Chuck and duck/ old school drum chipper adjustments

[Tree09]

No not yet lol, it rained all Thanksgiving break except for designated family time. I had grand plans this weekend on getting some stuff done, but the wife had grander plans i guess I'm working this next week now, but will be off after that so i have time again. But just so you believe that i actually own one, here it is sitting in my driveway right now from my kitchen window . 12" chipmore, with a vm motori diesel. Not bad for $1100 at a utility auction.

 

[SeanKroll]

That will make you money, and be a great back-up chipper if you upgrade, or sellable for a profit.

My chute is round, and telescopes, rotates, and has the end deflector. Makes it easier to fill the box fully, in case you need a project (ya, right!), or somehow need to replace it. I hear you never get to blow chips onsite... that's another place where the round chute is great. Oh, yeah, it also has movable leg, to make the chute angle go up or down, too.

For your rig, that looks good. A guy I knew had that same shaped chute, and an 8' wide flatbed. He had to keep moving the truck to fill it full.



Do you have a rear foot, so it doesn't tip when not attached to the truck?



I just bought a swivel wheel that will quickly attach to the bottom of the tongue.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...te-caster-swivel-450-lb-capacity?cm_vc=-10005

I'll be able to roll it around pretty easily with two guys on flat, hardened ground, some effort for me alone. More stable with the loader on uneven ground and hills, as mine has very little tongue weight, and weight at least 25% more than my loader.



Maybe sell them on the virtues of mulching their trees...half the battle. Not for more formal settings, perhaps. Need decent chips.








You have Danger on the side. I want to paint NOISE on the side. Help it be more clean when the groundie can't hear me. Why I have to say "move away from the noise if you can't hear me" is baffling.

 

[Tree09]

all of the signage and stuff is from the previous owner, who i think did utility clearing for telecommunication lines, which would be a sweet gig. It's very tongue heavy, so running it not attached is no problem at all. They welded, poorly, the adjustable trailer tongue in place, which i think I'm going to cut off so i can put the chute right in the truck, limiting mess. I never get to leave chips, the houses here are usually very manicured, to the point of ridiculousnes, great market for landscaping tho. Think typical suburbia, complete with sidewalk to front door, driveway to attached garage, usually large silver maple accent front yard tree, with a couple others in the backyard for shade, all with brick edging and mulch and hostas, popup drains for the gutters and perfect grass rivaling a golf course except in the shade.

 

[Tree09]

I nabbed some more when i took the garbage out. The motor is a 4 cylinder, and it's air cooled, which is different. Rockwood clutch, which is worth what i paid for it. I need to put the other cover back on, had it off working on it.

 

[DMc]

That's a good looking machine!

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Nice simple Ol diesel as well. She'll make you some money for sure.

 

[Tree09]

She needs a good bath and some paint! But she does turn brush into chips, just need to get it dialed in. Working a fulltime job, and helping with 2 toddlers (especially when you have been on the road most of the year) is quite time consuming, so i take forever to get anything done sometimes.

 

[Al Smith]

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger ,I'm retired and it still takes forever to get anything done

 

[SeanKroll]

Those couplers are a PITA.

I bought a 12" pneumatic swivel caster from TSC for $46 to quick-attach to my tongue for moving it around. Need to drill and grind a bracket a bit to mount.
I bet yours is about the same weight. Might help with filling the bed of the truck with a stationary discharge chute, so you can move the chipper tongue side to side, rather the adjusting the jack-knife of the truck-to-chipper.

How's it chipping?

A great spot on the tongue to mount an Arbor-Trolley.

 

[Tree09]

I actually like the coupler, it's a bulldog one and locks very securely. Get it closed close to latching and a swift kick locks it up. I tried loosening the knives, but they are gonna require some heat and work to get em loosened up, so i left it for now because I'm doing a few trees right now and need it. I had 4 pine trees and an oak, and it eats branches well enough to get them done and then work on it afterwards. The pine chipped fine, gotta do the oak yet, and since most will be left for firewood it will serve its purpose well enough. I have another tree lined up, no chipping or taking any wood, just make a mess and leave. I'm still working full time too, so time isn't a friend of mine

I fit both the log arch and the arbor trolley on the feed tray, and a pile of cones in between the gas tank and the frame. I do love how it can carry my material handling tools for me!

 

[SeanKroll]

Those $10-15 blade touch-up sharpers help a lot between changes.

 

[Tree09]

Yup, i got a Klien one i got for my knives (normal kind). It's sharp, so it chips, but I'm going to adjust it like we've talked about and get new knives.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Just stay on top of touching it up! If you actually try to sharpen after they are really dulled you will just ruin that cool 'lil tool

 

[MasterBlaster]

Those tools are especially useful for the smaller blades. Keep that in mind...

 

[SeanKroll]

Have you found a chipper blade sharpening service?
Some people have them listed as "planer" blades.
Locally, a number of ACE hardware stores and a builder's supply houses have drop-off/ pick-up points for a professional sharpening service, with 1 week turn-around. Around $1/ inch, sometimes less.

Two sets of blades is prudent. I've never had my chipper unexpectedly eaten something that 100% killed production, but once, when tag-teaming with a company on their job, 'someone' got rocks in the chipper that immediately made it a 2"-capacity for the last bit. Changed blades/ turned anvil right after that job for a sharp set that was in the shop.

 

[Tree09]

No i haven't yet, i need to do that as well. For now, keeping them sharp isn't a big deal because they are actually in pretty good shape still, almost as good as a pocket knife with very few chipped parts.

 

[SeanKroll]

Seems like you could accommodate taller walls on the truck, or an enclosed box within the wheel-wheels and use a Loadhandler...this one is super-sale prices, ATM, for some reason Boxer Truck Bed Cargo Unloader 1-Ton Capacity | Northern Tool + Equipment - https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200682590_200682590?cm_mmc=Google-pla&utm_source=Google_PLA&utm_medium=Automotive%20%3E%20Lift%20Gates%20%2B%20Dump%20Kits&utm_campaign=Big%20Boxer&utm_content=57351&gclid=CjwKCAiA6vXwBRBKEiwAYE7iSwIafz3ulBZR_jsn57sSQUgeX2nXz04QjDAu0MHbgxRoop3QaqTmWxoCBksQAvD_BwE

Also, there is a $200 3000#, brand-name Loadhandler.



I like the concept of the live-edge slab signage.

 

[Patrick A]

Looks like a great option. Thanks for the link Sean.

 

[Tree09]

I've used a load handler for years, they are awesome, but I'm not gonna put one on my new truck I'm still planning on switching the bed out as soon as I get moneyed up again, and I'll build an actual chip box then

 

[SeanKroll]

Much better idea, with your skills.

A local guy got a dump box built with an L-pack toolbox, removable top, for his f550. Paid $15k just for the finished, painted box and toolbox!! I was astonished.

 

[Tree09]

I need to land a job like that!

 

[Tree09]

Alright, blast from the past, finally got around to doing this. Did a bunch of other maintenance on it this weekend, and finally got everything pulled apart. No wonder the gap was so much, the blades were way past disposal range. So treestuff has new ones, gotta finalize the order. They don't have a new anvil, so here's my thoughts. The old anvil has 2 sides that you could possibly use, but it's actually worn down so it's not even 3/4 anymore. Since it's so worn, trying to get a good measurement is iffy, so after some rudimentary ones I'm thinking I'm gonna get some 7/8 400 plate and either have it made or do it myself.

That would shim it up close to the .250 measurement, and then i could suck the knives in. The other alternative is to try to hunt down the right part, and then probably attempt to shim it up. The way it's built it drops in a pocket, so realistically shimming it would make me start drinking for real again sound like a decent plan guys?

True to form, i also think i found a newer chipper for a very good price. I've gotta go look at it, but i think it's a 16 inch cnd, complete with the blower. I know the guy who owned it, he's was mechanic for the utility so i know it's been maintained like no other. It's still a cnd, but it's bigger, but it's gas. At the price i couldn't go wrong tho, but we'll see

 

[Mick!]

A lot of farmers add weld to the anvils on harvesting machinery to build them back up.

Do you know anyone who can weld?

 

[SeanKroll]

I'd try to find oem.

A bigger, well maintained machine would be nice.
What do you have for Hp now? The gasser?
Capacity, now?

 

[Tree09]

Dunno on hp, but i have a diesel now, older idi obviously, air cooled actually, pretty cool. It's only a 12" but once i get this done it should be money (even more than it already is). I was thinking the slightly larger anvil to make the anvil to drum gap closer to .250, rather than the .375 plus gap it has now, as per the recommendations of this thread so far. No go then? I guess i could try it with the existing anvil first as i have 2 good sides left, and then see what i want to do. It's like they never flipped the anvil.

The knives had wayyyyyyyyyy to big of a gap, so maybe with the correct gap it'll do better. It is also missing what they are calling a seal bar, a chunk of aluminum that "seals" the top of the chute, so there's a pressure increase to help eject chips more forcefully. I'll make one of them too.