I had the opportunity to do some chipping in wet/damp conditions on Monday and ran into some issues. The first symptom I noticed was a cyclical groaning or creaking noise. Initially I thought a bearing might be going bad but then I saw the bottom hydraulic motor "flexing" as the roller turned. After inspecting the roller further I noticed the two metric pea-sized set screws had backed themselves out and were gone. These screws fix the bearing (opposite the hydraulic motor side) to the roller shaft. Not good, luckily Ace Hardware had the 2 set screws I need for 65 cents each.
I theorized there might be a build up of debris causing the flexing so I set out to remove the bottom roller and clean out the debris. This involved removing four bolts and a little finesse. Typical wrenches might be too thick to hold the head of a nut in place but luckily I had some older and thinner open-ended wrenches to help. A standard socket wrench will get the bearing side off, but a crow's foot or socket swivel will be needed for the pump nuts.
It will also help to lift the top roller with the pull down handle and stick a block of wood under the 'lift arm cross tube' to hold it up and above the bottom roller.
Once you get those nuts off and remove the bearing holder, hydraulic motor, and roller, its easy to clean out the damp and caked-in debris that is causing the creaking, groaning, and flexing. Everything will go back together as it should and you can then replace the 2 pea-sized set screws.
The moral of the story is, if its damp out or you expect to be working in rain showers, find something else to do in-doors instead of being outside wood-chipping.
