wood chipper feed roller

[hope to float]

Is it necessary to sharpen the teeth on the feed roller and what is the best method? Works fine with pine but struggles a bit with gripping harder woods

 

[UpNorthMI]

What make and model of chipper do you have, need a little more data to comment.

 

[NCL4701]

Probably need to increase the tension on the feed roller spring.

 

[mikester]

Check your knives, if they are dull/worn the feeder will have a hard time.

FYI When my knives are worn they still feel sharp, don't judge by the knife edge alone. Worn knives also tend to amke shred and strings instead of chips. When I put on new knives it becomes a whole new machine again, feeder works great, makes clean chips, chips real fast.

 

[Tropical Jack]

I have a Woodmax WM8H chipper coupled to my L3301. Like Mikester says, the feed rate is dependent on the sharpness of the blades. When my feed rate goes down, I know that it is time to either reverse the blades, get them sharpened, or get new blades. Green wood is a lot easier on the blades. Dry and seasoned wood dulls them much quicker. The clearance between the “bed block” and the blades is also important.
Jack

 

[ebinator]

Since were on a topic I am researching I'd appreciate imput on 3pt pto chipper/shredders. Running L3301. I would like both on my purchase but not at a cost of total value. I like walensteins and bearcat has a similiar product and landpride has chipper only. Those are my top 3 right now open to other manufactures not made in china unless cost warranty and peoples experiences make me bite the cost bullet over preference to not buying from china. I'd appreciate feed back if you own a one of or other and have imput. Thanks

 

[Tropical Jack]

Ebinator,

I do not have experience with 3 pt chipper/shredders that are made in the US. I do buy US made whenever I can. My priority was chipping, and my Woodmax is the 4th chipper that I have owned.

First was a Kemp chipper/shredder powered by 10 hp engine. Great shredder; limited chipper. Second was a 16 hp chipper. Good for chipping small limbs. Third was an 8” trailer chipper powered by Diesel engine. Great chipper. Present is the Woodmaxx that I have now.

I would never own a chipper again that doesn’t have hydraulic feed. I believe that all the chipper/shredder combos have manual feed. Might work for you; not for me. Just my 2 cents.

Jack

 

[Old_Paint]

I might be wrong, but I'd be willing to bet that the OP's problem is not really knives at all. He didn't say what model he has, so it's hard to tell, but what he's saying sounds familiar to me. What I have found a little frustrating with my Woodland Mills WC-68, particularly on large hardwoods (3"-5" diameter), is that they tend to refuse to feed, meaning they haven't even got close to the knives yet. The grips on the feed drum tend to cut the bark off the very end, but cannot dig into the hardwood like it can pine, so won't grip it and pull it in. The cleats are a straight edge (not very sharp) and simply won't bite on hard wood. What I usually wind up doing is feeding a smaller piece first to get the drum raised high enough that it will climb up on the larger material. This takes some loading speed skills and being very ready because the WC-68 will DESTROY a 2" limb of any kind of wood in a blink. I usually slow the feed drum down as slow as possible yet still enough flow to turn it. This accomplishes two things: I get the second piece in before the first is gone and it lowers the feed rate so I don't stall the tractor. IIRC, the Woodmaxx WM8H has dual infeed rollers. I know I looked at at least one model that had dual rollers. That will have a very clear advantage over a single roller machine, but I couldn't justify the cost differential since I'm never going to be using this thing for an income source.

That said, I am considering some mods to my infeed drum to improve the grip. I want to cut notches in the edges of the 'blades' of the drum, off-setting them so that no two notches line up, and sharpen the resulting teeth to a point so that they'll grip the hardwoods a bit better. Not stupid sharp that it becomes a wear/maintenance item, but to the point it will grip more like a peavy or tongs when wood gets there, and at a minimum, hog off some material on the end and finally grip enough to climb up on the doomed limb so that I don't have to use a two-stick infeed technique.

Tightening the infeed springs in my case would only aggravate the issue I have. If the first blade on the drum doesn't grip the leading edge of the material, it just starts hopping and making a lot of noise. This also normally makes the stop-bar shut off the infeed hydraulics. In addition to using the 'Two Stick" technique described above, I've also started trying to cut stuff that typically has infeed issues on a diagonal. Make sure to cut it so that the taper is turned up with the limb curl down (cut angle with the curl), or the limb will roll and slap ya pretty hard when the drum grabs it.

There is actually a third technique on longer straighter brush that can be stripped of limbs if the size warrants it. I keep a pair of lopping shears nearby for stuff that I know is going to give me troubles, so sometimes, if I have a really long piece, I clip all the limbs off and feed the little end first. That obviously doesn't work if you leave the small brush attached, though, and CAN lead to overloading the tractor if the infeed rate is set too high as the material gets larger in diameter.

It still beats the heck out of a 6.5 HP 3" chipper/shreader. It's a lot faster, for sure, and a lot less larger wood waste that I have to leave in a pile to feed termites before I can get it reduced to mulch/compost.

 

[eipo]

If youre feeding larger diameter stuff, cut the feed end at an angle so the feed roller can ride up a ramp rather than trying to immediately go over the full diameter.

 

[UpNorthMI]

I would recommend Dual powered infeed rollers which grab and pull material into the chipper head using two powerful hydraulic motors. These motors are powered by the chipper’s self-contained hydraulic pump and tank.

you will find This feature on WoodMaxx WM-8H and their higher end models. I run a WoodMaxx 9900 chipper, it feeds anything with no slippage and is just a beast on the back of my L3901. I have days where I feed it for 6 to 8 hours straight.

WoodMaxx has good support and spare parts stock, if you call a real person answers the phone.They also offer a discount for military people.

Pay attention and look for those duel powered infeed rollers, they are available on many higher end models from a number of good manufacturers.

 

[nbryan]

If youre feeding larger diameter stuff, cut the feed end at an angle so the feed roller can ride up a ramp rather than trying to immediately go over the full diameter.

This. Just stay away from above the log as it's fed in with an angle cut off the feed end. I find the techique works best if the angle cut is fed cut face down, not up, as would be expected. Usually I gtry to feed with the angle cut face up but often the WC-68 rollers will still struggle fairly often. Then I flip it over and the roller grabs and forces the log's weight up against the chute top as it pivots the cut tip down and in. THEN there's no slipping! But the other end of the log will get forced up hard by the spring as it catches and pulls it in, so STAY AWY from anywhere above those logs.

 

[Old_Paint]

This. Just stay away from above the log as it's fed in with an angle cut off the feed end. I find the techique works best if the angle cut is fed cut face down, not up, as would be expected. Usually I gtry to feed with the angle cut face up but often the WC-68 rollers will still struggle fairly often. Then I flip it over and the roller grabs and forces the log's weight up against the chute top as it pivots the cut tip down and in. THEN there's no slipping! But the other end of the log will get forced up hard by the spring as it catches and pulls it in, so STAY AWY from anywhere above those logs.

I see you've had the WC-68 upper cut punch too. I don't think Mike Tyson could hit any harder. I think I've only been hit harder once in my life, and that was by a 12-pound sledgehammer. It found the clothesline that I was building a walkway to for my mom when I was a kid as an FFA project. Knocked me out cold as a wedge when it came back and hit me on the right eyebrow. I guess I should be thankful it was the hammer that found the line and not the double bit axe I'd just cut a root with. I was an accident looking for a place to happen when I was a teenager.

My point about the springs needing tightened wasn't lost, I see. Mine hit me pretty hard in the jaw and knocked me down before I figured out the "stand to the side" and "side arm feed" techniques. Gotta learn to grab limbs far enough back so that you don't get your hand between the limb and the chute, too. It only takes ONCE to teach that lesson. Even with gloves on, when your hand gets smashed between the limb and chute, it HURTS. I'm glad the chute has the rounded edges, too. I can't imagine the damage I'd have done to my arms by now.

However, the infeed drum could still use a little improvement. It really isn't very sharp on the grab knives, and a straight knife isn't going to do as well as a pointed tooth, either, IMO. It's just another one of those things that an arm-chair mechanical designer might second guess what the factory did. I can see where it would be cheaper to make one with straight knives, and I'd have to guess that economical production was the purpose that outweighed pointed teeth. Overall, though, I'm very satisfied with the machine.

The angle cut face up technique is best, but it takes a little more time to get the cut right so that the curl of the limb is down and won't make it fly up and knock your hat off at the very least. Having two people around while chipping seems best too, even if the second just sits up on the seat and watches. There are just too many ways to get hurt working with so many dangerous tools, and the second person may just save your life.

The WoodMAXX WM-8H is the one I was thinking of from my shopping experiences, with dual drums. IIRC, the bottom drum is stationary, and the top drum is sprung like the WC-68. Now that, I can see would make for a much better infeed. However, I didn't want the belt drive for maintenance reasons, though, and preferred the lower speed 4 knife disc over the higher speed lighter two knife disc, and there's only one small drive belt for the hydraulic pump. Price was also a factor, albeit, I'm sure that 4 replacement knives will get my attention one day. I may have been worrying about nothing, but I've made my choice now. The WC-68 is far better than how I was doing the job before.

 

[nbryan]

I see you've had the WC-68 upper cut punch too. I don't think Mike Tyson could hit any harder. I think I've only been hit harder once in my life, and that was by a 12-pound sledgehammer. It found the clothesline that I was building a walkway to for my mom when I was a kid as an FFA project. Knocked me out cold as a wedge when it came back and hit me on the right eyebrow. I guess I should be thankful it was the hammer that found the line and not the double bit axe I'd just cut a root with. I was an accident looking for a place to happen when I was a teenager.

My point about the springs needing tightened wasn't lost, I see. Mine hit me pretty hard in the jaw and knocked me down before I figured out the "stand to the side" and "side arm feed" techniques. Gotta learn to grab limbs far enough back so that you don't get your hand between the limb and the chute, too. It only takes ONCE to teach that lesson. Even with gloves on, when your hand gets smashed between the limb and chute, it HURTS. I'm glad the chute has the rounded edges, too. I can't imagine the damage I'd have done to my arms by now.

However, the infeed drum could still use a little improvement. It really isn't very sharp on the grab knives, and a straight knife isn't going to do as well as a pointed tooth, either, IMO. It's just another one of those things that an arm-chair mechanical designer might second guess what the factory did. I can see where it would be cheaper to make one with straight knives, and I'd have to guess that economical production was the purpose that outweighed pointed teeth. Overall, though, I'm very satisfied with the machine.

The angle cut face up technique is best, but it takes a little more time to get the cut right so that the curl of the limb is down and won't make it fly up and knock your hat off at the very least. Having two people around while chipping seems best too, even if the second just sits up on the seat and watches. There are just too many ways to get hurt working with so many dangerous tools, and the second person may just save your life.

The WoodMAXX WM-8H is the one I was thinking of from my shopping experiences, with dual drums. IIRC, the bottom drum is stationary, and the top drum is sprung like the WC-68. Now that, I can see would make for a much better infeed. However, I didn't want the belt drive for maintenance reasons, though, and preferred the lower speed 4 knife disc over the higher speed lighter two knife disc, and there's only one small drive belt for the hydraulic pump. Price was also a factor, albeit, I'm sure that 4 replacement knives will get my attention one day. I may have been worrying about nothing, but I've made my choice now. The WC-68 is far better than how I was doing the job before.

Ya, that's my first safety warning for any help feeding the WC-68.
STAY CLEAR OF THE CHUTE'S OPENING when feeding.
That means keeping your ENTIRE body OUTSIDE of the area defined by the angle of the side walls of the chute, minus any hands and arms needed to place the log/branch - then pull away QUICK.
It's a bit of a dance!
The rollers grab awkwardly often and when the log hits the chipper flywheel knives it can and will SLAM the free end of the log hard IN ANY DIRECTION - if you happen to be within the chute's "visible area" chances are you'll get slapped by the log or a wayward spinning thrashing branch as the drum teeth grab chew spin and force it into the cutters.
I'll usually demo a few times to show how wildly the subjected wood can thrash as it's grabbed and chipped.
Love it.

 

[TexasBBQ]

Probably need to increase the tension on the feed roller spring.

Agree. I'd try that first.

 

[Old_Paint]

Agree. I'd try that first.

The problem is that the roller is already too tight to climb up on the branch, not that it isn't tight enough to pull it in. This seems to be an inherent problem with a single roller infeed.

 

[NCL4701]

The problem is that the roller is already too tight to climb up on the branch, not that it isn't tight enough to pull it in. This seems to be an inherent problem with a single roller infeed.

Your post above was quite accurate and comprehensive. I haven’t run 1000 different models of chipper but have run several single roller and several double roller machines. Feeding near full capacity stuff requires some technique on every one I’ve ever run, including all the double rollers. It ain’t brain surgery, but a little practice and skill is very helpful.

 

[Old_Paint]

When I have big stuff to run, I try to feed it small end first if I can. Or another technique I use is turn the feed rate down low and start a small piece about 2 inches in diameter in, then shove the big one in while the smaller one is still holding the drum up. I chew up brush piles in minutes that used to take me all day with my little 3 inch self-powered MTD. Handling the larger stuff is pretty hard on me, but it's over a lot quicker with a lot less twisting back and forth with a bad back and bad knees. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm thinking maybe I try dumping some of the chips from the big chipper in the little one's shredder hopper to mulch them up finer for the compost pile.

 

[NCL4701]

When I have big stuff to run, I try to feed it small end first if I can. Or another technique I use is turn the feed rate down low and start a small piece about 2 inches in diameter in, then shove the big one in while the smaller one is still holding the drum up. I chew up brush piles in minutes that used to take me all day with my little 3 inch self-powered MTD. Handling the larger stuff is pretty hard on me, but it's over a lot quicker with a lot less twisting back and forth with a bad back and bad knees. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm thinking maybe I try dumping some of the chips from the big chipper in the little one's shredder hopper to mulch them up finer for the compost pile.

If you do the big chipper to shredder thing, please post results. I’ve considered the same thing but don’t have a shredder so I can’t experiment without incurring cost.

 

[hope to float]

It's an ancient chineseium model. Was hard worked in a lumber yard before I got it. It has a single mechanical driven feed roller with serrated teeth. There is no adjustment to springs or feed rate. It works good enough for what I need and easily chips up to 4". It's just that it struggles with crooked branches. I turned the blades today and greased everything. Next time I get the blades sharpened I might give the feed roller a rub of the grinder.
Thanks for the suggestions

 

[Old_Paint]

Looks pretty well built, and I see another engineer thought the same way I did about serrated edges on the feed drum. Those look like they're in a radial pattern (pointed straight out from the centerline) rather than a chorded pattern (not pointed out from the centerline). I can probably argue with myself for days about which would be better and why. It's more about making it bite onto the end of the limb and climb up rather than just peeling the bark off and slipping back off once it gets to bare wood, which is exactly why the angle cut on the branches works.

Some of the older Chinese heavy equipment was pretty good. My WC-68 is Chinese built with 'Murican' knives in it. Not sure having knives better than the rest of the machine would serve any purpose other than making something else fail first, so I'm guessing the rest of the machine is pretty good quality too. It looks it, but I only have about 40 hours run time on it, if that.

Who are you sending your knives to for grinding? I'm guessing they're probably not supported by the manufacturer any more, given the age of the machine and the ownership changes. I want to get a second set of knives so that when they need their first sharpening, I can just swap 'em and send the others off without worrying about whether I'll need the chipper before they get back. They're pretty hard stuff, and I've abused mine pretty good, but still haven't had to turn them yet. Maybe I'm fretting too much about 'em.