Feed motor fell off chipper today

So, picked up the fixed chipper Tuesday. Again, Morbark covered the feed wheel and bearings (but not the roller chain that got damaged during the failure. $42, whatever.) Big problem was the labor: It was over 10 hours labor at $105/hr to change the wheel. Even worse, they told the boss it would only be "a couple of hours. Easier than the bottom feed wheel." and he believed them. When he told me that I laughed out loud, as the top wheel is obviously way more effort to remove than the bottom. Thus with him thinking it was only going to be $300 or so, he told them to "service it while it's there." Oops. Bill was $2400. $500ish in filters and fluids, 14 hours labor.

Now running it the past 2 days, we notice the top feed wheel doesn't want to climb up and over the smallest of bumps/knots on the material and requires a bump up on the yoke lift to get it moving. Dealer says bring it back, but of course they're an hour away, and I'm sure they'll find a way to bill us for something else.:muyenojado:
 
I dont have any experience working on chippers but i was an automotive mechanic in my previous career, and mechanics are all the same. The shafts may have been defective but still suffecient for the design. But you always have to look beyond the failed part. Dry, dirty or failed bearing for example increase the load the motor has to turn which would add more to the shaft as well as add heat which can lead to the shafts failing.
 
Unless the bearing were the defective parts, I've seen greased bearing fail. I'm not saying they weren't greased. But debris inside or clogged grease zerks can prevent the grease getting to where it needs. And sometimes manufacturers end up going with sealed bearings which because not everyone greases when they should so sealed bearing will last longer compared to a greasable that does not get grease when it should. But when greased often and kept clean will outlast sealed bearings
 
My friend's old company he worked for had the same thing happen to their morbark. Then they bought a brand new one and the chipper came with a defective radiator. It seems this is a common problem with morbarks. Either a junk shaft or junk shaft bearings.
 
I'm just trying to give jeff some things to look out for in the future or maybe some ammo to use to get their money back. It may be easier for a dealer to say the shaft broke due to abuse than to say their bearings failed when its clear they have been greased properly or even better if they were sealed bearings.
 
Only reason i replied was that shaft looks like it broke from twisting instead of snapping from the weight of the motor


Gorman said:
My friend's old company he worked for had the same thing happen to their morbark. Then they bought a brand new one and the chipper came with a defective radiator. It seems this is a common problem with morbarks. Either a junk shaft or junk shaft bearings.
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Its not just the chippers. Junk parts are everywhere. On vehicles it's gotten to the point that you need to use OEM parts to get the longevity that was originally specified. And even OE parts are having more and more failures out of the box. Manufacturers source cheaper materials and labor instead of raising their prices to keep up with the industry.
 
So..it happened to me today too. I purchased this 2010 morbark m15r with about 1000 hours on it a few weeks ago, Hardly used at all. Today I was feeding it with brush and it worked fine. Then I noticed the bottom feed roller stopped moving. This is what I found.
Now, I purchased this as a private sale However this is clearly a bad design on Morbarks part. What is my course of action? Being that I have not purchased this from a dealer?
 

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I would say you have no 'right to expect' anything from anyone because it is a used 2010.

However, given this thread, and if you were willing to have the shaft tested by a person who knows metal properties, and post results far and wide; I would think Morbark would like to save face and demonstrate some product integrity.

Near me they pour 600 HP through 2 inch shafts and have them function fine. Pull an axle on a 1/2 ton Ford - little bigger than that if at all. And they are performing fine from 30 years ago.

Metal is not up to functional specs.
 
merle_nelson said:
I would say you have no 'right to expect' anything from anyone because it is a used 2010.

However, given this thread, and if you were willing to have the shaft tested by a person who knows metal properties, and post results far and wide; I would think Morbark would like to save face and demonstrate some product integrity.

Near me they pour 600 HP through 2 inch shafts and have them function fine. Pull an axle on a 1/2 ton Ford - little bigger than that if at all. And they are performing fine from 30 years ago.

Metal is not up to functional specs.
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Agreed, but I also bought my mazda car used and they stand behind any flaw that was the manufacturings issues. Then again, those are noted issues. I just think it's strange that these are breaking. Also, how many have broken that we don't know about that Morbark is keeping secret. Then again, if it wasn't for this thread I would of thought nothing of it. Just an "Oh Well"
 
It looks like a corrosion problem, at least from your pictures. I truly don't believe morbark will help. This is not to say that you shouldn't contact them, maybe you'll be surprised. Do sticks, chips, dust collector around this area? This might accelerate the corrosion. That 1390 is lookin pretty good huh? :)
 
Nothing collect there. No, I am very happy with this machine. Also I got it for a good price and figured there would be some things that needs fixing. Just wasn't really thinking it would be this. I was imagining small things. Does this have to be fixed by morbark? I might attempt it. Does the whole bottom feed wheel need to be replaced?
 
Company I work for had a feed wheel shaft break, they were able to have a new shaft welded onto the feed wheel. Might save some cash. Do you have another chipper? If so I say go to work and let someone to fix it.
 
BzRman said:
Company I work for had a feed wheel shaft break, they were able to have a new shaft welded onto the feed wheel. Might save some cash. Do you have another chipper? If so I say go to work and let someone to fix it.
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Yeah, I have another chipper. I just got the morbark. I need it for a large job in two weeks. I am dropping it off to Morbark on Monday to get fixed. I want it down right so I don't have to worry about it again. Plus, then it's on them if it breaks again in a short time.
 
I agree with your Mazda analogy. And if this is the type of thing you don't 'like' to do in life (persuing the issue with Morbark corporate, not a dealer) offer someone that does like it a percentage or all of the value of what they do cover.
 
merle_nelson said:
I agree with your Mazda analogy. And if this is the type of thing you don't 'like' to do in life (persuing the issue with Morbark corporate, not a dealer) offer someone that does like it a percentage or all of the value of what they do cover.
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Okay your hired. I offer you 20% of whatever you can save me. Oh, and you have three days!!
 
We had the exact thing happen on our m15r a few years ago. We no longer have the machine, but I do recall that the entire lower the feed wheel was replaced. This occurred while the machine was still under warranty and everything thing was covered.
 
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