Hydraulic Motor for Chipper Feed

[5030]

I bet you are right and then there is the added expense of fabrication of a suitable drive scheme (the infeed roller must articulate both vertically and at an angle) so the driveshaft will most likely have to stay in play.

 

[kruszert]

Thanks again for the responses. Aaron thank you, thank you thank you!!!- - the motor, flow divider and control valve are on order. I am curious about the control valve - - would it be an on /off switch or reverser? I was just going to use the flow divider lever to stop the feed drum. As for GPM available I only know what the tractor specs said but 7.8GPM is even better. This may change my chain sprocket teeth but I have room. I am planning to go from the motor to a shaft with large sprocket then to the U-joint drive.

5030 - - now for the chipper story - - you asked for it. When I first got the chipper the feed drum only had flat 1/8" bars welded across to grab branches. The bars would slide on branches and nothing would feed unless you pushed in constantly - - PITA. I ground notches in the feed drum to make them more like teeth and this worked until I bent the shaft and broke the nut on the drive shaft. I talked to the the dealer that sold me the chipper and nothing else was available so I made a feed drum and sent him a picture (see below) - - I now see that feed drums remarkably similar to mine are now for sale - - wonder where they got the design! Next I broke the nut on the drive shaft - - again. Back to the dealer and found that Jinma had a new design with U joints so I purchased and installed that. Then the bar that holds the feed drum was flexing and bending jamming the feed drum against the side - - gear box gone - - so I remade the entire drum support system using steel tubing - - NO flexing now, goes straight up and down with no problems. At this point I considered trying to design a hydraulic system but I needed the chipper got lazy and ordered another gearbox. I have no idea why this one broke. It was feeding fine, branches were 3.5" max and nothing strange - - it broke in less than an hour of chipping. All gearboxes break by snapping the bronze gear - - the steel worm input is fine. One other change to the chipper was the cutting blades. I found the tips of the "hardened" blades were curling over/bending. I made blades out of D-2 steel had them hardened and I ground them sharp - - blades don't get dull nearly as fast now and they don't bend!

All this sounds like I am a contractor using the chipper constantly but I am not. I bought the chipper around 2008 when I purchased some property with a bunch of pine trees. I chipped branches from around 20 pine trees.
Overall the chipper was fine. I expected to do repairs and stuff when you considered the cost of the chipper. Since then I have been working on some hardwood trees - - around 5 of them and the chipper has not done well. Also, I have never put a 6" branch in the chipper - - 5" has been the max. I try to cut the branches to minimize forks which block the feed drum.

 

[TMGT]

The small price diff. for the combination valve is worth it to me, yes the flow rating will make it a bit touchy (wouldn't have been as bad if it really had the initially stated 12gpm flow) however since it's not controlling a wheel motor and will most likely be used in a steady state a majority of the time I don't see it being an issue.

The valve is also offered with work ports blocked in neutral, but honestly I've never had a problem with the chipper pulling in material, once the feed roller or gearbox is disengaged it stops.

Lots of options, this is just the one I've been contemplating for a while.

 

[kruszert]

You guys are way ahead of me with fittings and hoses. I ordered the main parts just a few minutes ago. After I get an assembly with shaft, sprockets and mounting plate designed and completed I will deal with fittings and hoses.
Thanks again for all the help.

 

[TMGT]

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out, my tractor has a little less flow then yours but should be close enough to compare to your setup.

I actually have another version of the Jinma chipper, I think it's a wc-6, bought it used a few years ago.

 

[Rock knocker]

I hope it's reversible

 

[aczlan]

The valve I linked to should be a FWD - OFF - REV valve (ie: it should work like a standard hydraulic remote).
The downside to stopping the drum with the flow control knob is that you then have 7.8GPM at 1500PSI (or whatever your relief pressure is) worth of heat that your tractor's hydraulic system has to dissipate. That could be problematic if you leave the flow control valve "off" for any length of time.

Aaron Z

 

[5030]

Thanks again for the responses. Aaron thank you, thank you thank you!!!- - the motor, flow divider and control valve are on order. I am curious about the control valve - - would it be an on /off switch or reverser? I was just going to use the flow divider lever to stop the feed drum. As for GPM available I only know what the tractor specs said but 7.8GPM is even better. This may change my chain sprocket teeth but I have room. I am planning to go from the motor to a shaft with large sprocket then to the U-joint drive.

5030 - - now for the chipper story - - you asked for it. When I first got the chipper the feed drum only had flat 1/8" bars welded across to grab branches. The bars would slide on branches and nothing would feed unless you pushed in constantly - - PITA. I ground notches in the feed drum to make them more like teeth and this worked until I bent the shaft and broke the nut on the drive shaft. I talked to the the dealer that sold me the chipper and nothing else was available so I made a feed drum and sent him a picture (see below) - - I now see that feed drums remarkably similar to mine are now for sale - - wonder where they got the design! Next I broke the nut on the drive shaft - - again. Back to the dealer and found that Jinma had a new design with U joints so I purchased and installed that. Then the bar that holds the feed drum was flexing and bending jamming the feed drum against the side - - gear box gone - - so I remade the entire drum support system using steel tubing - - NO flexing now, goes straight up and down with no problems. At this point I considered trying to design a hydraulic system but I needed the chipper got lazy and ordered another gearbox. I have no idea why this one broke. It was feeding fine, branches were 3.5" max and nothing strange - - it broke in less than an hour of chipping. All gearboxes break by snapping the bronze gear - - the steel worm input is fine. One other change to the chipper was the cutting blades. I found the tips of the "hardened" blades were curling over/bending. I made blades out of D-2 steel had them hardened and I ground them sharp - - blades don't get dull nearly as fast now and they don't bend!

All this sounds like I am a contractor using the chipper constantly but I am not. I bought the chipper around 2008 when I purchased some property with a bunch of pine trees. I chipped branches from around 20 pine trees.
Overall the chipper was fine. I expected to do repairs and stuff when you considered the cost of the chipper. Since then I have been working on some hardwood trees - - around 5 of them and the chipper has not done well. Also, I have never put a 6" branch in the chipper - - 5" has been the max. I try to cut the branches to minimize forks which block the feed drum.

View attachment 465175

Nice drum, looks like mine.... I have no knife issues at all. Mine are 89 Rockwell, I tested them. I keep a 27 degree included angle and I sharpen them in an angle jig on one of out toolroom grinders... I own the machine shop. I grind them yearly....in the fall.

I've stuff a couple 8" knots in mine. It handles it. Barks a bit...lol Mine must be newer than yours. I've had mine maybe 8 years. Same gearbox, second driveshaft, third belt and 2 sets of knives and bed anvils.

I've found the 27 degree included angle does the best in hardwood. I just ran some old apple trees through it. Everyone wants the chips for smoking...lol

 

[5030]

I'm going to follow along and see what you come up with and I may convert too. I have 3 sets of remotes on the tractor I use to chip with.

 

[kruszert]

Aaron - - Overheating the oil makes perfect sense - - hadn't thought of that.

I checked the tractor spec book and it says 7.6 gal / min. My 12.5 my number came from the advertising sheet - - should have known they would use the highest number possible. Actually this makes things a little easier - - less reduction required. If my numbers are correct I need to reduce the speed by about 5:1 which will give me around 14.4 rpm at the drum. A little faster than it goes now but I can go that fast for small branches. Likely will use around 13 rpm for most stuff.

Rock - - yes the motor is reversible.

5030 - - 89 Rockwell seems really hard. I made my blades but had them hardened and tempered at a local shop with an oven. They put my small stuff in with other jobs and I think I end up buying the boss lunch for what they charge me. They tested the blades and they are 59 Rockwell C. I used a 40 deg. edge. I was afraid that too sharp would cause the edges to chip - - may have to decrease the angle but that isn't too easy using my old manual feed Brown and Sharp grinder. I have a home shop - - old small stuff by today's standards but I have rebuilt the equipment and everything works fine. If I never have to scrape another way it will be too soon!

The three major parts are on order and should be here in 7 business days. A few days to look through my scrap bin and come up with a design, order some chain and sprockets and start building something. I'll take some pictures along the way but would expect not to have anything for a month - - lots of projects going on for spring! Retirement is wonderful so far - - don't know how I ever had time to work.

Reggie