My chances of getting the 20'' are slim. I'm probably gonna end up buying the 15'' to get me rolling. Sorry Royce I was gonna pass this to you. Thing that sucks is I was hoping to have the 20'' to also use the Morlifrt to load wood in my dumps. Kill 2 birds with one stone.
Morbark broken lower feed wheels
- Thread starter 96coal449
- Start date
Trevor Balgavy
New member
- Location
- Breckenridge
If you end up needing a bottom feedwheel for that M15R, we made up a few that have a replaceable shaft in them. Let me know if you need one!
Merle Nelson
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- SF Bay Area, CA
You're a good resource Trevor, thanks for posting here.
Trevor Balgavy
New member
- Location
- Breckenridge
Thanks Merle!
jefftheswede
New member
- Location
- San Diego, North county
Our 15" Morbark had the cutting drum shaft sheared off while chipping, luckily no one was hurt. Maybe a 2010 or so year make with around 4400 hours. It broke at the drum, now I am hearing it is not uncommon, is this true?
Jeff
Jeff
Yes, very common. Morbark will not stand behind it. Mine was a 2009 and broke at 800 hours. You must be using it to chip concrete....or else this wouldn't have happened
Merle Nelson
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- SF Bay Area, CA
I could see that. I could agree with that.
Maybe you could get the chipper salespeople to stipulate that at time of sale rather than intimating a person is stupid after the fact. "Hey my products aren't really intended to work at x capacity so only do this with them." "Oh, and by the way, this feed wheel shaft thingy is not really gonna put up with the bouncing and vibration of work every day - so don't expect it to." ("I mean it's not like you paid enough to get good quality steel or anything.")
Maybe you could get the chipper salespeople to stipulate that at time of sale rather than intimating a person is stupid after the fact. "Hey my products aren't really intended to work at x capacity so only do this with them." "Oh, and by the way, this feed wheel shaft thingy is not really gonna put up with the bouncing and vibration of work every day - so don't expect it to."
("I mean it's not like you paid enough to get good quality steel or anything.")Another factor I will add is blades need to be sharp. A dull knife will cause extra stress too. Same with keeping the anvils up to par and set at factory specs. I still wish Morbark would step up their customer service game. I know I did my part .....
I will still continue to love the big red monsters.
I will still continue to love the big red monsters.
jefftheswede
New member
- Location
- San Diego, North county
southsoundtree
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Olympia, WA
Are new Morbark chippers having issues such as these older ones?
New Morbark dealer set up nearby, and maybe getting moved closer. I'm wondering about a 12".
New Morbark dealer set up nearby, and maybe getting moved closer. I'm wondering about a 12".
flyingsquirrel25
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- South East, PA
Demo the m12r, then demo the 12xp bandit. No comparison between the machines. The two knifes on the morbark requires too much power to make it work good. We demoed a m12r with 130 hp gas and a 74 hp diesel and what a dog. Stall outs, and slow feed were common in tulip poplar, fir and pine. The bandit had an 89 hp gas, what a difference! No stall outs, consistent feed and limb breakdown on full capacity pine. We almost went with it except the upgrade to 15" was economically a no brainer.
Merle Nelson
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- SF Bay Area, CA
That is great information.
All companies, like people, make mistakes. We could start a thread about problems with Bandit chippers and I could even contribute a thing or two to a thread about that.
The thing that concerns me about Morbark on the issue of broken shafts is just leaving owners hanging out there on there own when if you talk to anyone who has a thorough understanding of different grades and qualities of steel - they screwed up in their choice of shaft material, or integrity of supplier etc. Then, in another thread on this forum, when invited to communicate about said issue a representative for Morbark is happy to invite me by for a round of visiting and back slapping at the next show (read that sales opportunity) but does not have time or the inclination to persue those members who have had trouble with his companies machine.
All companies, like people, make mistakes. We could start a thread about problems with Bandit chippers and I could even contribute a thing or two to a thread about that.
The thing that concerns me about Morbark on the issue of broken shafts is just leaving owners hanging out there on there own when if you talk to anyone who has a thorough understanding of different grades and qualities of steel - they screwed up in their choice of shaft material, or integrity of supplier etc. Then, in another thread on this forum, when invited to communicate about said issue a representative for Morbark is happy to invite me by for a round of visiting and back slapping at the next show (read that sales opportunity) but does not have time or the inclination to persue those members who have had trouble with his companies machine.
Merle Nelson
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- SF Bay Area, CA
12'' Morbarks never did shine on performance. It's the 15" and greater capacity, on the newer machines, that make their mark in production work. I have a liking to the old model 13's too ....
flyingsquirrel25
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- South East, PA
The old 13 was a great machine! We wore a couple out in my early days! I agree the larger morbark is a beast. If I had a bigger truck I would likely have an m15r instead of the 1390. But 9000+ pounds was too much for my 550 and load. Salesman tried to sell me the 2 knife "RX" but I wasn't going down that road.
jefftheswede
New member
- Location
- San Diego, North county
Hi flyingsquirrel25, just curious,
so, are you saying that these bigger chippers with only 2 knives cause excess pressure on the drum shaft?
Because that is what I think,
Jeff
flyingsquirrel25
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- South East, PA
Jeff,
I am far from a physicist. I never thought of it from that perspective of the drum shafts, only because I had never seen one break (never owned a 2 knife above a 10"). But it would make sense in my mind. The shock has got to be tremendous. My concerns come from the power needed to drive one knife hit per revolution in over 2/3rds of the drum width. I don't remember the exact specs but the m12r has something like a 4" over lap in the center of the drum where the knives fall at 180 deg. The out side edges (I think 5" either side) only has 1 knife per 360 deg. I can't imagine that is good for the opposite side bearing and shaft when chipping mid range stuff that always pushes to one side.
From my power perspective m12r w/ 130hp GM is under powered not considerably but it does struggle in full capacity material (tulip poplar is all I really chipped with it). Conversely 1390 same 130 hp GM is again slightly underpowered for hardwood (oak, maple, ash) but manages full capacity with little problem in softer stuff especially the tulip poplar. The 12 is a 12" opening the 1390 can be stuffed with 16-17. Big difference for the same power.
Many guys are of the mindset to throw more power at it. In this day and age more power cost big $$$, can cost a ton in fuel depending on your operation, causes weight issues with tow vehicles and I think is probably contributing to these failures. The physics just to work in my mind, but I'm really just a dumb tree guy and am probably talking out my a$$. I will wait patiently for someone to correct me with scientific data.
flyingsquirrel25
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- South East, PA
Talking to the salesmen and engineers is equally painful.
