Bought a Wallenstein chipper

[oosik]

There is a post on this thread - one of you guys always set the chipper down on the ground. Otherwise, that person will get torquing & twisting when they chip. I don't get that even though my chipper may be a foot off the ground. Two reasons - I chip young, green pines - 6" on the butt or less. My blades are uber sharp.

If I were chipping hardwood or old dry trees - then I would DEFINITELY look to set the chipper on a pallet or fabricate legs.

The harder the wood - the more likely that you might experience torquing & twisting. It's simply the resistance to chip causing the entire unit to rotate.

I doubt there is much of anything easier to chip than fresh green pine trees.

 

[s219]

I doubt there is much of anything easier to chip than fresh green pine trees.

Can't beat the smell either.

 

[Zebrafive]

The Wallenstein chipper name is new to me but is really highly regarded and I can't find a single negative complaint. It must be one heck of a chipper. I paid $1500 for this one and it's is 99% condition with very little use. I think I did OK?

I bought a BX62 new for $2500 (last one they had for the season) Only regret was no color choice, I wanted GREEN.

Well, I think you better make yourself scarce. They will find you - - you STOLE it. I just check my Owner Manual that has the sales receipt.

Purchased brand new one year AFTER the M6040. 2010 and for $4500.

IIRC I bought mine end of 2009 for $2500

I do have a dumb question on this. When operating the BX60, do I set the chipper on the ground when using it or do I leave it off the ground maybe a foot and supported by the 3pt arms? I Suppose I could also set it on a pallet when chipping.

Held off the ground keeps the PTO shaft straighter while sitting the unit on the ground angles it more. What's the correct way to chip?

I bolted some wood 4x4s to mine to raise it up slightly, but I am tall so no problem feeding it. I wanted the PTO shaft straighter, but not perfectly straight.

The base on the BX62S is NOT adjustable. I position my chipper so that the pto shaft is a straight as possible. Why induce added stress into the U-joints?? If that means off the ground to be straight - then that's the way it will be.

You want some "angle" (only a few degrees) in a drive shaft for the U-Joints to have to "move".

 

[oosik]

I guess I'm going to have to ask. Why do you want the U-joints to "move". Operate at a slight angle??

 

[3Lfarms]

Operating in a straight line for a while shouldn’t hurt anything, but If the joint is operated perfectly straight for a long time, the needle bearings in the cross caps are not forced to move at all and the load is only applied in once spot. Bearings need to move a bit to keep the lube moving and prevent them from taking a set or corroding in place.
Think of it like a car tire. It’s best to move the car to keep the tires round and the rubber flexible. If left in one spot, they get flat spots. Also, without the constant flexing, the natural oils that keep the rubber pliable aren’t able to migrate throughout the tire, and dry rot is accelerated.

 

[oosik]

Interesting concept. However, I seriously doubt that a perfectly straight driveshaft would be easy to obtain anyhow. There is bound to to a slight offset either vertically or horizontally.

The times I operate in what I think is level in the vertical plane - I look at the operation from behind and its offset several degrees horizontally. The weight of the chipper causes it to "fall off" to the low side. My 3-point side links are never set bone tight.

 

[sixdogs]

I flipped open the lid--flywheel cover-- yesterday to look inside and it was perfectly clean. The chipping chamber is very tight so while you could plug it, I don't think it would be easy. There was no trash wood left behind. The knives were in perfect condition with no nicks and they looked razor sharp. Good advice to wear gloves when the lid is open. Put this chipper behind 60HP and it's going to chip wood faster than I can feed it in.

 

[oosik]

Another thing I've found. If you chip shorter chunks ( 4' or less ) of larger diameter wood - 3", 4", 5" - it has the potential to "backfire" on you. The short chunk will hit the rotating chipper and such force is generated that the short chunk can be shot back out the feed chute.

It doesn't happen very often. When you load something into the feed chute it's best to stand off to the side and not directly behind the chute.

Never happens when I load full length pine trees. The total weight of the pine tree is pushing the tree down the chute. Besides the blades are cutting so fast and pulling so HARD - it has frightened many who have come for a day to help me. Also - since I NEVER prune the pines nor cut them shorter - the compression of the side branches being pulled down the chute will hold the tree in the chute.

It's only happened to me when chipping larger diameter, old, hard apple limbs and split trunks. You would think there was an old, angry mule going down the chute. Kick, thump, thrash, whip around. I'm really quite glad I'm done with chipping all my apple trees. This is the one time where hydraulic in-feed could have helped. I could have slowed the in-feed action and it, most likely, wouldn't have been quite so violent.

It never hurt anything but it wasn't anything like feeding green pine trees.

 

[jonsstihl]

I knew there was a reason why the shaft shouldn't be straight. I just couldn't remember all the technical details.


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[sixdogs]

On page 16 of this link below from my snowblower owner's manual is a chart listing how long a u-joint will last based on the degree of angle it is operating at. I don't know how to post just that one page so here's the whole link. Note, there is no zero percent and the chart starts at a 5 percent angle. There is a severe reduction in u-joint life as the operating angle increases.

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