Chipper - Vermeer BC935. bedknife/ramp question

[pantheraba]

I am close to purchasing this chipper...trying it out this weekend.

I had a piece of dry dogwood (approx. 6 inch diameter) jam the disk. When we cranked up the feed roller to expose the offending wood piece and removed it Alex noticed part of a plate that seems to be a "ramp" or transition plate from the feed chute to the disk with the knives on it...that plate is missing part of the left side.

The plate is welded in on 3 sides...it seems the missing part could allow something to get hung there and jam things up.

Anyone had to replace one of these before? I can't find a manual on line so don't know what to properly call it.

The pictures are taken from the disk/knife side looking into the feed chute...the curved part of the "ramp" is missing.

Any idea what to call the part? What would it cost to get it replaced?

Alex's thought is that we can cut out the part still there, have our local machine shop make one and then he can weld it back in. It looks like it basically covers a gap from feed chute to the anvil (I guess that is what it rests upon).

He figures it might be a $200-300 repair...and that I should see if the seller will drop the price based upon that repair being needed.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Don't know any of the specifics on this. But I do highly doubt you could call a Vermeer dealer, have him pick it up from you and return it to you with a 100% proper repair, for that price.

When all is said and done you will have put in a bunch of two person time on it, risked burning up the machine during torching and welding, and then accepted all liability for that the repair will stay together correctly through the initial testing as well as for years to come.

Isn't that cheap at the high hundreds and pushing toward a thousand?

 

[Altissimus]

...get factory repair price.

 

[rskybiz]

Good welder should be able to fix that no problem other than it being such a tight spot but it will take time. Seing that I would be looking it over far more, that metal went somewhere.

 

[pantheraba]

that metal went somewhere.

Whoa...good thought...thanks.

 

[treebilly]

Check to make sure the metal is out of the disk area. It probably is though. The metal on the tray eventually wears thin from everything going through. That looks like something hammered it awful hard or someone messed it up removing the anvil. Never seen that model chipper before so I can't offer much

 

[pantheraba]

Thanks for the input. When I tried out the chipper for a few days I discovered that broken part and the belt shredded, too. That made it kind of a pickly situation to me...what with me borrowing the chipper and returning it with a shredded belt.

But the owner said the chipper had been sitting a long time and the belt was probably dry rotted...he didn't get excited about it at all.

I had stopped by Vermeer before I returned the chipper and got prices from Vermeer on what it would cost to repair that broken plate and replace the drive belt. Plate repair would be $760 to $1000...they would have Vermeer in Iowa pull blue prints, cut out the part, ship to GA and then install it. The belt cost would be $62 and about $350 to replace it...and there is a big bearing that 90% of the time won't come off...has to be cut off...it cost $189 if it won't come off.

I told the seller all this and said I liked the chipper but with all those repairs I'd need a substantial price reduction from him. Instead he offered to correct the problems in their shop...sounded good to me.

I talked to the sellers yesterday. They cut a new plate and welded it in yesterday. They took the engine off yesterday and will replace the belt Monday...They said it's one of the few chippers that you have to do that way. They didn't realize that when they said they would make all the repairs and sell for the agreed upon original price.

Anyway, looks like Monday or Tuesday I should have a ready to use chipper. I have already started taking down a sweetgum to feed to it...looking forward to having a way to handle brush finally.

 

[Raj]

Excelent!

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

Cool. Where will you dispose of chips, and what will you chip into?

 

[pantheraba]

The WORLD!!! At this point it will be leaving chips on site...no chip truck, can't get that dedicated time wise to treework. We do have a 20 foot trailer with 2 foot high extruded metal sides that could be used to carry chip if necessary but I don't want to go there.

 

[SeanKroll]

Gary, how is this chipper working out?

I see one for sale near me. Says it has an overheating issue. Looks like a Wisconsin air-cooled engine on the auction chipper. What does your have?

What does yours weigh?

 

[SkwerI]

Sean, I saw that one. Keep looking.

 

[SeanKroll]

 

[pantheraba]

Deutz diesel...35 Hp...doing very well so far. Unsure of weight. Traveling home from 5 days in Ohio...will check weight wit then if u still need it.

 

[treebilly]

Wait a minute Gary! You were in my area and didn't let me know!

 

[pantheraba]

Hahaha...it crossed m mind....but we were in Athens, Oh...not close. On a tight time schedule too. Just finished a martial arts camp weekend, headed home.

 

[treebilly]

Should've come up early for the tcia expo. It was a blast.