# Bandit chipper bearings - how much grease?



## rymancm (Jul 30, 2013)

How much grease are you guys pumping into your main shaft/drum bearings? I have a Bandit 1390xp and my dealer said a few shots a day is enough. However, when I take the metal cover off so I can actually see the bearings it takes way more than that to really purge them. I know you can't overgrease them but what's a good ballpark to shoot for? Thanks.


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## Bandit Man (Jul 30, 2013)

rymancm said:


> How much grease are you guys pumping into your main shaft/drum bearings? I have a Bandit 1390xp and my dealer said a few shots a day is enough. However, when I take the metal cover off so I can actually see the bearings it takes way more than that to really purge them. I know you can't overgrease them but what's a good ballpark to shoot for? Thanks.



I run a drum Bandit also. Terrific machine. I give mine about five good shots after every hour of run time, it has 2021 hours and I've never had any bearing issues. Grease is cheap so when in doubt, Grease it :msp_thumbup:


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## LarryRFL (Jul 30, 2013)

I used to work for a company that sold power transmission parts. Here is what I was taught:

If the bearings are sealed (like pillow block or flange bearings) you are not really greasing the bearing. You are only greasing the housing. If you remove the bearing from the housing, you'll see that there is no way for the grease to get the the bearing. If you over grease a housing, you run a slight risk of popping the seal on the bearing insert. It's more common on import bearing than domestic. One or two pumps a day is all that you really need. The company was a rental company, also, and had Vermeer chippers. We greased the bearings everytime it came back from a rental.


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## imagineero (Jul 31, 2013)

from memory, the vermeers have a plate on the which specifies the interval and amount of grease required. On the BC1000xl I used to run I think it was 4 hours or daily on the drum bearings, and the amount was until purge.

I'm running a 250XP now and it gets run about an hour a day. I grease it every day, and put about 10 shots into the disk bearings. One thing I notice a lot of operators do when they grease is they grease cold, with the machine not running. Grease won't get anywhere that way, it just purges straight out next to the nipple. What I generally do is I engage the clutch with right after startup, and let the machine warm up with the disk spinning. That lets the bearings warm up too, and the grease in them. Cold grease doesn't like to move. If it's summer, I'll usually grease the bearings before the first chip, but after a 5 min warmup with the machine spinning. If it's winter, I grease it after the first chip.... to give the bearings more time to warm up. Plus the air temp has probably warmed up a little by that point too. With the machine warmed up and everything spinning, you get a lot more grease in there before it starts purging. 

Shaun


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## imagineero (Jul 31, 2013)

On a somewhat related note, how often are you guys changing your oil on your chippers? I've been doing mine every 50 hours, that's about 3 months for me. No idea where I got the 50 hours number from, or if thats too often or not often enough. 

Shaun


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## old_soul (Jul 31, 2013)

imagineero said:


> from memory, the vermeers have a plate on the which specifies the interval and amount of grease required. On the BC1000xl I used to run I think it was 4 hours or daily on the drum bearings, and the amount was until purge.
> 
> I'm running a 250XP now and it gets run about an hour a day. I grease it every day, and put about 10 shots into the disk bearings. One thing I notice a lot of operators do when they grease is they grease cold, with the machine not running. Grease won't get anywhere that way, it just purges straight out next to the nipple. What I generally do is I engage the clutch with right after startup, and let the machine warm up with the disk spinning. That lets the bearings warm up too, and the grease in them. Cold grease doesn't like to move. If it's summer, I'll usually grease the bearings before the first chip, but after a 5 min warmup with the machine spinning. If it's winter, I grease it after the first chip.... to give the bearings more time to warm up. Plus the air temp has probably warmed up a little by that point too. With the machine warmed up and everything spinning, you get a lot more grease in there before it starts purging.
> 
> Shaun





i agree with Shaun, I like to grease our vermeer at end of day when warm. take the throttle down, disengage clutch, and pump some grease in while the disk is still spinning. It will take 8 to 12 shots of grease easily if i do it that way. Usually is 4-5 minutes for disk to stop spinning anyway

we try to grease every 8 hours, some days the machine might only run an hour or so, other days it may spin all day and need greased again...............


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## rymancm (Jul 31, 2013)

imagineero said:


> On a somewhat related note, how often are you guys changing your oil on your chippers? I've been doing mine every 50 hours, that's about 3 months for me. No idea where I got the 50 hours number from, or if thats too often or not often enough.
> 
> Shaun



I think the manual says every 400 hours for engine oil change. Otherwise I'd change it at least once a year if you don't run it that many hours.


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## MarquisTree (Jul 31, 2013)

imagineero said:


> On a somewhat related note, how often are you guys changing your oil on your chippers? I've been doing mine every 50 hours, that's about 3 months for me. No idea where I got the 50 hours number from, or if thats too often or not often enough.
> 
> Shaun



Did you miss a zero.
Our JDs recommend 500 hrs
Our ####box perkippilars recommend 250hrs


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## CalTreeEquip (Aug 1, 2013)

This is a tricky question that gets asked a lot and there is never a clear answer because of the variables.
There are sealed bearing with no zerk, like on an old Asplundh chipper. They require no greasing and hold up real good, thousands of hours.
Then you have the pillow block like on your chipper. They are sealed but guys usually break out the seal right away, this is a problem because
dirt can get in once you break the seal. So the idea is grease them very little until the seal is broke then you want to purge
them all the time. Purging means pump until new grease is coming out. Do this while the bearing is turning and warm. 
When I have replaced disc bearings the bearing guy that sells them to me says, don't grease them at first. After a while its just one or two pumps.
Also using the right grease and not combining different grease is important. 
I never know what kind of grease I'm getting in the chippers I service so I do a lot of purging and one learns a lot from what and how its coming out.
Most the time the seals have been blown, often the bearing can't hold grease. In this case one must use the thickest tackiest grease and grease very often.
Keep that seal intact as long as you can when new. It always a guessing game how to do this.


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