# Knive gap for vermeer bc1000xl chipper



## Barry Stumps

Hello all. I need to take my knives off and sharpen them. I am wanting to know is there a recomended gap for the knives to clear bottom. I couldnt find that in my manual. It is 2 hours away if I take it to the shop so would like to do myself. Recently my forward hydro feed quit working and checked my toggle switch and it shows that it is working. Has anyone ever come across that issue? Thanks


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## Mikecutstrees

Are you actually going to adjust the bedknife every time you change the blades? I have never adjusted my bedknife. Never had a problems. Slightly larger chip when using blades that have been resharpened a few times. No big deal. A much bigger deal in my opinion is keeping the knives sharp. You might get a better response posting this Q in the equipment section..... Mike


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## TreEmergencyB

Barry Stumps said:


> Hello all. I need to take my knives off and sharpen them. I am wanting to know is there a recomended gap for the knives to clear bottom. I couldnt find that in my manual. It is 2 hours away if I take it to the shop so would like to do myself. Recently my forward hydro feed quit working and checked my toggle switch and it shows that it is working. Has anyone ever come across that issue? Thanks



that dam auto feed messes up all the time on the old 935s the box right inside the hood on driver side always went bad, and the switch, and everything else on it we fix it work for a little have to fix sumtin else


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## tomtrees58

TreEmergencyB said:


> that dam auto feed messes up all the time on the old 935s the box right inside the hood on driver side always went bad, and the switch, and everything else on it we fix it work for a little have to fix sumtin else



yep my 1230 does it all the time tom trees


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## Barry Stumps

Thanks for the gap question and the feed. You said that the box in the hood goes bad. Is there a piece i order? Can you be more specific on where i might look for the short. If I was to use an angle grinder would that get to hot and weaken the blades or should I take them in to a shop to have them grounded? Thanks in advance.


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## tomtrees58

take them to a shop we have a chipper blade sharper the best $5000. i spent tom trees


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## chopperlot

hi barry the gap should be 3.2mm or 1\8 by the manual. On the under side access door nuts there should be a pice of steel with a 45deg bend at one end, that is the gauge. if you are chipping hard wood the gap to the anvell is impo:greenchainsaw:rant


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## SCTREEGUY

*Chipper khives and autofeed*

We've got a bc1800 and ive never adjusted the bed cause we've got 4 sets of knives that are all of course gonna be diff. as long as u keep sharp knives in it'll be fine.I also replaced the auto feed with a digital auto feed from ebay comes with goog instuctions and u just have to use a hole saw to cut the hole to install it. on mine the alternator has an output for the tach which is what the autofeed runs off. those outputs will burnout keeping the forward from engaging but on mine the reverse still worked so u might get that checked hope this helps.


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## SCTREEGUY

*autofeed*

the autofeed i was talking about i think was around $240 and they have got them for all hyd chippers. I like it cause its totally adjustable, u set the rpm that the hyd engage and disengage wherever works best for u.


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## capetrees

Barry Stumps said:


> Hello all. I need to take my knives off and sharpen them. I am wanting to know is there a recomended gap for the knives to clear bottom. I couldnt find that in my manual. It is 2 hours away if I take it to the shop so would like to do myself. Recently my forward hydro feed quit working and checked my toggle switch and it shows that it is working. Has anyone ever come across that issue? Thanks




As I look in the manual, it shows the horizontal bolts that hold the access door to the bedknife closed also retain the bedknife guage itself with the bolts. Remove the bolts to open the door to the bedknife and the piece of metal that comes off is the bedknife guage. The thickness of the metal is the gap. To adjust the bedknife, loosen the other two bolts that free the bedknife, insert the piece of metal, the bedknife guage, between the blade edge and the bedknife and once in place and even along the blade and both blades, tighten the bolts 1/6th of a turn or approx. 210 lbs of torque. Remove and reassemble for future use.

And it does say in the manual to adjust the bedknife each time the blades are changed out. The bedknife adjusted properly will greatly reduce the ability for viney material to become wrapped around your drum and blades. It also disallows large chunks to overburden the drum as it spins.


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## Mikecutstrees

The local vermeer dealer here sharpens knives. They do a nice job. Very sharp and no blueing. Call your local guy and ask. .... Mike


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## Barry Stumps

Thanks for the tips. I couldnt find a local shop to sharpen the blades so I will take it in to Vermeer and have both issues taken care of. Thanks for the advice.


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## randyg

I have a 2003 BC1000XL and the maintenance manual calls for a gap between knives and anvil (bed knife) of .12" (.3048 cm). 

Did not get guage with mine, was purchased used. Have hard time believing metal is best material to use for this guage? I use pieces of thin cardboard (thickness of box that loops of saw chain come in). With bed knife bolts barely finger tight, I lay the cardboard over edge of bed knife and slowly rotate cutter drum "backwards" and the knives each push bed knife back to proper position. Finger tighten bolts a bit more and check that cardboard pulls with little resistance (both sides/each knife the same) and then tighten.

Give Vermeer Corporation in Pella, Iowa a call at 641-628-3141 or 888-837-6337 and tell them your chippers vin number and tell them you need Operator's Manual and Maintenance Manual, and they will send them free. Good to have...

NOTE: New knives measure 2 1/4" from center of holes to edge. Vermeer recommends no less than 1 3/4" (sharpener should know this).

NOTHER NOTE: Distance between bed knife and cutter knife has nothing to do with thickness of chip. Chip thickness is distance knife edge sits ABOVE surface of wheel that knife is attached to. Therefore, knives that have been sharpened a time or two will actually produce a slightly thinner chip.


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## JIMMYTreeWizard

I have found the smaller the gap the better, especially for fibrey stuff like bamboo or palm fronds. The condition of the anvil is also important, on machines with very high hours the anvil is sometimes worn round into a curve which does not help. If this is the case most anvils can be turned over. You dont need to adjust the anvil every knife change, only when you change to hugely different sized blades eg. replacing VERY worn blades with new ones


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