Pinch and pull chipper not pulling?

[marrmanu]

I have a Bestco pinch and pull chipper that starts to pull material in but after chipping a few inches the material starts banging around and not pulling the material thru. I had recently changed the blades due to this issue which did not seem to help. The owners manual states that there should be 1/32 gap between the rotating blades and the stationary blades which is how I have them set. I am thinking about opening up the gap a bit to see if this helps.
Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks Mike

 

[Bee-Positive]

You didn't say which model chipper you have.
There's 3 types of chippers, gravity feed, mechanical feed, hydraulic feed - assuming you have mechanical feed. There should be feed rollers that are mechanically turned to feed branches into the cutters. Check the adjustment and operation of those first before you mess with the cutter spacing.

 

[nbryan]

I have a Bestco pinch and pull chipper that starts to pull material in but after chipping a few inches the material starts banging around and not pulling the material thru. I had recently changed the blades due to this issue which did not seem to help. The owners manual states that there should be 1/32 gap between the rotating blades and the stationary blades which is how I have them set. I am thinking about opening up the gap a bit to see if this helps.
Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks Mike

If your chipper has a hydraulic powered spring loaded pinch roller like my Woodland Mills WC68, may I suggest having a look at the condition of the pinch roller's "teeth" sharpness.
Mine started misbehaving like this after 3 - 4 seasons of chipping since new.
From an older OTT thread reply of mine:
"
Over a few seasons the infeed roller teeth dull under usual heavy abuse they're designed for. I was already noticing it harder and harder to infeed until it grips and feeds. A few brain cells communicated, it seems, as I noticed how dull and rounded the teeth centers were compared to the edges. With everything shut down, prodded the feed teeth edges with my trusted sharpness gauge, my right index finger, and it all hit me. Find the grinder. Now.
My small angle grinder fit fine to position a clean pass and not wreck the angles too much.
Gauge indicated dangerous-for-woody-branches sharp.

And the damn thing just SUCKED those friggin branches in there again, like new.
To the immense relief of my sore old frame!
"

 

[marrmanu]

Not sure about the types. It is definitely not hydraulic. There are no rollers inside the chute. The fly wheel spins pulling the material up to 4" diameter in. In the past it would grab the material and pull it right in. Now it begins to pull for a few inches and then the material just starts bouncing around.

 

[Bee-Positive]

What Model ???

 

[marrmanu]

What Model ???

Bx 42S

 

[Bee-Positive]

Page 26 of the FH-BX42S (Farmer-Helper Machinery Co. / Betstco) users manual indicates this is a manual feed unit. Looking at the parts diagram there are no rollers or other type of feed assist. Check your bearings for any play. Make sure the twig breaker is clear and properly installed.

Maybe "pinch and pull" is more of a marketing ploy, never owned one so I don't know. You could try and adjust the cutters a bit but at some point you will lose cut quality and possibly jam the unit. It may also put unwanted stress on the bearings, again, never owned one so I don't know. Just shooting spit balls trying to help.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

I have a Bestco pinch and pull chipper that starts to pull material in but after chipping a few inches the material starts banging around and not pulling the material thru. I had recently changed the blades due to this issue which did not seem to help. The owners manual states that there should be 1/32 gap between the rotating blades and the stationary blades which is how I have them set. I am thinking about opening up the gap a bit to see if this helps.
Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks Mike

I used to have a similar (wallenstein which is a top shelf kinda chipper) and anything that works against gravity is bad, if gravity fed:

- make sure knives / anvil are sharp and spaced properly (too much or too little will be no good)
- don't over stuff the hopper causing binding / friction on side of chute. gravity can't overcome
- dry wood / twigs feed poorly, mix with greener stuff or larger stuff so gravity can do its work. heavy stuff helps as gravity works better on heavy stuff
- if you have been chipping green pine or similar make sure the chute and other internals not sapped up / sticky and stopping gravity from doing what its supposed to do. Keep internals clean and shiny.
- run rpm at full 540. Mine sucked if throttled back. this was important on mine.
- when safe look inside to see if you have a bolt, flange, lip, etc.... that stuff could be hanging up on. Everything inside hopper before the blades should be clean, smooth, not sticky, aligned, etc... so gravity can make its work.
- the alignment of infeed hopper to the body of the chipper is an area that can get out of alignment hanging material up
- gotta feed it slowly as pressure on the side of infeed chute can stop material from falling down onto blades.
- feed it fat end first


btw my gravity fed chipper / shredder is the only implement I was truly happy to see leave my yard.

cheers