Bent Chipper Blades

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mr. Sir
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Are you still sure it is only the knives at fault? If they are, you have a documented history of attempting to work with the manufacturer in trying to resolve the issue.
So you have some good ammunition toward getting compensated
 
Ouch....! That sounds like easily a $5k bill to repair.

We had a bad run of foreign objects getting fed into my 250XP......pickaxe, steel winch cable with big hook.....sent knives right through the disk housing each time....was able to get it welded up...no damage to anything else, luckily.
 
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  • #56
I'm still waiting for a firm quote on the parts, but it will easily go over $5,000 even with the $1700 savings of using a remanufactured drum as opposed to brand new. I've asked Morbark to give me a price for the entire drum and housing assembly as a unit so that I can just drop the whole kit-n-kaboodle in place and weld it to the frame. It will probably be sent in about two weeks with their regular drop shipment to Tampa so I can save some money on freight.
 
Sorry to hear of your bad luck. Really hurts when you don't have a chipper or the truck that pulls it is down for one thing or another.:cry::cry:

My guess is your looking at close to $6000.00. Maybe more if you have the dealer do the work.

I have had engines go to hell, feed wheels, bearings and hydraulic motors ect ect.

The big question that would be at the back of my mind in a case like this would be if the machine would be the same as it was before it got tore up.??

I'd be tempted just to trade it in and get another one.

It would be a tough decsion I know and alot would depend on the age of the machine and if it is paid for or not.
 
That same thing happened to me when I was working for my old tree service. My old bosses didn't pony up the dough for the $500 torque wrench and thought they had the bolts on tight enough with their cheater bar. They did not.
 
Old Monkey said:
That same thing happened to me when I was working for my old tree service. My old bosses didn't pony up the dough for the $500 torque wrench and thought they had the bolts on tight enough with their cheater bar. They did not.
Click to expand...


Hmmmm....I've only got a cheapo TW....the kind with a pointer. Never had a bolt come loose on the Bandit, that I know of. Been procrastinating getting a good TW...but seems a $50 unit would suffice...? Nothing on my 250 requires over 180 lb.....
 
My chipper has 5/8" bolts course thread. I just use a 1/2" impact wrench on the outer ones and an endwrench with another wrench as a cheater on the inner ones.
 
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  • #66
Ax-Man said:
I'd be tempted just to trade it in and get another one.

It would be a tough decsion I know and alot would depend on the age of the machine and if it is paid for or not.
Click to expand...

It's a year and a half old with only 428 hours and I still owe 25K on the note. Similar machines are currently selling for 20K to 24K in good condition. I'd only get about 12K as-is. I checked out a carbon copy of my chipper on the dealers lot yesterday, a 2007 Model 15 Tornado, list price $44K!!! He offered it to me for 40. Needless to say, I passed. I'm going to just bite the bullet, repair this one, and keep it until its paid off.

We're basically replacing the entire drum system, so there's no reason it won't be as good as new in a few weeks.

And I have a back-up chipper, the 94 Bandit 250XP, so all is not lost.
 
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  • #68
lumberjack said:
Any chance of compensation?
Click to expand...

I doubt it. Too many variables and too hard to tell what broke first. I just got the estimate from the Morbark dealer; parts and labor - $11,631.83
 
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  • #70
Well it sure don't feel good, I can tell you that.

But hey, it's just a thing. All it takes is money to make it right again. Thank God no one got hurt.
 
Old Monkey said:
That same thing happened to me when I was working for my old tree service. My old bosses didn't pony up the dough for the $500 torque wrench and thought they had the bolts on tight enough with their cheater bar. They did not.
Click to expand...

This is what I am afraid of with my new to me machine. I have been putting off changing blades because I don't have a torque wrench that goes up to 300 lbs. That is what the dealer told me those bolts need to be torqued at.

Thee dealer also told me I could get by with a cheater bar on a breaker. That doesn't set too good with me. Everyone I know around here that has a Morbark does the cheater bar thing and nothing serious has happened.

I am the kind of guy who doesn't like variables when it comes to equipment maintenance. If it calls for 300 lbs torque I want to be sure it is 300 lbs. On my old disc chipper the knives only had to be torqued to 75lbs. I know this seems light but I was told that any more than that and the knvies on that chipper could break from being overtorqued.

I have inquired around what a torque wrench that goes that high costs. Snap On would be be about $600. Matco tools might have one for $300. This info is second hand from the mechanic that does some of our repairs. If anyone would have a feel for this it would be him.
 
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  • #73
Ax-Man said:
Everyone I know around here that has a Morbark does the cheater bar thing and nothing serious has happened.
Click to expand...


And I always use the torque wrench. Go figure.
 
I bought the torque wrench when I bought the chipper. $500 doesn't seem so much when you are paying $26,000 for a chipper.
 
Larry, have you tried Sears or even Home Depot tool department for a torque wrench? Snap On tools are nice, but most of us can't justify double the price of other brands.
 
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