Feedwheel design

[Jehinten]

What are your thoughts on which feedwheel design is better? My woodchuck has toothed feedwheels and does not always pull in brush as well as I think it should. I have gone through and sharpened them without much/or any improvement. I have used a similar machine, bandit 200, that has the flat bars on the feedwheel to grab brush and it grabs and pulls debris in better than my woodchuck. Is this typical for straight bars to grab and pull better than toothed?


On the subject of feedwheels I have noticed that my feedwheels have an inch or more of space between them and the sidewall of the chipper indeed chute which can allow small brush to get off of the feedwheels and to just sit there. Any thoughts on why I would have this space and why the feedwheel moves left and right? I cannot move it by hand but it has moved during operation, typically favoring the downhill side if not parked level.

I'm asking because I have a very reasonably priced welding shop nearby that I may ask them to fabricate either new feedwheels altogether or to remove the teeth and replace with a better design on my current setup. Here is a close up of the teeth as I was sharpening. Sharpened on the right, before sharpening on the left.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Can you increase the down pressure of the upper feedwheel?

on a couple of my chippers the springs were attached to eye bolts. It took some adjusting to find a good compromise for brush and logs

 

[Merle Nelson]

I have straight teeth/ribs/knives that are pointed but not "sharp" on my Bandit. I would think under identical circumstances your cleaned up teeth would grip better.

When mine slip I have the hydraulic down pressure of a ram I can activate momentarily. I notice I need to use it far more when it is past time to flip knives to a sharp side.

 

[Jehinten]

Can you increase the down pressure of the upper feedwheel?

on a couple of my chippers the springs were attached to eye bolts. It took some adjusting to find a good compromise for brush and logs

My springs are set up the same way and they are currently set on maximum down pressure which is where it was set when I bought it. I will be ordering new springs in a day or two, as we noticed yesterday that the hook on one spring was stretching out and about to fail. Maybe new (possibly stronger, if the old ones are worn out) springs will help this issue?

 

[Jehinten]

I have straight teeth/ribs/knives that are pointed but not "sharp" on my Bandit. I would think under identical circumstances your cleaned up teeth would grip better.

When mine slip I have the hydraulic down pressure of a ram I can activate momentarily. I notice I need to use it far more when it is past time to flip knives to a sharp side.

What I have found on my feed wheels is that when they slip the teeth will chew through the limb. This leaves a curved cut out on the limb where the feedwheel was sitting but does not help advance it into the disk.

Hydraulic down pressure is certainly an option I'd like and I have most components now to install it. I believe that will make a big difference on this issue. And I will admit that my knives are not always as sharp as they should be. I checked them two days ago and saw they needed flipped, they're not sharp but not horrible, but I haven't had the time yet to do so. We're expecting rain tomorrow, I'm hoping to get these changed then.

 

[Jehinten]

I looked through @Tom Dunlap 's infeed picture thread and none of the others pictured has as much space between the feedwheel and the infeed chute as mine has. My chipper is older and I am not the original owner, I'm thinking maybe the feedwheels got replaced with the wrong size at some point and this may possibly lead to some of the issues that I am having?


Close up of the spacing there's roughly an inch or so of dead space that smaller brush can get caught in. This issue certainly isn't a deal breaker for this chipper, but it does cause us to work a little harder clearing this brush for the next piece to go in.

 

[southsoundtree]

Check with the dealer.

 

[Jehinten]

Check with the dealer.

It's a woodchuck, bought out by Altec and they are not much help with older units that they have bought out.

 

[jmester]

Your feedwheels should not move side to side. If they are you need to look at your bearings and make sure your set screws are tight. I worked for a guy years ago that had a morbark with feedwheels like yours they get the job done but I like how bandits have the knife edge.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Huh, good to know. I would have thought those teeth could grip better than knife edge. Thanks for your thoughts jmester.