74 Asplundh WC16 chipper Help

[chipdelia]

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

 

[ropensaddle]

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

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!

 

[chipdelia]

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

 

[ropensaddle]

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

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.

 

[treemandan]

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.

 

[treemandan]

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.

 

[treemandan]

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.

 

[ropensaddle]

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!

 

[chipdelia]

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

 

[treemandan]

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

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?

 

[treemandan]

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 #####.

 

[ropensaddle]

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

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!

 

[chipdelia]

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.

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

 

[Steve-Maine]

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

 

[DDM]

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

 

[chipdelia]

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.

 

[bushinspector]

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??

 

[chipdelia]

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.

 

[bushinspector]

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

 

[chipdelia]

What size

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.