Chipper My new Woodmaxx WM-8H wood chipper

[DennisFolsom]

Did you see the you tube where a guy had some problems with his, and HE SAID the factory told him that the customer is suppose to take the chipper apart to tighten every bolt except on the flywheel before using it??

You may want to check that out... I think blue loc-tite is your friend!

SR

They used the locknuts with nylon inserts on just about everything. I have put a wrench on almost all of the nuts. Because Katahdin found a loose nut on his, I even checked the bolts that hold the flywheel to the hub. I do use blue loc-tite often as well.

 

[DennisFolsom]

I chipped some hardwood today - beech, maple and yellow birch. The hard stuff, especially the beech, fed through a little slower, but the machine chewed it up ok. I never clogged and never had to stop the feed. That's a huge step up from the wimpy little 10 HP chipper/shredder that I once owned!

All of the hardwood I chipped was in the 2" range or less. The bigger pieces went into firewood.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Good for you, for keeping the bigger pieces for firewood!

Glad it's working out for you...

SR

 

[DennisFolsom]

Here are some photos of the dolly that I made from the steel crate/frame that my chipper came in. I got lots of welding practice on this. I didn't have to buy any steel. All of it came from the crate except about 2 feet of 1.5" x 0.125" flat bar that I had left over from another project.

 

[CanuckPT]

Here are some photos of the dolly that I made from the steel crate/frame that my chipper came in. I got lots of welding practice on this. I didn't have to buy any steel. All of it came from the crate except about 2 feet of 1.5" x 0.125" flat bar that I had left over from another project.

Nice job! Great repurposing of the shipping materials!!

Sent from my iPhone using TractorByNet

 

[5030]

I was gonna buy a Woodmax but before I pulled the trigger a used Jinma 8" mechanical feed chipper showed up on Craigslist for a grand so I grabbed it.

I was a bit concerned about power, the guy I bought it from had it on a small JD, maybe 25pto at most. My plan was to put it on the smaller of the 2 Kubota's I own, being an M9000 which is 85 Pto.

I was a bit worried that 85 horses would be too much for the chipper drive so I added a Weasler 2 plate slip clutch torqued to break at 300 foot pounds.

I can break the clutch feeding 7" oak logs if I'm not careful about easing up on the feed rollers but that gives me some safety margin (I don't burn wood for heat so everything gets chipped and rounds too big get burned in a pile if no one comes by and takes them).

In softwood, the chipper will consume a full 8" diameter log no issue with a solid stream of chips comiing out the chute.

I would have preferred a hydraulic drive but for a grand, I felt it was a good deal plus it came with an extra set of knives and belts.

I've been using it for 2 years now and made lots of chips, I own a wooded 40 acre plot, so just wind and storm damage keeps the chipper busy.

Don't know how I got along without a chipper, now that I have one.

Maybe someday I'll option up to a hydraulic drive model.

I'm sure I can sell this one for what I paid for it. You don't see them used very often for sale.

 

[hslogger]

I like your dolly idea, never thought of it because I don't have a concrete floor storage area. But my question, issss, so you lower it on the dolly, disconnect the three point, disconnect the drive shaft,right? Well, is this thing tippy at all? Mine has a stability leg on the back left side of the feed that is supposed to be used if you set it down and leave it be. How stable is the chipper on your dolly?

 

[DennisFolsom]

I like your dolly idea, never thought of it because I don't have a concrete floor storage area. But my question, issss, so you lower it on the dolly, disconnect the three point, disconnect the drive shaft,right? Well, is this thing tippy at all? Mine has a stability leg on the back left side of the feed that is supposed to be used if you set it down and leave it be. How stable is the chipper on your dolly?

I'll have to get back to you on that, because I haven't had time to really test, since I got the dolly together. When I took the photo of the chipper sitting on the dolly, it was still attached to the tractor.

With the chipper sitting on the floor, and detached from the tractor, I tested by pushing down on the infeed chute with that stability leg retracted. I could tip it, but it took some force. I think the leg is to prevent someone from accidentally tipping the machine over.

My son and I discussed the design of the dolly and he convinced me to make the stance wider and longer than the chipper base. I gave it an additional 6 inches each way. From my experience with the home-made dolly that I set my backhoe on, I know that when the caster swings toward the center, you effectively have a narrower base.

Due to the added height of the dolly, the rear leg won't reach the floor. My plan is to use a block of wood under the leg when it's parked.

I work part-time, with a rather indefinite schedule. I may get time this afternoon or evening to unhook the chipper and really test the dolly. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[hslogger]

Cool, thanks for the input and betcha I am not the only one interesting in your research and development efforts. chip chip hooray

 

[DennisFolsom]

hslogger -

This afternoon, I unhooked the chipper from the tractor and tested the dolly. I find it to be quite stable. You could tip it over backwards if you tried hard enough, but it would take some down force on the infeed chute to do it. I tried installing that stabilizer leg, down as far as it would go (still about 4" off the floor), then pushing down on the infeed chute. The leg will stop the chipper from being tipped over, even without a block under it.

The setup seems to be very solid in a side-to-side direction.

I probably should have used some better casters. I may change them. I used a set that came from a Harbor Freight mover's dolly that was rated for 1,000 lbs. I would say they are barely adequate for the weight of the chipper, which is a bit under 1,000 lbs. I had some of that "kitty litter" style oil absorber on the floor. That trigged the casters a bit. If I had swept that stuff up, the casters would have rolled easier.

When I reconnected the chipper to the tractor, I did it by moving the chipper, on the dolly, to the tractor, not moving the tractor.

My son and I discussed whether I needed to anchor the chipper from skidding on the steel dolly. The "quick and dirty" idea I came up with, was to use some large zip ties. I didn't bother with them for today's test, but might do that when the chipper is going to be on the dolly for a while, and possibly rolled around the floor a time or two.

Overall, I'd say the operation was a success.:dance1: