b7800 woods 5000 chipper pto prob

mcemond · Aug 5, 2008

Hi first post here but have gotten a lot of good info here

Just bought a woods 5000 chipper for my b7800 but when I hooked it up I found that the chipper only turns clockwise (when facing the 3 pt hitch side and the pto on the tractor turns counter clockwise! I've never run into this type of situation before. Is there some sort of gear box change I need to make on the chipper or am I missing something obvious. Thanks. Mike

mpowrd · Aug 6, 2008

Hi Mike,
I have the Bearcat 70554, which is basically the same chipper as the Woods 6000 but in orange. I use it on my BX24.

On mine, turning the PTO input to the chipper counter-clockwise when looking at the 3-point side of the chipper itself turns the flywheel in the same direction which is the proper way for the chipper blades to cut. I used it a couple of weeks ago for the first time and chipped and shredded a bunch of oak up to 3" diameter with no problems.

It is very hard for me to turn the PTO input shaft to the chipper by hand, but if you look into the feed chute and look at which way the knives are facing, you can rotate the flywheel assembly by reaching in through the top feed opening (with the chipper PTO completely OFF, of course!) and you should see the PTO shaft rotate in the same direction.

Hope my lame word explanation helps. Let us know what you find.

mcemond · Aug 6, 2008

Hi. Thanks. Well that indicates to me that the chipper is made somehow to run in both directions... somehow. With PTO reversers being so expensive I'm going to call up woods to see if there's a way of taking the unit apart and re-assembling it in reverse if that makes sense, kind of taking the blade assembly off the axle and putting it back on facing the opposite direction and doing the same with the locking mechanism in there. I'll let you know how it goes. Mike

mpowrd · Aug 6, 2008

When you look in the feed chute for the chipper part, do the blades have their cutting edges facing such that the flywheel they are mounted on needs to rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise?

Mine needs to rotate clockwise to cut (when I look in the rear chipper chute). This would correspond to the PTO input rotating counter-clockwise if you look at the PTO side of the chipper.

mcemond · Aug 6, 2008

Hi again. After talking with the woods people they confirmed as you had, that my pto was going in the correct direction and the chipper should also go in that direction. I went back to the chipper with brighter lights this time and found that all it was was a 3" rock stuck in the bottom acting like a ratchet against the passing shredder blades

Took the rock out and all is fine.

On to the next project, adapting a front snow blower for an old b series to fit my new b series.

Thanks
Mike