# 74 Asplundh WC16 chipper Help



## chipdelia (Mar 12, 2008)

My friend and I are restoring a 74 Chuck and Duck to safe operation. We are in need of help in a couple of areas.

1. Looking for photos of a 16" with the Ford FT 330HD V8 motor to see how the exhaust and mufflers are run and mounted. It is presently running with open exhaust manifolds which makes it hard to hear the whisper of the chipper part of the unit.

2. We managed to get the old blades out and presently are fighting the frozen blade adjustment bolts that go threw the drum. Managed to get 3 of the 8 out so far with a lot of broken Allens and 3 cans of PB Blaster. We even tried heating the drum with a torch with out much luck. It just laughs at the 600 Pound Impact Gun. Any advice or experience with this would be helpful. Even things that didn't work so we don't try. We are thinking that we need to pull the drum to either get a better hit on it or find a machine shop that can drill them out.

3. Does anyone have a good idea how heavy the fly wheel is on a 16". 

4. I need to order new replacement shaft locks for the Fly wheel and the pulley that are mounted on the drum shafts. The cast has cracked on both of them.


5. It looks like the governor was removed from this unit some time a go and discarded. A photo or other info about it would be helpful as I know it would make the unit run safer.

I have read all the post here on Whisper Chippers, and see a lot of folks looking for manuals. There are PDF manuals for altec chippers at http://altecep.com/altec-manuals.htm. I hope they are helpful.

Thanks in advance,
Chip


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## ropensaddle (Mar 12, 2008)

chipdelia said:


> My friend and I are restoring a 74 Chuck and Duck to safe operation. We are in need of help in a couple of areas.
> 
> 1. Looking for photos of a 16" with the Ford FT 330HD V8 motor to see how the exhaust and mufflers are run and mounted. It is presently running with open exhaust manifolds which makes it hard to hear the whisper of the chipper part of the unit.
> 
> ...



The blade adjustment bolts pita try to rotate the drum, under the bolts
there is a hole as the bolt holes go all the way through! Take a pick and
clean all the gunk out and pb it there as well, then try! Use the anti sieze
when you put it back together.The rotor or drum is a heavy animal but
unless you are replacing bearings, not much will be gained in its removal.
Good luck and it will make a very fine chipper for many years to come! Another thing you could try is using one of those motor
cycle hammer impacts,the ones you smack with a hammer to
loosen the bolts!


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## chipdelia (Mar 12, 2008)

*Blade Adjustment Bolts*

We have been PB Blasting away for days, both holes, front and back. I forgot about the hand Impact tool. I will try to give that a try tonight, have to stop and pickup some more allen sockets. Anyone know how hard the adjustment bolts are (grade 2, 5 or 8)?

We were thinking about removing the drum so that it doesn't try to roll as we are pushing on the 5 foot breaker bar to loosen the bolts up. Also it will cost less if we take the drum out if we have to send it to a Tool and Die shop to cut the bolts out. We may even take a wack at drilling them out our selfs and the drum would have to be rigged under my drill press.

Thanks,
Chip


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## ropensaddle (Mar 12, 2008)

chipdelia said:


> We have been PB Blasting away for days, both holes, front and back. I forgot about the hand Impact tool. I will try to give that a try tonight, have to stop and pickup some more allen sockets. Anyone know how hard the adjustment bolts are (grade 2, 5 or 8)?
> 
> We were thinking about removing the drum so that it doesn't try to roll as we are pushing on the 5 foot breaker bar to loosen the bolts up. Also it will cost less if we take the drum out if we have to send it to a Tool and Die shop to cut the bolts out. We may even take a wack at drilling them out our selfs and the drum would have to be rigged under my drill press.
> 
> ...


Man, I have never seen them quite that bad, did they locktite them or what?
I think they would be grade 8 hopefully the hammer impact will do it.


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## treemandan (Mar 12, 2008)

If you can get to the other side of the bolts that are stuck get the bolt hole hot and touch a brush with antisieze and PB mixed to it. The heat should help pull it in like sweating pipes. 
You can also try to rapidly cool the area after getting it hot. It helps to break the bond when the metals move.
for the allens- make sure that they are only long enough to go into the allen head. The length it sticks out from the socket, cut it shorter.
Is you air compressor putting out enough to run the gun? Try a bigger gun like a 3/4 inch. 
It is not really good to do but that metal around the bolt should be very cherry, hot that is, almost melting, liquid.


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## treemandan (Mar 12, 2008)

treemandan said:


> If you can get to the other side of the bolts that are stuck get the bolt hole hot and touch a brush with antisieze and PB mixed to it. The heat should help pull it in like sweating pipes.
> You can also try to rapidly cool the area after getting it hot. It helps to break the bond when the metals move.
> for the allens- make sure that they are only long enough to go into the allen head. The length it sticks out from the socket, cut it shorter.
> Is you air compressor putting out enough to run the gun? Try a bigger gun like a 3/4 inch.
> It is not really good to do but that metal around the bolt should be very cherry, hot that is, almost melting, liquid.



And more; a tire road service truck might be able to come to your location. If what they have on the truck doesn't get them loose... Or try calling a heavy equipment mobile repair guy.
You should do something about the drum moving while working on it. Maybe put it in gear or jam something between the drum and hopper. Hell stick a pry bar through the drive wheel.


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## treemandan (Mar 12, 2008)

ropensaddle said:


> Man, I have never seen them quite that bad, did they locktite them or what?
> I think they would be grade 8 hopefully the hammer impact will do it.



I would not want to hold that impact driver while it is being hit with the force required. The gun produces much more I think.


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## ropensaddle (Mar 12, 2008)

treemandan said:


> I would not want to hold that impact driver while it is being hit with the force required. The gun produces much more I think.



I would not hold it with my hand channel locks would be used.
The pound of the hammer will sometimes amaze you as what it
can accomplish and with less chance of stripping anything!


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## chipdelia (Mar 13, 2008)

*Update*

After a couple of days off from working on the chipper, (had to work on the wifes to do list) my friend and I with renewed enthusiasm went back at it. 

I picked up Grade 8 Allen stock from a tool and die supply house and a few other tools yesterday. The hand impact and a 2 pound hammer didn't budge them. We are finding the fine line of how much power you can put in to a 3/8" Allen. I snapped a Craftsman 3/8" Impact short extension last night that I added to my box of snapped tools from this project. I am starting to believe that the last person that adjusted the blades may have used lock tight, but I didn't see any evidence of that on the 3 we have gotten out. 

We are thinking we have hit the wall with how much power and heat we can put in to it while the drum is mounted. If we heat it up to red hot, which is the next thing to do, it will surely kill the drum bearings. The bearing seem fine right now, but we have to remember that this is a 1974 machine and with the wear and tear that it shows, it has worked hard for a living.

After snapping a couple more tools (allens, breaker bars, sockets and extensions) on the Adjustment bolts, we started looking at getting the drum out. So, we took off the fly wheel last night (man that thing is heavy) and opened up the bearing cover. 

It looked like the sealed bearing has leaked a little grease (about a level teaspoon full on the inside of the cover) or this grease could be from a past repair. Not sure if that is real bad or not at this point. The drum does spin nice and rolls to a real nice stop. Its not jerky at all. But I will not be able to evaluate the bearings properly until they are off the drum (too much spinning weight involved). 

We are starting to look for a competent heavy equipment guy that can give it a shot or just drill the dam things out. I am also going to look for a 3/4" Impact Gun at the tool rental store, but I am not so sure that is very key. The impact gun we are using now is rated at 650 pounds at 90 PSI. We of course are feeding it 120 PSI like any good backyard mechanic.

Thanks,
Chip


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## treemandan (Mar 13, 2008)

chipdelia said:


> After a couple of days off from working on the chipper, (had to work on the wifes to do list) my friend and I with renewed enthusiasm went back at it.
> 
> I picked up Grade 8 Allen stock from a tool and die supply house and a few other tools yesterday. The hand impact and a 2 pound hammer didn't budge them. We are finding the fine line of how much power you can put in to a 3/8" Allen. I snapped a Craftsman 3/8" Impact short extension last night that I added to my box of snapped tools from this project. I am starting to believe that the last person that adjusted the blades may have used lock tight, but I didn't see any evidence of that on the 3 we have gotten out.
> 
> ...



Sounds like a place I know and it sucks but you make it through. Heating up to cherry would weaken the drum. Have you tried the getting it relatively hot and then running cold water on it? Also you should try to tighten them a little. Go back and forth with that and see what happens if you have any hex tools left. Even a little heat should melt the loctite. Are you sure the threads are right handed? Is there no way to lock down the drum?


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## treemandan (Mar 13, 2008)

ropensaddle said:


> I would not hold it with my hand channel locks would be used.
> The pound of the hammer will sometimes amaze you as what it
> can accomplish and with less chance of stripping anything!



You hold, I'll hit. I extract some stuff with a air hammer/chisel. It is always a #####.


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## ropensaddle (Mar 13, 2008)

chipdelia said:


> After a couple of days off from working on the chipper, (had to work on the wifes to do list) my friend and I with renewed enthusiasm went back at it.
> 
> I picked up Grade 8 Allen stock from a tool and die supply house and a few other tools yesterday. The hand impact and a 2 pound hammer didn't budge them. We are finding the fine line of how much power you can put in to a 3/8" Allen. I snapped a Craftsman 3/8" Impact short extension last night that I added to my box of snapped tools from this project. I am starting to believe that the last person that adjusted the blades may have used lock tight, but I didn't see any evidence of that on the 3 we have gotten out.
> 
> ...



Man it is a stubborn one eh? If you are good with a torch it is possible to melt the bolts out of the hole the bolts will get cherry quicker than the rotor! I had to burn out the wedge bolts once, anyway just a thought. You don't want to use too much oxygen just keep melting the bolts!


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## chipdelia (Mar 14, 2008)

*Replys*

Thanks for all the input we are going back at it this weekend if we can sneak out from the honey to do list. I am off to the tool stores to restock our supplies of tool ammunition.



treemandan said:


> Sounds like a place I know and it sucks but you make it through. Heating up to cherry would weaken the drum. Have you tried the getting it relatively hot and then running cold water on it? Also you should try to tighten them a little. Go back and forth with that and see what happens if you have any hex tools left. Even a little heat should melt the loctite. Are you sure the threads are right handed? Is there no way to lock down the drum?



We have tried some heat sparingly and will use more this weekend. We are kind of inexperienced when it comes to Metallurgy, but I know its like football, when you throw the ball in the air, 3 things can happen and 2 of them are real bad. 

I really don't want to heat it so much as to damage the drum. Called Altec yesterday to see if and how much a drum would cost just in case and I can tell you that no one at Altec is going hungry. 



> Man it is a stubborn one eh? If you are good with a torch it is possible to melt the bolts out of the hole the bolts will get cherry quicker than the rotor! I had to burn out the wedge bolts once, anyway just a thought. You don't want to use too much oxygen just keep melting the bolts!



Melting the bolts out would have to be left to a profession metal guy. Way out of our league.



> I would not hold it with my hand channel locks would be used. The pound of the hammer will sometimes amaze you as what it can accomplish and with less chance of stripping anything!



It just shows the frustration you get and how desperate my friend is to get this out of his garage. He held and I hit at his suggestion. He is usually a pretty smart guy in most cases when it comes to safety! (It must of been the wine.)



> Is you air compressor putting out enough to run the gun? Try a bigger gun like a 3/4 inch.
> It is not really good to do but that metal around the bolt should be very cherry, hot that is, almost melting, liquid.



We are sourcing a 3/4 air gun now, but the problem is there is only so much power you can put in to a 3/8 Allen. We will get a little hotter this weekend. 

Please keep the ideas coming as we still have 5 to go.
Thanks,
Chip


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## Steve-Maine (Mar 15, 2008)

I have a manual for a Model JEY Asplundh Whisper Chipper I can copy for you.
[email protected]


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## DDM (Mar 15, 2008)

Try some straight coke syrup in the bottom side of the holes.


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## chipdelia (Mar 17, 2008)

*Defeat*

After restocking on tools, my friend buying a 1000# 3/4" impact gun, and getting it real hot, we only got one more out. I think it was teasing us. I guess 4 out of eight is not total failure. 

We removed the chipper section from the trailer to send to a heavy equipment guy to see about the other 4 bolts.

So we should have plenty of time to prep and paint the trailer and fine tune the work we did on the motor.

Still looking for a picture of a a 16" JEX model with a V-8 to see how they ran the exhaust and mufflers back in 1974.


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## bushinspector (Mar 18, 2008)

What is the serial number of your Jex?? I have one but it has a straight six on it. How did you find out the year it was made??


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## chipdelia (Mar 18, 2008)

*model year*

there should be a plate riveted onto the side of the chipping unit. In my case it was on the back left portion of the input chute. it would start with either JEX or JEY. Then you can call Altec Inc. and ask for cust service and they will be able to tell you what year it is. At least that is how we did it.


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## bushinspector (Mar 18, 2008)

The model number that I have is a JEX 10919. Great idea about calling them and find out what I have.


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## chipdelia (Mar 19, 2008)

*What size*



bushinspector said:


> The model number that I have is a JEX 10919. Great idea about calling them and find out what I have.


What size is yours. I am trying to figure out if the 12" ones have 6 cyl. and the 16" have V-8. There doesn't seem to be a lot of the 330 V-8's out there, but there are a ton of the 300 6 cyl. The 6 is a great motor, lots of torque.


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## chipdelia (Mar 19, 2008)

*Altec*

Bushinspector,

my unit was # JEX 11608 and it was a 1974, so if i had to guess yours might be a early 70's. But since my guess is probably worthless, give Harvey in Product support at Altec a call. He is a nice guy and was actually involved int he design of the JEY model. I believe the number is 800 331-1038. If i have the # wrong let me know and i will find it for you


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## bushinspector (Mar 19, 2008)

The throat measures 12 inches across and is 10 inches tall. The six that is in it really smokes so i was wanting to change it out. What size of limb can you fit through yours??


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## chipdelia (Mar 19, 2008)

*chipping limbs*

in response to your question as to what size limbs my neighbor and i put through our 16" chipper- The answer would be: We don't dont really feed just single limbs through it. Being that it has a powerful V-8 and the 16 inch drum we find that we can fit the whole Wife using the proper chuck and duck method as per the operators manual.

As a side note, it can also handle branches up to about 6-7" inches with the old dull blades but we're hoping to up that with the new set of blades.

Hope that answers your question


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## chipdelia (Apr 11, 2008)

Finally got the chipper back from the machine shop. $700 to remove the last 4 adjustment screws, but it has given me time to paint the whole thing. 

Now to putting in the new blades with out cutting myself!


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## lowryder (Apr 20, 2008)

*may have help*

I have a 1977 whisper chipper that i have been babying for about 12 yrs now...........I do have the original manual for this model jey series 330hd.......I am in the process of copying the manual and scanning it onto a pdf and will attempt to post it soon.......I'm not quite sure how similar these 2 models are.........I had stainless steel mufflers made for mine .......they work well......I experienced the same problem with the adjustments bolts.....had to have them tapped from top and put a smaller bolt inside of existing bolts to get adjustment.....I only had to do this on 4 bolts.........was able to get in from bottom side where larger allen size gave more leverage to break free......as for the governor.....I took that off shortly after I got the machine.......it gave nothing but problems .........I put a regular throttle control adjuster on and basically ran the machine at I wanna say around 3to4000 rpms......works great.....you may need to decipher exactly where the machine performs best rpm wise......... 




chipdelia said:


> My friend and I are restoring a 74 Chuck and Duck to safe operation. We are in need of help in a couple of areas.
> 
> 1. Looking for photos of a 16" with the Ford FT 330HD V8 motor to see how the exhaust and mufflers are run and mounted. It is presently running with open exhaust manifolds which makes it hard to hear the whisper of the chipper part of the unit.
> 
> ...


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## chipdelia (Apr 21, 2008)

lowryder said:


> I have a 1977 whisper chipper that i have been babying for about 12 yrs now...........I do have the original manual for this model jey series 330hd.......I am in the process of copying the manual and scanning it onto a pdf and will attempt to post it soon.......I'm not quite sure how similar these 2 models are.........I had stainless steel mufflers made for mine .......they work well......I experienced the same problem with the adjustments bolts.....had to have them tapped from top and put a smaller bolt inside of existing bolts to get adjustment.....I only had to do this on 4 bolts.........was able to get in from bottom side where larger allen size gave more leverage to break free......as for the governor.....I took that off shortly after I got the machine.......it gave nothing but problems .........I put a regular throttle control adjuster on and basically ran the machine at I wanna say around 3to4000 rpms......works great.....you may need to decipher exactly where the machine performs best rpm wise.........



Be careful running the chipper motor at 3-4,000 RPM's. In the manual that I have seen, it said that the throttle max is set to produce 2600 RPM's at the rotor. I haven't figured the pulley ratios yet, but at 4,000 engine speed I think you would do in the rotor bearings. We didn't have a Tach on the Chipper before we started rebuilding it, but I think we were running the motor at about 2500 RPM's.

We are in the reassembly portion of the rebuild and should be testing next week. We have all new engine gages, including a tach, so I will post what it is running at.

I would love to get a copy of the manual you are scanning and to see photos of the muffler setup. The manual I have seen on line is for a much newer machine. My e-mail is [email protected]


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## chipdelia (Apr 29, 2008)

*Test Run*

Ran the chipper this weekend for about an hour. It really makes beautiful chips. Ran it from 1500 to 2000 RPM (no governor installed) on long 4 inch brush and it just sucked it in and spit it out. Can't see running the motor over 2500 RPM even for really big stuff. At 1500, it nice, you don't have to duck as fast.


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## Adk Mt Man (May 4, 2008)

*Another Chuck & Duck owner.*

This has been a fascinating thread to read. I admire the dedication you have Chipdelia!
I've been running mine for about 14 years or so and have been very happy with it. It's an occasional use machine, keeping our sugar bush navigable by chewing up many of the tops.
I'm not even sure what year mine is, I think somewhere in the 77-78 range. I've got the Ford HD V8. 
A scare today. We were chipping away and I was smelling gas...
Took a look toward the engine, and I had a high pressure leak out of the fuel filter. A tiny pinhole was vaporizing fuel into the engine compartment. Fortunately for me Only one of the two covers is available so the side I was looking into was open. Killed it quick and got everyone away. Things cooled off and no fire thank goodness, as my '62 Willlys Comander was attached and I'd have lost both.

A day that could have been much worse!:angry2:


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## Adk Mt Man (May 4, 2008)

lowryder said:


> ......I do have the original manual for this model jey series 330hd.......I am in the process of copying the manual and scanning it onto a pdf and will attempt to post it soon........



Hey Lowryder. I'd be a very appreciative beneficiary of your PDF'ing if you get to it. I think we may have the same model. I'd owe you one!


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## chipdelia (May 5, 2008)

Adk Mt Man said:


> This has been a fascinating thread to read. I admire the dedication you have Chipdelia!
> I've been running mine for about 14 years or so and have been very happy with it. It's an occasional use machine, keeping our sugar bush navigable by chewing up many of the tops.
> I'm not even sure what year mine is, I think somewhere in the 77-78 range. I've got the Ford HD V8.
> A scare today. We were chipping away and I was smelling gas...
> ...



The accelerator pump on those carbs go pretty often also. We had gas all over the top of the motor when it went. 2 dollars later for the new pump and all was fine. 

It always amazes me how hard it is to ignite gas. I have over filled lawn mower that where burning hot and got gas on the muffler, and no flame started.

There should be a label on one of your engine valve cover that would give you a pretty good idea of the age of your unit, or there is a metal tag on the input chute on the left hand side upper.


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