would take a 31mm ID pilot bearing. Do you still have the old pilot bearing by chance?
It might be getting it's tach signal from the alternator, most generally it is the white wire coming from the tach. The hydraulic oil shouldn't affect the autofeed whether it is warm or cold. If you have any more problems call 989-772-8818 and ask for Paul, he has forgotten more about Woodsman...
Are the new or just sharp? On a drum chipper, anything more than 1/4" of sharpening off of each edge will greatly decrease machine performance since the knives do almost all of the throwing in a drum chipper. Also, all Woodsman machines require a 1/8" thick shim under new knives. So I would try...