New Woodland Mills WC68 Chipper on the way

[defranks]

This morning I ordered a new WC68 wood chipper from Woodland Mills. I looked at several similarly priced models, including the 8" version available on eBay for a little less money, but finally decided that the WM model is right for me.

The eBay model, out of California, has its hydraulic hoses dangling on the side, and that worried me since I'll be dragging limbs past it. The WC68 has a lighter flywheel than the competitor's model, but I like that the input chute folds for storage and the reviews are good. Also, the chipper is in-stock and delivery should occur in a week or ten days.

I figured that the 6" model is plenty for me, and the best match for my Branson 4220 tractor, which is rated at 36 PTO horsepower. According to the WM website, my tractor will drive their 8" chipper, but they say that my tractor will handle 6" material with the WC68, but only 5" material with the bigger chipper. I intend to use it on smaller stuff than that, as I have neighbors who will want anything much bigger than 4" for firewood.

More to come when the chipper gets here as I assemble it and test it.

One question for the group: Woodland Mills suggests ISO 32 Hydraulic Oil, or ISO 46 in warmer climates. I live in eastern Tennessee where it certainly gets warm in the summer and cold (like today) in the winter. So which weight oil is better for a wide variety of temperatures ranging from 30, say, to 85 degrees F. Outside those temps I'm unlikely to want to be chipping wood outdoors anyway!

 

[Peter 315]

I would use what ever hydraulic oil you use in the tractor , Keep it simple.....:2cents:

 

[hosspuller]

I've had the WC88 since, last March. The larger opening reduces the number of crotch cuts needed. Anything above 3 inches is firewood. I bought the spare blades set with the unit. Belts are local industrial supply. I'm totally pleased with it.

I used ISO 32 oil since the pump is above the reservoir. The thinner oil will flow better. In hot temp days, I won't be using it much. Too many bugs and I poop out in the heat. :cool2:


Couple of points. Read the manual... first
pay attention to these points:
Before attaching the PTO shaft REread the manual about trimming the shaft to your tractor. You can break some expensive parts in your tractor.
Before adjusting the base for height, loosen the hydraulic hose fittings to allow them swivel. When the base drops down, you don't want to pull on the hoses.

 

[oldballs]

I used ISO-46 weight here in Mid Kansas. It's hard to say what the temps may be even in the winter. This winter has been mild. We've had temps up to 60 deg F the past month...maybe 65 next week. The Woodland Mills customer service approved it. BTW.. the manual on the WC68 calls for 20 liters, but a 5 gallon pail is something less that 20 liters, but they approved that also.

My unit probably has around 30 hours on it and has performed up to my expectations......even on some small bush prunings.

 

[Gem99ultra]

I've had my WC68 for about 8 months now, around 40 hours chipping time. I wouldn't over think the oil concern; I simply used Woodland's suggestion and never had any problems.

I also bought a spare set of knives with my chipper, thinking that I'd go through those pretty quick. Not so. Still on my first edge of the original set, and its still cutting perfectly. Just keep out the dirt, rocks and nails. It does not do much for leaves and pine needles, but it'll feed those on through all the same. I don't do any limb trimming beforehand - just lay in the logs and let 'er rip.

Take your time with the assembly and you'll have many hours of smooth chipping. It'll chip a lot faster than you can cut, drag and load!

 

[defranks]

Thanks all. Yeah, I'm one who reads manuals, so I'll go through all that first. I've owned a Vermeer 6" chipper in the past, and it was powered with 20HP twin cylinder engine and did everything I wanted, so I'm pretty sure this chipper is going to be great.

 

[metalbender]

A little more about the 20 hp single please. Must have been a whopper of a cutter head on that machine.

 

[defranks]

It was a TWIN, not a single, a Kohler magnum 20hp. The engine was pretty tired and burned quite a bit of oil when I bought the chipper, but it continued to do what I needed for ten years or so. I'd still have it, but I moved cross country and didn't want to take it with me.
And yes, the flywheel was large and heavy, but I can't tell you what it weighed.

 

[ericm979]

I get about 20 hours per side on the blades on my Woodmaxx 8H. But I've chipped a lot of dead stuff and hardwood.

 

[defranks]

Do you sharpen the blades yourself, or do you take them to a pro? If you do it yourself, what's your process?

 

[RalphVa]

Good luck with it. I'm thinking I should be looking at replacing my aging TPH-122 with something that'll require less work to handle the remarkably messy autumn olives, now that I don't need the shredder for leaves any more (a local outfit has sewed up the leaves in town for their Paydirt manufacturing).

Waiting to hear from one of you about exactly how much of a job it is to replace the blades. Everything on the Mac is so easy.

Ralph

 

[Tompet]

I bought a 68 last year and initially was a little disappointed with it and was second guessing not getting the 88. However, once I adjusted the knife backplate (? I forget proper part name) it was a marked improvement and performed much much better.

Not having to haul branches and chipping in place is a real time saver. The unit is very well built. Initially I was looking at the Woodmax MX800 for various reasons, including built in US, but at the time it seemed they were building them only on an as ordered basis which meant several months for delivery. This year I see they have them ready to ship on order, my guess is to compete with WM a little better?

Anyway, after reading reviews praising Woodland Mills support (true), I ordered from them and the unit has been flawless so far. You will enjoy it!

 

[PEJ5]

I purchased a WC68 near the end of the chipping season and have about 5 hours on it. I am impressed and excited to start cleaning up my property in the spring. I know you will enjoy your purchase decision.
The steel shipping frame is fork lift compatible yet mine was also on a wooden pallet. I soon realized it was not bolted or strapped to the wooden pallet - I could have easily lost it on my uneven and sloped driveway. Be careful.

Happy Chipping.

 

[ericm979]

I tried sharpening knives in a similar way to this: How to Sharpen your Chipper Blades (yourself!) - YouTube
Only I used a 4.5" grinder with a drop center wheel because I don't have a 7" sander. I'm on the last side of my second set of knives so I have not tested my sharpening job yet. Some of the edges feel pretty good, some are not so great and could use a second try. The side that I let go a bit too long was a lot harder to sharpen. I got some diamond hones to put a better edge on them but haven't tried that yet. I expect that even if it's totally successful I'll send them off to someone with a grinder every few sharpenings.

 

[defranks]

My new chipper arrived this afternoon. Pretty fast shipping, I ordered it on Friday and got it on Wednesday. The unit was well-packaged, nicely protected. It's the end of my day, so assembly will wait til tomorrow. A couple of pictures are attached.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Woodland definitely does take care of business. Total failure of failing to reply to my email messages and phone message to Woodmax was the primary reason I went with Woodland. That, and the similarity of the two were essentially identical.

The top rail bar on mine came in with a bend and slightly cracked tab. Woodland had a new one delivered, at no charge of course, before I even had my chipper assembled.

Another nice note - the metal shipping frame the chipper came wrapped in made a handy table when flipped over. I just flipped it over, added a piece of plywood and chopped off a little from the legs, and it was ready for use. The steel pallet it comes on of course, gets used regularly for various uses.

 

[defranks]

I removed the packing material this morning. The entire package, as shipped, weighed about 850 pounds. I think about 250 of that was bubble wrap and plastic!

Everything looks good under the wrap.

I spent half an hour putting the in-feed chute on. The side panels are a little heavy for one guy alone, but I just hung them from the far bolt and then rotated them into place. I'm building a new house, so my time to spend on this is pretty limited, but I'll probably finish it tomorrow.View attachment 644087

 

[defranks]

Assembly is complete after about a total of 1 hour. The only "problem" I ran into was that there are two different lengths of bolt used to attach the discharge chute, and I didn't immediately see why. A quick call to the technical section of Woodland Mills and I was golden. (The discharge chute has two different thicknesses of steel that attach to the chipper. Longer bolts work on the thicker side, but I didn't notice until the tech told me.)
I've not measured the PTO shaft yet as I have the backhoe on the tractor right now, but I hope to run the chipper this weekend.

 

[hosspuller]

I've not measured the PTO shaft yet as I have the backhoe on the tractor right now, but I hope to run the chipper this weekend.

This is the most critical part adjustment. You can cause much expensive damage to your tractor by forcing the PTO shaft into the transmission as you raise the chipper. Measure twice, even thrice. Cut once. Then lift chipper in small steps while checking for binding on the shaft.

 

[defranks]

I had to cut a few inches off the PTO shaft, which was no big deal. It took forever to fill the oil tank, though. There may be a baffle or screen in there that kept the oil from flowing freely. Essentially, I had to pour a quart or two at a time into a funnel, then go do something else for a minute while it slowly, slowly drained into the tank.

But once that was done I gave the machine a short trial and I'm very happy with it. Put a 20' sapling in there and walk away for another while it chips. The infeed chute is significantly smaller (narrower and not as tall) as the infeed chute on my old Vermeer 6" chipper, but that's not an issue. My initial impression is good.