Chipper winch specs

tomthetreeman

tomthetreeman

Participating member
Location
Rhode Island
I am looking to retrofit my Morbark 2400 18" chipper with a winch. I bought it used... Why anyone would spec out an 18" chipper without a winch is a mystery, but c'est la vie.

Questions:

Is it a MUST to have the winch over-ride the feed wheel?

Do some chipper winches have the option to free wheel to pay out line? (I have only worked with a few that did not, just wondering if some do.)

What is an acceptable # rating for an 18" chipper? Morbark specs #5000, but I'd like to know what others are.

The PARTS ALONE for the factory retrofit are $6100, which is why I'm not going that route. In case you were wondering. Thanks in advance for any help!

-Tom
 
[ QUOTE ]
I am looking to retrofit my Morbark 2400 18" chipper with a winch. I bought it used... Why anyone would spec out an 18" chipper without a winch is a mystery, but c'est la vie.

Questions:

Is it a MUST to have the winch over-ride the feed wheel?

Do some chipper winches have the option to free wheel to pay out line? (I have only worked with a few that did not, just wondering if some do.)

What is an acceptable # rating for an 18" chipper? Morbark specs #5000, but I'd like to know what others are.

The PARTS ALONE for the factory retrofit are $6100, which is why I'm not going that route. In case you were wondering. Thanks in advance for any help!

-Tom

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Its possible that the previous owner fed it mechanically.
One of the first morbarks I ran with a winch did not have the over ride (from the factory), what you had to do to get any power out of the winch was to put he wheels in neutral with the safety bar.
All the winches I have seen have had a free spool feature. This was great most the time. Except when the bosses son didnt lock it down before feeding the remainder of the tree through... Along with 3/8 grab hook and 75 feet of 3/8 cable. BANG
ahhhhh.gif

I dont know the #s but 5000 seems a little much, but thats just my thought.
Factory retro fit I believe recieves tray jacks now. Our first winch chipper broke between the feed wheels and the drum due to not enough support. The next one had jacks to solve that. (Wish I had pictures of it, but that was 10+ years ago).
Hope this is helpful
 
I've always wondered if there would be a way to use a portable gas winch instead. Maybe having some sort of bracket welded on top of the infeed. It could be removed and used elsewhere as well. Obviously they arent as powerful but hey, could still be cool.
 
There was a whole winch assembly for a m18R on tree trader for $1300 I think. We had a gas winch on our old old 2400, it sucked. We've also removed the hooks on all amsteel cables and just use a slippery timber hitch for attachment.
 
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If you get the Tree and Landscape Equipment Trader mag. page 67 contains an add for Landmark Machinery LLC. They claim to have 30+ reconditioned morbark winches. Look them up or possibly a similar alternitive route. www.landmarkmachinery.com

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Whats weird is that all the big chippers they have for sale, none of them HAVE winches on em...
 
Thanks for the input, guys. I can't find the $1300 winch, maybe it was in the Feb. edition?

Landmark has them for $3300... Not too bad, but enough to keep me looking.

Bonner, they probably offer them separately when you buy a chipper from them. More $ that way.

-Tom
 
I used a Vermeer 1800xl with a winch for a few years. It was awesome. amsteel on the spool. I don't know for sure, but I would guess it couldn't handle much more then 4000#. It had freewheel. I've also used a similar sized newer Bandit with a winch. it didn't have amsteel on it, but it also had freewheel. Compared to the Vermeer it sucked though. it didn't have a feed wheel override button so you couldn't chip a little, winch a little, chip a little, winch a little. The controls were too sensitive also. It was more difficult to winch slowly. It was like the winch only had one speed, fast. It was nice being able to open up the feed wheels though.
 
as far as the winch overide goes, Im pretty sure that is just a safety thing, you wouldnt want your winch going in the chipper, so the over ride is there not so much for the owners of the machine but the workers using them. They should all have a free wheel, you disengage the wheel and then free out to your load, engage wheel but be sure to get the slack out of it EVERY time before power pulling. otherwise you will be unbolting the whole cover and fixing the mess in side the drum. So many cool things you can do with that tool. but be smart and safe with it!
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I am looking to retrofit my Morbark 2400 18" chipper with a winch. I bought it used... Why anyone would spec out an 18" chipper without a winch is a mystery, but c'est la vie.

Questions:

Is it a MUST to have the winch over-ride the feed wheel?

Do some chipper winches have the option to free wheel to pay out line? (I have only worked with a few that did not, just wondering if some do.)

What is an acceptable # rating for an 18" chipper? Morbark specs #5000, but I'd like to know what others are.

The PARTS ALONE for the factory retrofit are $6100, which is why I'm not going that route. In case you were wondering. Thanks in advance for any help!

-Tom

[/ QUOTE ]

Its possible that the previous owner fed it mechanically.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, winches suck compared to a loader/excavator/mini skid.

I did have one job where we fed it by hand though. 3 hours of chipping some else's mess. Otherwise we only fed it with a machine.
 
Believe it or not, in my immediate market, a mini would be something we would bust out maybe once or twice a week. Properties are small, lots of little yards with walkways, retaining walls, etc, would keep it on the truck a lot.

I still want one, though! :)

-Tom
 
Dude get a winch. I would never buy a chipper without one. We use it everyday. It will replace a ground guy. Best 6k you can spend. Have morbark put it on.
 
I think a winch and a mini, while having overlapping areas of helpfulness do different things.

A mini is great, wonderful, awesome and all that... but so is a winch. The winch on our chipper is a huge timesaver, it travels WITH a chip truck and chipper no modifications necessary. Obviously its great for pulling logs, brush, working with the crane etc. We regularly use it in place of a GRCS by attaching a figure 8 to the rigging line, hard locking it, winch to figure 8, pull...need to let down, use figure 8 to lower. The winch pulls way harder than a comealong, GRCS and maasdam all put together. On long straight driveways you can leave trucks on the road and winch everything straight in. We have floated whole trees over ravines and terrain that no loader could maneuver. Doing storm damage a winch can be a HUGE asset!

I could go on and on, conversely I could assemble a list of equal size detailing things that loaders and minis excel at where a winch would be a dismal comparison. They are different tools and in truth I find them both to be 100% necessary!
 
Well said Bonner.

Dan, if I actually had 6K (or a line of credit) I would consider the factory kit. Definitely not in the budget. Even the rebuilt ones from Landmark are close to 4K shipped.

BUT, it looks like one of our local shops can build one for a lot less. Their main business is winches and booms for the marine industry, and I think we can build something that will fit the bill. Which is why I am looking for specs.

So far I have determined that:

about 100 FPM is a decent speed,

The winch should freewheel,

5000# is about right for an 18"

winch does not have to over ride feed wheel

Any other details anyone can think of would be helpful. Thanks,

-Tom
 
Make sure they put the beak out far enough over the feed table.

otherwise you'll be sucking logs underneath the machine. an old bandit 250 was setup like that, sucked.
 
One of my competitors has an electric winch bolted to the top of the feed chute. Built up with 2" square tubing. Feeding a Bandit 1890 I think.
Cheap and it works.
 
+1 on having the beak out far enough, it would suck if they screwed that up.

Regarding the override. When you are winching large material in you want the feedwheels off, putting pressure on the feedwheels with the winch > disengage the winch and engage the feedwheels > feedwheels grab piece > now instead of fighting for neutral with your bump bar just pull the override, slack the winch, undo the line and retract it > engage feedwheels.

We use the override a lot, even when we arent using the winch. It is a much more reliable way to stop the feedwheels, for whatever reason, without having to stumble between reverse and neutral with the bump bar. You will be way less likely to chip your winch line with an override and it adds a huge degree of convenience and safety.

When we do crane work the override is a necessity almost.
 
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