Chipper Liberty Chipper Review

[PNW282]

I thought I would share my experience with Liberty Chipper.

2/12/12 - After quite a bit of research, I bit the bullet and purchased an 8" Professional Grade, Liberty Chipper. My receipt came via email but did not contain a sales order number. This would become a problem for me later as I tried to get a tracking number but needed a sales order number to do that.
Over the next few weeks, I tried the online chat (it's rarely functional) and was told first that they would send me a tracking number over email.

3/6/2012 - I still didn't have a tracking number so I tried chat again. It wasn't functional so I sent an email. I was told the chipper would arrive beteen 3/14 and 3/21 but still no tracking number.

3/21/12 - Heard nothing from the company so figured I'd give them a call. Customer service could not give any shipping info and so I was put through to the General Manager. He promised an email and tracking number that evening.

3/21/12 7PM PST - No email, no tracking number. I called and was told that shipping was gone for the day and I'd have to call back.

3/22/12 11AM PST - Called customer service and finally got a sales order number. The rep told me the General Manager is not in and shipping is not in but he will have someone contact me. I requested a tracking number, or a credit back to my account. He stated he cannot credit my account and he can稚 find a tracking number as only shipping has that information. Also stated the General Manager does not have a direct line. Only a cell phone and he can稚 give that out.

3/23/12 - I finally was able to talk with the General Manager and told that they had experienced a high volume of orders and so the delay was due to product shortage. He offered to give me a $125 rebate and extend the warranty to 4 years. He said my chipper would ship by 4/3/12 and I should receive it by 4/6/12.

4/5/12 - I called to inquire about the tracking number believing my chipper should be enroute. They provided a tracking number and when I looked it up, I found that the order was going to New York not Washington State. When I finally was able to talk to the 'general manager' he expressed that the shipments were mixed up and my order would be delivered the following week.

4/17/2012 - I finally get my chipper. I get it unpacked and realize the extra blades I ordered are not there. I call customer service and they tell me they are not on my order. So fortunately, the receipt that did not have a sales order number did mention the extra blades so after forwarding them their own email I was able to then get my extra blades.

4/22/12 - I get the chipper all put together, fill the gear box with oil, and go to connect the drive line and.....it's too short.

4/28/12 - Buy new drive line and cut it to fit. Now i'm finally ready to chip. First branch of 1" diameter goes through and it works beautifully. Second branch of 1 1/2" diameter goes in and no more chips are coming out of the chute and the thing clogs up. I take off shoot, clean it out, can't see anything wrong so I fire it back up and try again. SAME THING. It clogs. I call customer service and get s answering service that took down my name and number and will have someone call me on Monday morning.

The crib notes version
Paid for Chipper 2/12
Received Chipper 4/17
Purchased additional parts to run it with my tractor (L3130) 4/28
The thing clogged on the second branch.

Total of $2,800 invested. 4-5 of unpacking and assembly time. Ran good for a total of 1 minute.

Not sure what will happen next but I'll keep you updated. In the meantime if you found this useful I'm taking donations to may paypal account for a new chipper. :thumbsup:

 

[tractchores]

Wow sorry to hear you're going through this. Its this exact thing that I was afraid of when I looked at them and passed a few months ago. I've read that sometimes they're assembled wrong or bolts can be loose, maybe there is something like that causing your clogs? I'd maybe run something larger as well, maybe it has trouble with small stuff? (Some chippers do).

 

[Ductape]

Well, condolances on all your woes. Hopefully it will serve as a warning for others. One thing I will suggest though...... check the clearance between the blades and anvil. This is critical to the performance of a chipper. You will need a feeler guage or something equivalent. Also....... when dealing with leafy material, try alternating one good woody piece of brush to one leafy. Green stuff and small branches clog virtually any small chipper. If you have alot of leafy stuff the chip...... a chipper / shredder will serve you better.

 

[Brant]

This is just one of the costs of Chinese stuff. The good news is that most people with Chinese chippers get them to work fine . . . eventually. It just takes time and hassle. Definitely look at the distance between the blades and anvil. I do it by eye on my Patu chipper but a gauge is probably smart. Make sure that the chipper is blowing lots of air when not chipping wood--do this carefully. Otherwise, these things really are not that complicated so look it over logically and see what could be causing the clogs. You need decent sized chips, force and air to move them, and a clear passage to exit. That's really it.

 

[DeeDubya]

Haven't had any real problems with mine (8" Pro also). A stick caused it to throw the feed drive belt once. You have to run these at full 540 RPM or they will not have enough blower pressure to keep the chips moving through and out the chute. I stuff some really heavy green cedar into mine, so much that I have to take the next limb and cram it down it's throat. I didn't have any real high expectations since it cost about $1k less than some chippers. It took about 1 1/2 months to get mine once ordered.

 

[PNW282]

So happy to report that after some tweaking, adjusting, chute redesign, it's now chippin like a champs. Definitely a pain in the arse to get to this point but 6 hrs now and two big piles of chips later and it seems to be runnin well.

Cheers.

 

[reprosser]

I have had one for a couple of years (off and on usage). Last weekend I determined that the blades must be getting dull, so I am trying to flip them to the other edge (double sided blades). It has been a nightmare trying to get the blades removed. The manual says I just need to remove the inspection plate to get to the bolts - and that is true for 3 of the 4. In order to get to the 4th bolt closest to the middle of the flywheel, I had to remove the shroud over the main drive. Not a big deal, but more than indicated in the instructions. It is almost impossible to reach around thru the chute to get to the head (6mm allen wrench and 17mm socket) of the bolts. Again, I could reach 3 of the 4 bolts to remove. To get all 4 I had to have another person. I was able to get one blade off, but I stripped the nut on 3 of the bolts for the other blade. It has been a very frustrating experience, and I still have not been able to reset the blades. Gotta figure out how to get the stripped nuts off the other blade. I will order a new set of bolts from Liberty since I will probably damage a number of them trying to get them off.

I have not seen any posts complaining about changing blades, so maybe it is just me.

 

[PNW282]

I just flipped my blades today. I removed the yellow covers (drive and inspection. I also removed both lower covers so if I dropped anything it would be easier to get after. Also allows you to put a dowel in to keep fly wheel from rotating if needed. I also found that a 1x1 piece of scrap wood in the blade cutout and propped on the pin for the top mount adjuster works really well for keeping the fly wheel from turning as well when torqueing the bolts down.

I used a pick to clean out the allen bolt really good. Then used an impact wrench on the nuts to get them loose. Prevents stripping. On the four bolt blades (2) I had to use a die grinder to get enough clearance to get the outer edge bolts out so I don't have to remove the feed chute every time i change blades.

I cleaned up the old bolt really good given the loc-tite build up. Flipped the blades, installed all bolts then went around and very gently got the washers, and nuts a thread or two on. (With loc-tite of course) Then set my allen wrench on the inside so it would catch on the chute and torqued inside out at 30 - 40 - 50.


Regreased and put it back together. Everything seems to spin smoothly. I ran out of time to chip today so hopefully all is fine.

 

[Kyle241]

That isn't a good customer experience! Wow, you were a lot more patient than I would be. If the unit isn't there and all put together, I don't know whether it's worth the extra grief. Hope the chipper works well for you.

 

[PNW282]

I have to say the initial thrash with the company was a major hassle. I have about 20-25 hrs on the chipper now and it's really running great. Just don't think I'll ever contact the company again unless i absolutely have too.