Asplundh Chipper Clutch Issues

[SouthJerseyJim]

Hi everyone, I have a 16" Asplundh Chipper with the Ford 300 6cyl engine. I have had it for a couple years now, cleared my lot with it with no problems, however the clutch always did work really hard when disengaging it despite greasing it regularly. I let a friend borrow it, and didn't notice when it came back that he left it engaged when shut off, so now it has sat for 6 months or so with the drum engaged. Went to use it this weekend and cannot get it to disengage. I greased everything again with no luck. The first 75% of motion is free and clear, and I can actually hold it up high enough when starting so that the drum will not spin, making it much easier to start the motor. However, it is not far enough up to actually stay disengaged, so letting go of the lever at that time immediately sends it back into action. I could get by with it like this, it still chips nicely and runs like a beast, but I want to sell it. Any ideas what could be wrong here? I'd like to free it up without ripping the whole thing apart, but if I have to I'll open it up to clear this problem up before putting on the market. Any ideas or help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[FanOFatherNash]

Hi everyone, I have a 16" Asplundh Chipper with the Ford 300 6cyl engine. I have had it for a couple years now, cleared my lot with it with no problems, however the clutch always did work really hard when disengaging it despite greasing it regularly. I let a friend borrow it, and didn't notice when it came back that he left it engaged when shut off, so now it has sat for 6 months or so with the drum engaged. Went to use it this weekend and cannot get it to disengage. I greased everything again with no luck. The first 75% of motion is free and clear, and I can actually hold it up high enough when starting so that the drum will not spin, making it much easier to start the motor. However, it is not far enough up to actually stay disengaged, so letting go of the lever at that time immediately sends it back into action. I could get by with it like this, it still chips nicely and runs like a beast, but I want to sell it. Any ideas what could be wrong here? I'd like to free it up without ripping the whole thing apart, but if I have to I'll open it up to clear this problem up before putting on the market. Any ideas or help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

I guess lesson to be learned is dont loan out your stuff!
I am in same situation now, just got chipper back after doing someone a favor
facing exact same thing your described, Did you ever find out more about why or how?

 

[lone wolf]

Sounds like he destroyed the clutch rip it apart or better yet get a mechanic to do it for you.

 

[Steve-Maine]

Asplundh Chipper Clutch Issue

They are quite easy to rebuilt. Is it a rockford ot twin dsic clutch, should say on inspection plates. Let me know and I can e-mail a manual on rebuilding it. Good Luck
Steve

Sounds like he destroyed the clutch rip it apart or better yet get a mechanic to do it for you.

 

[SouthJerseyJim]

Solution

They are quite easy to rebuilt. Is it a rockford ot twin dsic clutch, should say on inspection plates. Let me know and I can e-mail a manual on rebuilding it. Good Luck
Steve

I was able to free it up without rebuilding. Turns out I hadn't greased it enough, I greased all fittings again thoroughly and worked it back and forth a lot, worked freely after that, better than it ever had. Ended up selling it for what I wanted as well. Thanks for the help everyone.