# Can anybody identify this chipper?



## arc-nc (Feb 12, 2007)

Can anybody identify this chipper by the attched pics and serial #?
Thanks
-arc


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## arc-nc (Feb 12, 2007)

*Follow up to initial thread post*

This chipper has a Ford 300 6 cylinder inline gas engine. pic attached.


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## ASEMASTER (Feb 12, 2007)

*Fitsburg*

THIS CHIPPER LOOKS LIKE A NEWER VERSION OF OUR 1966 FITSBURG CHIPPER built in fitsburg mass.


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## nitro1253 (Feb 12, 2007)

It looks like a newer version of my asplundh


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## beowulf343 (Feb 12, 2007)

I'm with nitro on this one. Looks like an updated version of Asplundh's 'whisper chipper.' The table looks a little different though.


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## ropensaddle (Feb 12, 2007)

*chipper*

asplundh whisper chipper:notrolls2: :notrolls2:


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## begleytree (Feb 12, 2007)

ropensaddle said:


> asplundh whisper chipper



no, its a woodchuck. for some reason I was to say its a W-9 model, but don't hold me to that.
it will have one of 3 types of blades.
1 is straight 12" X4, takes a heavy open end wrench to losen the blades (square bolts)
1 is a 'quad 7' and the other is 'quad 9', both of which take small blades staggered around the drum, each blade having 2 bolts on the locking plate.
all 3 types use ridged blades, or blades with lines on them like brushed concrete, not smooth like the asplundh chippers. easier to change and adjust than the asplundhs' too. although digging the chips out of the quad type's pockets can be harder than changing the actual blades.
-Ralph

EDIT: BTW, they are made near you. manufactured in shelby, NC. calling 411 should put you in touch with them for a manual and/or parts dept. have your serno on hand before calling them.


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## neighborstree (Feb 12, 2007)

looks like you bought it at a jjkane sale,. or it was bought at a jjkane sale then you bought it, but im shure you could contach the auction company on the tag on the top of the chipper and find the make and model


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## Husky137 (Feb 13, 2007)

ASEMASTER said:


> THIS CHIPPER LOOKS LIKE A NEWER VERSION OF OUR 1966 FITSBURG CHIPPER built in fitsburg mass.



More commonly know as Fitchburg.


I'm with Ralph, it's a woodchuck.


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## Kneejerk Bombas (Feb 13, 2007)

begleytree said:


> no, its a woodchuck. for some reason I was to say its a W-9 model, but don't hold me to that.


Could the 1W9 in the serial number have anything to do with that?
Are the last 4 numbers the date code (22 week of 1982)?


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## begleytree (Feb 13, 2007)

not really Mike. the size and drum tells me WC-9, woodchuck 9" cap chipper. the big discs are wc-12 and wc-17.
I personally don't know their serno sequences, but the HD code on the engine and the head type were only available from '87 up. the head employs big stamped rockers with bridges that are bolted (1/2 bolts if memory serves) into the head verses the smaller single rockers that ride a pressed in stud (3/8, again, memory) and must be adjusted. one type won't cross adapt with the other type. 
anyhow, its rated at 9", with 120-125 hp. they are good solid trouble free chippers. the side chute is a pain. it works for small stuff, but big stuff tends to clog, and the door tends to get loose and cause clogging while chipping into a truck, if a few mods are not made to lock the door closed.

by the engine it's an '87 up or the engine has been changed out.

hopefully the owner will come back on to give more info. I hate it when a question is asked then we never hear any more about it.
-Ralph


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## ropensaddle (Feb 13, 2007)

*chipper*

sure look like asplundh chipper i used 15 years ago worked for them for several
years eighties and nineties they had some looked just like that except for feed table witch could have been fabbed dont have much experience with chuck
but thougt the blowers were different than asplundh the good thing is its a drum long live the drum im still using one thirty years young :rockn: :rockn: :rockn:


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## begleytree (Feb 13, 2007)

yeah, they all kinda look alike. theres only so many differences you can make on such a simple design. long live the drum? dam right. there's places for both, but on some long skinny maple limbs, the drum rocks. now if you say dead pin oak....that makes for a long day behind a drum!
sure, simpler, lighter, chips faster, less maintence, cheaper, the pros of the tried and true drum makes for a long list. everyone should have one imo, if only for a backup chipper.
-Ralph


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## beowulf343 (Feb 13, 2007)

Yeah, but them drums suck on a cold winter day and you get whipped across the ear, nose, or cheek with a branch. Boy, does that sting. 

Best I seen with a drum was a guy have three small hoop style earings ripped out-he was a hurtin' unit.


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## Treeman587 (Feb 18, 2007)

I am with beowulf on the sting. especially with a pin oak. I have a Wood/Chuck. I thought it was a wc-12, I am actually almost sure it is. But I have the blades you described that take an open end wrench(which are a BI*** to change BTW).

I beleive that one to be an Asplundh whisper. Two reasons. The side discharge and the forced air on the chute


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## arc-nc (Feb 23, 2007)

*wood chipper identified*

Begleytree has the correct info. It is a 1987 Woodchuck Wc-16.
I've obtained a service manuals and a source of parts from the plant in Shelby,NC. They provided good service and were very helpful.


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## lawson's tree s (Feb 26, 2007)

i got the same chipper. mines got a safety switch hooked to the feed table that cuts the motor off never seen a drum chipper with that set up before.


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## begleytree (Feb 26, 2007)

I have seen that before. I always wondered what good it was as the drum keeps spinning for a good while (coasting). I saw it on a chipper the city used. a big round 'slap' knob that you pushed down.
-Ralph


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## arc-nc (Feb 27, 2007)

*safety switch*

Is that the silver flipper switch below the ignition switch? What action does the up, down and middle position of the switch perform? This switch is not in the manual I got from Altec.


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## lawson's tree s (Feb 28, 2007)

no this is located on the back of the chipper. the switch your talking about might have been a strobe light, fan fuel pump etc. the one on the back of mine is a metal bar with a peice welded on it that you can hit with your hand. i had mine running today and hit it it shuts the motor off but the feed wheel keeps spinning i dont knoe what good it would do if something went wrong..


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## begleytree (Feb 28, 2007)

If something Jammed up the drum and started smoking the belts or the clutch that off button would be nice. never saw one that wouldn't stall the engine though, but theres always the first time.
I agree, not going to do much good if you are stuck in it though.

Arc-nc, you never did tell us what blades it has in it! and did you order the 12" long open end wrench with the pick on the other end? I used the factory wrench and a 12" piece of pipe to break them loose then switch to a regular open end to finish loosening them. a wrench a mm or so too big is nice to fit in there after they are loose. those factory wrenches have to be perfect, and they fight tight! extra thick.
hopefully it has the 12" blades and not the small 4" ones....

-Ralph


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## Treeman587 (Mar 1, 2007)

Hey begley, I need that wrench! Where do you get one?


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## begleytree (Mar 1, 2007)

Treeman587 said:


> Hey begley, I need that wrench! Where do you get one?



from the woodchuck factory in Shelby, NC. maybe email arc-nc from here and ask for their number? I don't have it.
it is the 5hit for them blade bolts. especially the square nutted ones. the hex ones just round off and need a brake line type wrench, and usually the heat wrench as well....
-Ralph


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## Treeman587 (Mar 3, 2007)

Yeah they are a bit**. I used a metric wrench and ground it out until I got the tightest fit possible. THANKS


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## Biospheric (Aug 13, 2010)

*does anyone know where i can get a replacement blower for an asplundh chipper*

The shaft spun in the bearing race, and the vibration ate up the blower. they are heavier than an ac blower or i would use that.


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## brisawyer (Aug 16, 2010)

How do you decode that tag I cant figure out how to get 1987 out of that jumble of numbers. I have a woodchuck with I think a hercules engine and would like to figure out the year.


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