Chipper

MaryAnn

MaryAnn

What do you all think of the Altec/Woodchuck or Bandit brands?

Do you think working with a disc chipper prevents the backup?

I have to get a new chipper...the old one will just be sold for parts....is what the dealer's rep said.
 
Years ago I had a gas tank develop a leak while I was camping. No time to pull the tank so I headed to the auto parts store to get some epoxy. The guy at the counter gave me a great tip that I've used every time since then when I do a crack repair.

Take a punch and make a series of holes along the edge of the crack. They don't have to be too big, maybe 1/8" plus and space them maybe two inches apart. Clean the area and mix the epoxy. The holes allow some epoxy to flow through and create a sort of mushroom blob on the inside.

Put on just enough epoxy in the first layer to make a thin coat and cover the punched holes. Then make a couple of more thin layers each a little larger in diameter.

I've drilled holes into gas tanks too. When I do that I have the small nozzle on my shop vac right next to the bit to suck up the debris.

More than one of these epoxy patches lasted me years without ever leaking again.
 
Thanks for all of the good advice! I was too busy to check back here until now. What caused the problem is something has been shaken so hard above the gas tank that it is sort of crushing the tank. The repair for the tank sounds great, but the bolts on this thing rattle loose all of the time.... It seems like it needs to be rebuilt. How much do you think that would cost?
 
Sounds like you've been running the chipper with wood trapped behind the chipper blades/knives, and this throws the whole mandrel out of balance resulting in the whole chipper shaking itself apart.

I strongly suggest you take your chipper to a Vermeer dealer and have it thoroughly serviced/repaired.

Short of that, get it to an experienced chipper mechanic who knows their stuff and have them do the same.

jomoco
 
Locktite is a wonderful product. There are several formulations, get the one that will work in your application. Clean the nuts and bolts first and reassemble. Don't rely just on lock washers.
 
It's past that point....but I think you're right about how the issues progressed. Thanks....what do you think of the Altec/Woodchuck or Bandit brands? Do you think working with a disc chipper prevents the backup?
 
Depends on the type of work you do most? The fact that you were running a BC 1000 indicates you do mostly pruning. Which your current chipper's well suited for.

Any tree service owner learns quickly that having a back up chipper on hand is a must to keep income flowing in uninterrupted. Vermeer and Morbark are the two makes I'm most familiar with. Both have proved to be capable machines to me over the decades.

If I were in your shoes I'd buy a new chipper sufficient to your needs of either make. Probably a Vermeer since you're already familiar with their workings and maintenance needs. Then have the old unit brought up to snuff for use as a back up so the new chipper can be maintenanced more frequently and last much longer as a result.

In my experience loggers and foresters prefer Morbarks, whereas suburban based tree services prefer Vermeers.

Either way you'll find that frequent maintenance, particularly knife and cutter bar change/adjustment/replacement are the key to dependable chipper performance and longevity in this biz.

Best of luck MaryAnn.

jomoco
 
Thank you....we do mostly removals, so perhaps that machine was not a good fit to begin with. I am now looking at either a used BC1800 for $15k (19" feed)2100 hrs, 1991 model. or ALTEC 2001 Woodchuck Hyroller 1200G Wood Chipper (12" feed) with winch 2400 hours (2001 model) for about the same price. Which do you think would be best? The guy selling the Woodchuck indicated that having a disc would keep the material from getting stuck so often. Hard decision and you input is much appreciated!
 
Service is important. Is there a local shop that works on the brand chipper that you're buying?

The nuts and bolts of maintenance are one thing. With the ever increasing electronic control systems on the machines its going to make it easier if you have a local shop.
 
The BC 1800 is a great chipper for removals, but an extremely dangerous chipper for an inexperienced operator, or any operator to work solo with.

Establish a strict two man minimum operation policy and enforce it like a tyrant, and the 1800 will be a great choice for you if maintained scrupulously. Sharp knives and precise cutter bar adjustment on each and every knife change will insure good chipper performance for you MaryAnn.

The 1800 has eaten quite a few groundmen and spit them into the backs of many chipper trucks. Make dang sure that doesn't ever happen at your company.

jomoco
 
If you do decide to buy the 1800. There's a couple of things to bear in mind.

They are just as susceptible to getting wood trapped behind the knife pockets as the BC 1000, perhaps even more so, particularly chipping softwoods.

However there's a nifty trick I learned to solve the problem without opening up the mandrel cage and chiseling the trapped wood out of each knife pocket.

This can be done by instructing the truck driver/chipper operator to carry a few very fat, say 16 inch or so, straight grained hardwood rounds in the truck with them. As soon as the chipper goes out of balance and starts shaking, feed one of those hardwood rounds into the feed wheels vertically, like on a wood splitter. This acts like a push chisel, forcing the trapped wood out of the knife pockets, returning the mandrel to balance.

Works like a charm, real quick too!

jomoco
 
Any drum chipper can be dangerous if not operated properly. At least one with feed rollers like the 1800 is a lot safer than a chuck and duck with nothing to control the infeed rate. I've been using 1800s for years and I'm still in one piece. Common sense goes a long ways in any kind of tree work. Someone without it will get hurt whether he/she is chipping trees or just running a saw. Lots of folks out there with little regard for their limbs and lives. Just don't be one of them...

AP
 
Ahhh, I'm really glad you told me that.....I have such a small operation.....it would be hard to have two guys on the chipper at the same time.....
 
MaryAnn
what chipper do you already have that is going to be parted out and where are you located? I may be interested
Scrat
 
MaryAnn,

Jomoco and I could debate chipper safety all day long but the short of it is this - a bc1800 chipper IS NOT a dangerous chipper unless you send an untrained idiot with no regard for his own safety out to operate it. If you go through chipper training with your employees and they understand the do's and don't of chipper operation, they will not get injured unless they bring it upon themselves by doing dumb stuff.

If training is not going to be provided and common sense is not expected to be used then NO chipper should be put into use. PERIOD. I've never had a chipper injury in all my years of tree work and been using the bc1800 exclusively for the past 15 years. NO injuries and NO need to have two people operating it. I respect Jomoco's opinion but I respectfully disagree with it.

I wouldn't own a bc1800 if I though it might injure me or one of my employees. We're all family men with wives and kids to support. None of us have a death wish. In 27 years of tree work, we've had two minor injuries that required outpatient treatment. None Zero Nada chipper related.

Respectfully,

AP
 
There's a long list of family men whose children lost their fathers because their daddies were chipping solo with an 1800.

You can call them idiots all day long tough guy, they're not around to defend themselves.

But I'm here you jerk.

jomoco
 
You call me a jerk because I disagree with your opinion. I can see this debate is going no where so i will not respond to this or any of you PMs further Jomoco. You're just looking for someone to argue with and I have better things to do with my day. Thank you.
 
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