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GeneV
Elite Member
Where exactly would this screen be at the discharge, like what's the function of it? Should I be able to see it immediately, or do I have to take apart that discharge housing to get to it?
wood chipper/shredder mod to increase chip size
- Thread starter GeneV
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bigtiller
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After looking at your owners manual, I don't think it has a screen. It looks like the "rubber discharge deflector" shown on page 7 does the work of a screen.
It also says the shredder is limited to .5" in size. So basically, leaves only.
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GeneV
Elite Member
Mine's slightly different, I got an adjustable steel deflector on mine.
So I think I get the function of the screen, correct me if I'm wrong. It holds bigger chunks in so that they could go through the teeth again til they're small enough to pass through the screen. Wonder if removing my deflector would increase chip size, I'll try that.
I don't use this thing for nothing other than branches, but I do have a use for the shredder on top. Branches that have a curved or thick end which keeps it from going all the way through the chipper tube, I shove that end in the shredder...gnaws it off.
Your chipper output is actually into the same chamber as the shredder on the engine side of the flywheel. The knives cut chunks off the end of the branches you're feeding which go through the slots in the flywheel, and wind up on the same side as where you feed the shredder. The J-hammers are beating the chips up just like they would anything you put in the hopper.
Mine (a 17 year old Murray) is a little different. It uses flails at the outer edge of the flywheel (at a 90 degree angle from the knives) which pass through the screen/baffle that the others are talking about. That baffle is removable for larger chips, but they're really not much larger and instead, I get a lot of long twigs from brush, too. I have a lot of ironwood, hackberry, elm, and birch, and all will clog the little Murray up pretty quick with the stringy bark if I don't take the baffle out.
Most of the chip size will be determined by the amount the knife edge sticks through the flywheel. The gap between the knives and the anvil is mostly just to keep the knives from hitting the anvil which is where the stick is pushed while the knife is chopping a chunk off. But, if you increase that gap, the knife will have a harder time shearing off dryer wood. It simply won't cut as well. The closer the anvil is to the blades, the better they'll cut. Until it gets too close and the knives hit it. The anvil on small chippers like these usually isn't adjustable, and is usually built into the chipper inlet chute. The angle of the stick to the flywheel will affect chip size some as well as it will cut closer with the grain as the angle decreases. But, since the chips go into the shredder chamber before coming out they're gonna get chopped up more by the J-flails.
I don't use my little Murray for chipping anymore because of the severe beating it gives my hands as well as having to cut the brush up more. But the shredder's still useful for rechipping the output from my WC-68 chipper if I want compost filler. I feed it with a pitch fork and don't get the high frequency violent vibrations to my hands feeding the shredder. It is especially unkind with dry brush.
Mine (a 17 year old Murray) is a little different. It uses flails at the outer edge of the flywheel (at a 90 degree angle from the knives) which pass through the screen/baffle that the others are talking about. That baffle is removable for larger chips, but they're really not much larger and instead, I get a lot of long twigs from brush, too. I have a lot of ironwood, hackberry, elm, and birch, and all will clog the little Murray up pretty quick with the stringy bark if I don't take the baffle out.
Most of the chip size will be determined by the amount the knife edge sticks through the flywheel. The gap between the knives and the anvil is mostly just to keep the knives from hitting the anvil which is where the stick is pushed while the knife is chopping a chunk off. But, if you increase that gap, the knife will have a harder time shearing off dryer wood. It simply won't cut as well. The closer the anvil is to the blades, the better they'll cut. Until it gets too close and the knives hit it. The anvil on small chippers like these usually isn't adjustable, and is usually built into the chipper inlet chute. The angle of the stick to the flywheel will affect chip size some as well as it will cut closer with the grain as the angle decreases. But, since the chips go into the shredder chamber before coming out they're gonna get chopped up more by the J-flails.
I don't use my little Murray for chipping anymore because of the severe beating it gives my hands as well as having to cut the brush up more. But the shredder's still useful for rechipping the output from my WC-68 chipper if I want compost filler. I feed it with a pitch fork and don't get the high frequency violent vibrations to my hands feeding the shredder. It is especially unkind with dry brush.
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GeneV
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RalphVa
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Most have a bed plate. Just adjust it to be farther away from the blade.
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Called an anvil Ralph, not a bed plate...
joecdeere
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increasing the gap only leads to poor chipping performance, excessive strain on the knives, quick dulling of the edge, the only true way on a chipper to increase the chip size is to increase the material input speed. If you think of a pair of scissors, how poorly they cut if loose or if there is a gap in the blades. If the gap is large enough, they won’t even cut. I own a Vermeer chipper, and I can slow the feed down to almost make sawdust, or speed it up and make inch or more chips.