BC1500 - Auto Feed - Bogging self down

[Recreational_Lumberjack]

Thank you for this!! Often we receive no feedback.
Seemed odd that is was bogging down with a 6" branch. Now it will likely require a much larger branch for auto feed to activate.

Vermeer drums with broken welds and out of balance drums are not uncommon. Hopefully the seller will cover some of this cost or you purchased at a giveaway price.

How many hours on the clock?

Absolutely!

You can definitely tell that this machine had been put through the paces. I was told when I purchased it that there was around 1800 hours but for whatever reason the electrical display is not working, specifically for hours. It works for oil pressure, battery voltage, and coolant temps. Odd.

the seller has said he will definitely be assisting me in the cost. In spite of this, I have been extremely fortunate in the series of events in getting this resolved and when finished I put to have a fantastic machine.

 

[Recreational_Lumberjack]

This has also been a great learning experience. After spending 5 hours yesterday with the experienced techs at Vermeer diagnosing the issue I have learned a tremendous amount. It was like a crash course in chippers -101!

 

[user 159780]

The mechanical clocks on the older machines were crap.
Replaced a broken clock with a brand new one on my Vermeer 935, which worked for about 10hrs.
So the buyer had some idea of the actual hours, when the machine was sold the original clock went with the chipper

My BC1000XL is a 2009 model, the clock is working as it should.

 

[Recreational_Lumberjack]

The mechanical clocks on the older machines were crap.
Replaced a broken clock with a brand new one on my Vermeer 935, which worked for about 10hrs.
So the buyer had some idea of the actual hours, when the machine was sold the original clock went with the chipper

My BC1000XL is a 2009 model, the clock is working as it should.

yeah, the seller actually replaced the digital clock on it and said that before he sent it out that it read the hours. I am not sure why it is t now. I am going to have vermeer take a look.

 

[Recreational_Lumberjack]

Update: Once Vermeer removed the drum they were inspecting the chamber and noticed the 2 rear motor mounts were broken. One of them the weld was cracked and the other had 2 bolts broken off and the one bolt holding it on. ‍

I also decided to go ahead and have them flush the hydraulic oil because it was really milky. It had supposedly been changed.

Unfortunately Vermeer was not able to get it finished before the end of day yesterday so I am hoping that Monday I will be picking it up.

Lol, I can hardly contain the desire to get outside and cut down some trees!! I want to get back to work with my new toy.

 

[user 159780]

We appreciate these updates so all can benefit from your experience.

Was this an auction chipper? If so where, so we know not to buy there.

 

[Recreational_Lumberjack]

Final update on what started as an auto feed issue that lead to much more! Lol

I picked the machine up on Monday, cyber Monday for reference. When I got there they had everything taken care of but they did find a couple issues with the safety bar on the tray table that they fixed as well. When all said and done vermeer tightened the belt on the drum, replaced drum, flushed hydraulic fluid, replaced anvil, replaced switches on feed tray bar, replaced both rear motor mounts, and replaced some minor items that were missing like hinge bolts/etc... The total bill came to $6,142.

Now during this entire process I did keep in touch with the seller, sending him photos of all the stuff they found. In the end the seller did cover $3,642. The seller was always good to work with and in the end, even though he didn’t have to, he made it right and was genuinely concerned with my success in using the machine. I definitely thought there were some issues that Made it hard for me to believe they didn’t find but, in the end it was taken care of.


I used the chipper for the first time after serviced on Tuesday and DAMN! It runs and operates exactly how I remembered it should. The belt did fix my auto feed issue. I could not believe how loose the belt was after having it tightened.

My vermeer store in Goodfield took really good care of me and although I was not pleased with there charges on my sc252, I better understood there process. They are very thorough and meticulous. I know the seller had a lot of issues with his vermeer dealer in Missouri which gave him a disdain for any vermeer stores but I am glad to have this one so close. I also learned a lot getting to be around the shop while the service tech was going over it. There were numerous techs who would cone over and check on it and assist as well as took time out when I came in to say hi!

 

[Recreational_Lumberjack]

Here are some of the pictures that I took.

 

[user 159780]

Thanks for the detailed update! I suspect this may help other forum members in the future.

Glad to hear that the seller assisted with the invoice. Auction machine buyers are not so lucky. "As is where is" is BS when the issues are concealed IMO.

 

[Recreational_Lumberjack]

Absolutely! I hope it helps!

 

[Recreational_Lumberjack]

Well, new update!

I had an oil leak on the oil filter housing so I took it to John Deere to have them fix it. I thought it was the gasket for the housing but it actually ended up being a crack in the oil filter housing. They ended up having to replace the housing, oil, and coolant. While they were there I asked them to give me the hours on the unit. Well I was told and it was advertised that the hours on the unit were 1800. When John Deere read the hours off the engine it was actually 5400. Huge discrepancy from what I was told and how it was advertised. It would make sense that the oil housing would have an issue after 5400 hours.

I have learned quit a bit from this process and I am now putting another $1000 into it. The tech at Deere said they can usually get 10k hours out of the engine so hopefully it’s second life with me will be one that lasts equally as long.

I am sure most of you guys on here know this but you definitely have to be vigilant when buying used equipment. I would expect the guys who sell this stuff to be upfront, honest, and vigilant in offering the best information.

 

[user 159780]

" I would expect the guys who sell this stuff to be upfront, honest, and vigilant in offering the best information".
LOL
No different than used car salesmen, who will tell you just what you want to hear.

There have been numerous eBay buyers, myself included, who purchased equipment based on the sellers 100% rating.
Discovered after the purchase that negative comments can be deleted by the seller, if payment was not made through paypal.
Could be the reason why they did not accept Paypal.

Apparently they were kicked off eBay and are now selling on Facebook Marketplace.