Chipper No Throughput on Woodmaxx WM-8H

LouieJunior · Apr 11, 2020

I spent several hours this morning chipping small trees I pulled from the ground around my field. After cutting off the root balls, I could chip the whole trees. As I was about done, I noticed the chute became clogged -- packed full of chips. I drove back to my barn, removed the chute and cleared what I could from inside the chipper. I started it up again to blow out what remained inside. At this point, I noticed the drive shaft shear bolt was sheared. I imagine this happened earlier when the chute first became clogged. Or perhaps these two incidents are a result of another problem??

After replacing the shear bolt, I started the chipper again and the flywheel was rotating and I could hear the debris inside the chipper swishing around but it didn't emerge from the chute. I fed it a branch and it chipped it okay but nothing came out the chute.

Any ideas what's going on?

Root Balls and Wood Chips

Katahdin · Apr 11, 2020

Remove the inspection covers around the flywheel and clean out the debris. You may also want to remove the chute again while you work the debris out of the flywheel.

747driver · Apr 11, 2020

I have had the chute plug up also on my WM H 8. Done it 3 times in a row...UGHHH ! Yes...you will have to take the inspection plates off to get all the debris out. Now i am frustrated and wonder what the problem is !! I looked at the chute deflector.....it somehow got pressed down and wasn't allowing a free smooth flow...meaning the chute defector was restricting the chips exit flow. Opened the deflector wider and now the problem solved !!!

ericm979 · Apr 11, 2020

the only times I have had my 8H's chute clog was when the knives were dull. If the chips all come out stringy it's time rotate or sharpen the knives. The species and condition of the wood will make a difference here. I was chipping bay which is very stringy wood.

dennis103 · Apr 12, 2020

Same here. My chute plugged and sheared the bolt. I knew the blades were dull. I had to keep slowing down the hydraulic feed and after a while it wasn't chipping or feeding like normal, thats when it plugged. The chips were more stringy than chips. Flipped the blades, replaced the shear bolt, lubed it up and back to chipping like new again. This was at 10ish hours. I am hoping to get more than 10 hours out of blades.

oosik · Apr 12, 2020

If you are chipping green trees - sap will coat the chipping chamber and discharge chute. This leads to plugging. I chip only small green pines. One inch to six inches on the butt. Usually 900 to 1200 every spring. Yes - it's one H*LL of a project every spring!!!

First I had a Wallenstein BX42S. The chipping chamber is smallish, the air flow was insufficient, the discharge chute was small also. My answer - identify, fell, drag to a pile - chip the following year. I had numerous plug ups until I followed this procedure.

Then I upgraded to my current Kubota M6040. I also upgraded to my current Wallenstein BX62S. Larger chipping chamber, much higher air flow & significantly larger discharge chute. NOW I can chip the green pines as soon as piled and no plug ups.

Your blades are getting dull early on - keep the branches, limbs, trees out of the dirt & mud. This will soon be my seventh season with the BX62S. The blades are still razor sharp. I will have chipped approximately 6800 to 7200 small pines by the end of this chipping season. I have not had to reverse the chipping blades nor stationary blade yet. At this rate, unless I screw up, I have no idea how long I can go until I have to reverse the blades. The chipper just might completely wear out and I will not have to reverse the blades.

mikester · Apr 12, 2020

Take the chute off and make sure its clean. Dig out the clog from the top of the housing. Use the tractor to spin up the chipper WITHOUT the chute on until no more chips come out. Turn the tractor off then reassemble everything.

I find my chipper jambs up quicker if I feed bunches of fine branches all at once. Stuff like willow, chokecherry and dogwood tends to be stringy and clogs things faster. If you can alternate woods and feed some dry stuff periodically that tends to help keep things clean.

ericm979 · Apr 12, 2020

I turn or change my 8H's blades every 20 hours. But I'm often chipping dead brush, which is harder on the blades than green material.

I've not had a problem with green or really leafy stuff clogging the chute except when the blades were dull and I was chipping bay.

LouieJunior · Jun 11, 2020

I finally have had a chance to work on my chipper, yesterday. I replaced the knives with newly sharpened ones. I also changed all five belts and re-aligned the pulleys (which needed it, badly). Some of the bolts were loose in the front end. I also cleaned all of the bearings of old grease and applied new grease. Everything is operating like new now.

I am impressed with the WM-8H chipper. It was purchased in 2013 and I like the durable design and its ease of use. Access to the bed knife (anvil) is the only shortcoming. I remove the infeed chute to do this.

The clogging problem has been resolved -- not sure if it was dull knives (chips were looking good before) or possibly belt slippage, but my chipper maintenance was overdue and the machine is now ready to generate yards and yards of chips. What to do with them is another problem!

Rebeldad1 · Jun 12, 2020

Dull blades will clog the chipper. They are great machines but need to be serviced. I service mine every year just before the first use.
My wife would love the chips. She puts them around everything.
Ask your neighbors. They should be quite easy to get rid of.