# chipper has mind of its own



## Wolf66 (Oct 30, 2003)

My W/C 17 seems to have a mind of its own. I recenently put in a new Ford inline 6 cylinder motor, and did a lot of other work(rockford clutch, link belt disk bearings, radiator, muffler, tires, ignition and theres even more I can't remember now) Anyway the chipper likes to shut itself down when ever. Its starting to do it a lot more often. Sometimes its while under a load, sometimes when at idle, sometimes when at full throttle, but under no load. I replaced the fuel filter and fuel pump, new lines and new ignition. I gave it a tune- up not long ago, and after all that it seems to be worse then when everything was original. Any thoughts or ideas, I am ready to strip down and sell for parts.


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## Lumberjack (Oct 30, 2003)

Possibly vapor lock? It is where the gas boils in the line and turns to vapor, which the fuelpump can't pump. Do you have to wait a will to restart it?


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## Tom Dunlap (Oct 30, 2003)

Most problems like this are electrical. It could be a wire that has rubbed aNd is grounding out.

Try rechecking the tune up specs. Did you tighten down the distributor? DAMHIKT  

Could be gremlins too. In that case, good luck 

Tom


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## Crofter (Oct 30, 2003)

If it quits cleanly without a couple of hiccups or stutter, most likely ignition rather than fuel. Is it electronic module or points distributor? Anywhere from the ignition switch thru breaker system and coil to a complete ground at other end of system. An intermittent fault can be exasperating but you will find it.

Frank


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## kurtztree (Oct 30, 2003)

we had the same problem at work with the woodchuck hyroller 1200 and it only had 120 hrs on it. they replaced the brain box then it ran for a while then shut down again took it in and thay said it was a corroded wire worked for about half hour then shut down again then didnt want to start unless you had someone wiggle the wiring harness this was getting very frustrating one day I decided to look and the ground wire on the fuel pump was very loose tighten it ran ever since.


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## NeTree (Oct 30, 2003)

Had the same problem with my bucket truck, turned out the contacts in the ignition switch were junk. Replaced the switch, no problems since!


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## Crofter (Oct 30, 2003)

What causes an awfull lot of problems and is not easy to spot is those stupid crimp on terminals. A bit of corrosion and the electrical continuity to the wire is lost, often on a hit or miss basis. They still look tight but don't do the job. If I use them on anything critical I crimp AND solder but the little plastic cuff falls off with the heat. They are a useless homeowner p.o.s. yet you see mecanics using them who should know better. They are quick and dirty and work about 95% of the time so I guess we are stuck with them.

End of Rant,

Frank


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## Wolf66 (Oct 31, 2003)

Thanks everyone for your replies. I took the day of to go through the machine and try to figure it out. You guys gave me some good ideas to start to troubleshoot the eletrical and fuel system. Yesterday I noticed that some smoke was coming out of the carb. after stalling and re-starting. I pulled the #1 plug and its tan, the wires are new but I will clean and pull the cap and rotor off to inspect. + all the replies from you guys gave me some more good ideas. Thanks again and I will let you know how it works out.


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## Wolf66 (Oct 31, 2003)

Just to add a couple of things. I apologize for being such a bad speller. My father was a english teacher for 35 years, so I should be better. The system has a rotor not points and I am going to go through the whole electrical system and fuel system today. I had a problem with the ignition 2 weeks ago and to temp. fix, I ran a wire from the coil to the + side of battery. That ignition will be replaced today. I am also going to install a inline fuel filter between the tank and fuel pump to make sure there are no crap passing through. Then I will run and start to truobleshooting everything else. I am going to get a woodsman 15X soon, but I think before a winter season is not the best idea unless I sell a lot of equipment and come up with a total cash payment. Boy do I wish I could get it now though.


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## treeman82 (Nov 1, 2003)

Tim, why not go over to Goldens Bridge and get a Brush Bandit? There is a Morbark dealer somewhere up around Beacon. I think somebody on here said that the Woodsman chippers weren't too good. As for the Wood Chuck... Mike up in Mahopac (MAN TREE) he won one back a couple years ago. He sold it to get a Bandit. Never put a single hour on it.


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## Wolf66 (Nov 2, 2003)

Matt, I heard nothing but good things about woodsman from this site and other sources. It's funny because when I got into this unit, I almost bought a woodsman 2018 from Tamerak upstate. But a few horror stories about tamerak and the fact that was the first year model for woodsman made me take the ride to N.C. and get the woodchuck for a few grand less. I regret not getting the 2018. I pay nothing for chip disposal , but $15. per yard for log disposal, so that 2018 could have paid for itself the first year If I ran it. + the woodsman had a 125 HP Deere diesel and my woodchuck is on its second gas motor. The woodsman has a few key (user friendly options) that such as the discharge shute bottom dropps out to quickly clean a clogged one(I do this by hand all the time and it sucks). The feedroller hydrolic lift can be operated from either side ( I have been hit by a car while chipping once already and this is why I can't climb my own trees anymore). There is only one feed roller(a big one), I prefer this to the double ones. And most importantly it has full 37" knives. All other drum chippers I know of do not have full length knives. Look at conehead who's design centers all the wood to go straight into the knives, but what about brush and big crotches, its not going to center them. I demoed the woodsman 15X, I like it , I want it, but probally not before what could be another long slow winter. If I had to coose a diffrent brand, it would be close between brush bandit or morbark.


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## Koa Man (Nov 2, 2003)

I have run Vermeer 1600, Bandits 90, 150, 200, 250, Morbark Eeger Beaver & M17, Promark 400, Gravely 395 and Woodsman 18X. I hated the "dead space" on the Bandits and Eeger Beaver. Short pieces of wood gets stuck in there quite often and unfortunately, none of the Bandits I used had the hyd. feed wheel lift. The M17 would clog very often on stringy material like palms and I blew some blades and once a piece of wood actually ran up between the drum and top cover, making a bulge in it and creating a gap where it bolted down. Vermeer 1600, old technology, no big capacity and very noisy. Promark was great but gas engine. Gravely 395 is 5 years old and it is the longest I have ever kept a chipper. I love that little machine (9 in. cap.) for palms and ornamental pruning where I am not chipping stuff larger than 4 inch dia. Woodsman 18X is great. I have been running it a little over a year and use it 75% of the time. I have not clogged it yet and I have used it on palms and hau bush. Hau bush has an extremely stringy bark and I have had 2 other tree contractors rent my Gravely to chip it when their Bandit 200 and 250 would clog and get the bark wrapping around the disc bearing slowing down the disc. If Woodsman had any problems on their earlier machines, they must have worked it out, because the 18X is extremely well built. Look under their chippers and the area under the feed rollers are way beefier than the Morbarks and Bandits. My M17 had to have that area cut off and thicker plate welded in because it bowed so badly that wood was getting stuck on the anvil and would not feed. My M17 was an early model so hopefully Morbark has worked out the problems they had.


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## Wolf66 (Nov 3, 2003)

Like I said I never heard bad things about woodsman. I may see how much more it would be to get into a 18X as opopesed to the 15X, but I am on a budget and there are some options that I would realy want my new chipper to have like a winch for one, I wonder what the price diffrence is between the 18X and 15X.


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## Koa Man (Nov 3, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Wolf66 _
> *I wonder what the price diffrence is between the 18X and 15X. *



There is about a $2000 difference between the 15X 125hp and 18X 125hp. About $6000 difference between the 15X 125hp and 18X 200hp. Not all of the difference between the 125 and 200hp is engine cost. The 200hp machine has beefier clutch, more frame reinforcements and thicker blades.


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## Wolf66 (Nov 4, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Koa Man _
> *There is about a $2000 difference between the 15X 125hp and 18X 125hp.
> For $2,000.00 more it will be worth being able to chip up to 18"
> I did get my W/C 17 fixed, so I will wait until the spring and hopefully get the 18X.*


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## Wolf66 (Nov 4, 2003)

It took some effort, but I got everything fixed. It was the wiring going to the ignition to the reset box. There were a bunch of burt out wires and some disconected wires. One of my workers does electrical work and works for me part time. After pulling my hair out for a few hours I called him and he wound up rewiring the ignition and reset switch. I also fixed the choke wich was sticking for awhile. Its going to be nice not to have to remove the side cover every time I need to start and shut down. That does not make you look good in front of customers. I felt like I should have changed my company name to shanty tree service where we specialize in our equipment breaking down at your job, LAL. All is working well and now I can get some work done and get into a woodsman 18X in the spring. Thank you for all your insight in helping me troubleshoot my machine, you guys are great.


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