Tips and Tricks

Pretty slick!

Along the same line of thought, I have a smaller chipper and have trouble filling the top corners in front of the chip box, so if I need to squeeze in those extra few feet of chips, I’ll unhook the chipper and crank the trailer jack as high as it goes.
Or disconnect and back the truck up at an angle so the chute is in the chip box. Need space to do it but helpful if you have a large volume of brush.
 
Another little one. With my new chip truck, I was totally unable to see my chipper when towing because it's about 2' wider than my F350. That both felt weird when driving, and made backing almost impossible since by the time you see it in the mirrors, it's turning too sharp and too late to correct.

Went to the hardware store, bought about $10 of pex pipe and t-fittings, a $6 roll of red tape, a $5 flag, $5 of cam-straps and made an easily removable visual aid. Initial testing around the property this evening seems promising. I have a job in two days where I need to back down a long tight driveway with the chip truck, so I threw this together and will see how well it works. I had some ideas that would be a little cleaner but involved drilling some holes in the chipper and quick-release items I didn't have. I didn't glue the parts together because I want to play with a few other ideas before making it permanent, and I'm on the search for quicker/easier mounts as well.

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Another little one. With my new chip truck, I was totally unable to see my chipper when towing because it's about 2' wider than my F350. That both felt weird when driving, and made backing almost impossible since by the time you see it in the mirrors, it's turning too sharp and too late to correct.

Went to the hardware store, bought about $10 of pex pipe and t-fittings, a $6 roll of red tape, a $5 flag, $5 of cam-straps and made an easily removable visual aid. Initial testing around the property this evening seems promising. I have a job in two days where I need to back down a long tight driveway with the chip truck, so I threw this together and will see how well it works. I had some ideas that would be a little cleaner but involved drilling some holes in the chipper and quick-release items I didn't have. I didn't glue the parts together because I want to play with a few other ideas before making it permanent, and I'm on the search for quicker/easier mounts as well.

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Snowplow markers work great for that, mount them permanently and they’ll last about forever.
 
Snowplow markers work great for that, mount them permanently and they’ll last about forever.

Knowing nothing about snowplows I hadn't thought about that option, not something I'd have found in my area in June though :p Thing is I'll only want the flags on maybe 15% of the time since I don't use the truck all that often. Some kind of mount like that (now that I've looked up what that is!) with a cotter pin to easily attach/detach was kind of what I had in mind for my ideal solution, I was just on a time crunch. Obviously open to suggestions, but honestly I have a feeling what I threw together here will be 'good enough' for the amount it will be used.
 
Another little one. With my new chip truck, I was totally unable to see my chipper when towing because it's about 2' wider than my F350. That both felt weird when driving, and made backing almost impossible since by the time you see it in the mirrors, it's turning too sharp and too late to correct.

Went to the hardware store, bought about $10 of pex pipe and t-fittings, a $6 roll of red tape, a $5 flag, $5 of cam-straps and made an easily removable visual aid. Initial testing around the property this evening seems promising. I have a job in two days where I need to back down a long tight driveway with the chip truck, so I threw this together and will see how well it works. I had some ideas that would be a little cleaner but involved drilling some holes in the chipper and quick-release items I didn't have. I didn't glue the parts together because I want to play with a few other ideas before making it permanent, and I'm on the search for quicker/easier mounts as well.

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On the subject of flags and visual aids for backing trailers, seems like the wireless backup cameras are a good option since they're so cheap now. $60, maybe less. Or more if you need something fancier.
 
I have one on my other truck and one sitting in my shop to install on the chip truck, but with the wide angle lense it's kind of disorienting. Good for seeing the big picture, but even with it I do most of the backing and all fine movements using the mirrors.
 
Another little one. With my new chip truck, I was totally unable to see my chipper when towing because it's about 2' wider than my F350. That both felt weird when driving, and made backing almost impossible since by the time you see it in the mirrors, it's turning too sharp and too late to correct.

Went to the hardware store, bought about $10 of pex pipe and t-fittings, a $6 roll of red tape, a $5 flag, $5 of cam-straps and made an easily removable visual aid. Initial testing around the property this evening seems promising. I have a job in two days where I need to back down a long tight driveway with the chip truck, so I threw this together and will see how well it works. I had some ideas that would be a little cleaner but involved drilling some holes in the chipper and quick-release items I didn't have. I didn't glue the parts together because I want to play with a few other ideas before making it permanent, and I'm on the search for quicker/easier mounts as well.

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Been wanting to do something like this for a while. Thought of this while in a neighbors pool Saturday. Just dropped by Ace and I think I have a $2.59 pool noodle solution. It friction fits onto the handle of the yoke lift and can pop on and off as needed, honestly I think it would ride on the highway as is.
 

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Been wanting to do something like this for a while. Thought of this while in a neighbors pool Saturday. Just dropped by Ace and I think I have a $2.59 pool noodle solution. It friction fits onto the handle of the yoke lift and can pop on and off as needed, honestly I think it would ride on the highway as is.
I love this kind of simple, inexpensive, "elegant" solution.
 

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I like using screw links (aka quick links) for rigging since they're cheap and robust. I had one 1/2" oval that became hard to turn. Being frugal, I hated the thought of just tossing it. I put a dab of lapping compound of the threads and ran the collar back and forth for a while. Now, it's better than new.
 
To avoid getting the wrong throwline, as well as keeping track of throwlines that are shorter than when new, I put labels on miniature screw links and attached them to the cubes/bags. If I change which line is in which container, I can just swap the labels around. I like little things that keep me from relying on memory.
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Not really a "tip and trick", more of a "tool you didn't know you needed" but feel it's worth mentioning here; if you're not carying a 5" Knipex plier-wrench (the smallest size) you're really doing yourself a disservice. Because of how the Jaws move parallel they're not like any other pliers out there, they don't round off bolt heads and unlike a wrench you can open your hand and "ratchet" them. They can be used for anything from tightening 21mm hydro line fittings to plucking tiny splinters from your finger and everything in between. I have these and the matching 5" regular knipex lock-jaws in my lunch bag every day. Yes we have hand tools on every truck but these two 5" pairs of pliers are always with me and handle 75% of the stuff we need a hand tool for every day!
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Ive had one of these for over a year now and worth a bump. One of the most used small tools we have. Very impressed with the quality.
 
I like using screw links (aka quick links) for rigging since they're cheap and robust. I had one 1/2" oval that became hard to turn. Being frugal, I hated the thought of just tossing it. I put a dab of lapping compound of the threads and ran the collar back and forth for a while. Now, it's better than new.
Also a hard screw gate can mean the link was over loaded and stretched causing binding.
 

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