Vermeer BC600XL Chute modification: hinged to fold?

T

TheRoofMonkey

Location
Central
I'm wondering how many people have had to make the discharge chute fold to get the chipper into the garage without taking it off every night. I understand messing with the chute and causing a seam to be there will cause a higher risk of clogging. We're going to try it out anyhow and take our chances! I'm sure this has been done, and if done well, should work to my expectations anyhow.

I even thought of wiring a sensor to the hinged opening so that it would not operate with the chute folded down. Also having two functions needed to fold the chute. 1. Pull the latch 2. un hook a carabiner from a loop to loop system. Could also be used to put a pad lock on the chute so it couldn't be folded down during operation by some idiot.
 
Never seen anything like that .... ever. I have seen pole barns and garages modified to fit the equipment. A friend had a pole barn with barn style doors. Above the doors was a notch cut out to clear the crane with a canvas flap to keep weather out. Hope this helps.
 
Our old Morbark 13 has a hinge, I'd say less than a foot above where the chute attaches to the top of the drum housing. Two bolts hold it up, and there are 3 or 4 holes to choose from that determine the chute height/angle.

We have always used it to tilt the chute almost to the ground whenever it clogs. Gotta rotate the chute right till it clears the engine housing, then drop it on the battery box. A few good drops clears the whole chute, and when it's tilted down you can just reach down into the drum chamber to clear anything else.

Bottom line- it is doable. On ours the chute is a tiny bit larger at the bottom than the housing it folds onto. In other words, as chips fly up, there is no obstruction. I don't think I have a picture handy but I can get some if you want.
 
It's a good idea to have a lockout/tagout plan

An idea I had at one time was to put the hinge on the top of the chute. Then add flanges on the top part that would shoehorn the chute into position. The hinged part of the chute would lay back on the lower part. It would be very visible that way. Also if someone didn't flip and lock it down atmleastmthe chips
Would blow towards the truck

Having a grounding 'switch' like some choppers use to kill the ignition would be a good idea too. Not too complex either

Share pictures of whatever you build
 

Tom Dunlap said:
It's a good idea to have a lockout/tagout plan

An idea I had at one time was to put the hinge on the top of the chute. Then add flanges on the top part that would shoehorn the chute into position. The hinged part of the chute would lay back on the lower part. It would be very visible that way. Also if someone didn't flip and lock it down atmleastmthe chips
Would blow towards the truck

Having a grounding 'switch' like some choppers use to kill the ignition would be a good idea too. Not too complex either

Share pictures of whatever you build
Click to expand...

Well the hinge idea I had to start with is my favorite option because it seems the easiest and quickest, one man solution to getting the chipper in the garage. However after talking with many people, as well as the Vermeer dealership that will be doing heavy service on the unit, I'm worried about it being legitimate enough. SO, I may just use the already there hinge design that folds the entire chute to the side so you can access the cutting teeth. The problem there is, it would need to be chained or teathered to not fold all the way down so it doesn't hit the trailer next to it! Fold it down far enough to clear the 7' garage door beam, and not too far so it doesn't smack into the trailer next to it. A little more involved to hinge that way but at least its still all "factory."

I'll update with pics!
 
What did the Vermeer people say?

Sometimes factory reps give CYA advice for obvious reasons. No problem with that I guess.

I see how the doghouse hinges open. It sure seems like it would be easy enough to attach a chain to limit how far over it hinges. Not much difference than any lanyard setup. Adding in a shackle or screwlink would still allow you to hinge it down all the way for knife access
 
Tom Dunlap said:
What did the Vermeer people say?

Sometimes factory reps give CYA advice for obvious reasons. No problem with that I guess.
Click to expand...

They weren't fans of the idea. I mean, with the proper safeties, it is not much different than what they have on it already. Just that the underwriters didn't sign off on it, and the mass of the buyers don't need it to bend lower.
 
That's what I figured. If they said anything to support the idea they potentially could be liable. Fair enough to a point

I had a Vermeer chipper and a tall chip truck. Even with the chute deflector slid all the way up the chips wouldn't fill to the top of the box. There would be about a foot of empty space in the box. Way too X pensive to run a chip truck around without being as full as possible. I talked with a Vermeer engineer about cutting the sides and bottom of the chute then welding in a spacer to change the angle of the top of the chute. I knew it wasn't going to take much of a gusset. The engineer went right into 'company-speak' and 'design-speak' telling me that it would put strain on the elbow action and completely ruin the 'engineered' radius of the chute. All I was doing was making the radius a bit smoother

I thanked him for his input

Then I did some fabricating of my own. The chute only needed to have a two inch piece welded in. That was more than enough to change he discharge angle. I could fill the truck to the top

My 'engineering' held for the next 2-3 years that I owned it and for a couple of years after I sold it the chute survive the drive from minneapomdown to KC where a friend used it without breakage or clogging

Im confident a good fabricating shop could hinge the snout of the chute without any risk of failing. In fact, MY fabricating shop could do it! Haha
 
Ok so its not going to fit without modification or removing the ENTIRE assembly every night. Factory hinge will fold it right into the trailer next to it (see pics).
20160706_154257

20160706_154257

Too much equipment in one garage!

So here's the plan, double heavy duty hinge
Folding Chute mod1

Folding Chute mod1

Double heavy duty hinges
, but modified to have single grade 8 bolt shared so the hinges stay square, auto latch so when you close the hinge it will stay until you can secure it with two small grade 8 bolts,
chute Hinge mod2

chute Hinge mod2

auto latch
added lockout tabs so it can't get opened by someone not authorized.
Folding chute mod3

Folding chute mod3

lockout, prevents un-authorized openings

We'll keep you posted!
 
So far so good. Looks like you have a good plan so far. Don't forget an offset flange at the cut line so the chute overlaps itself. Nice job bro. BTW what's up with the name? I've been doing roofing for 25yrs along with 15 of tree work.
 
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