Big chipper shear bar

[Yellowdog]

It's been awhile since I've stopped in here. How's everyone been?

I've got a Vermeer BC 2000. I mostly use it for land clearing and large soft wood logs like cedar. For the most part, I'm okay with crappy chips and pieces since we use a lot of the leftovers for erosion control and the rough chips are better for letting grass and weeds grow through after they are spread out.
I also need to use the chipper occasionally on rural residential type tree work as a sub contractor. Most people want us to leave chips in that setting so they can use them around their rural property especially with the drought.

I can't adjust my shear bar because the cover to get to it needs to be drilled and tapped. As you can imagine, not much room to work under there so I would probably need to take it to the dealer.

My question is, with a 20 inch capacity, 200 hp chipper, is it worth it to keep the shear bar adjusted for the few times I need to make quality chips? I've had this chipper over 10 years and used to adjust the shear bar and it always either went back to the way it was or still threw out big chunks on soft wood or twigs regardless of how tight I had the tolerances. Is this just the nature of the bigger chippers or should it be sizing EVERYTHING as a small, dimensional chip if the shear bar is adjusted correctly? Keep in mind, there is no damage to the shear bar that I can see. Blades need to be replaced but even with new blades, chips quality has always sucked or been inconsistent when chipping a whole tree.

Any thoughts from others who run an 18 or 20" chipper? Am I wasting fuel or overworking the machine if the shear bar isn't adjusted or is it more work if it's chipping finer?

 

[imagineero]

By shear bar I assume you mean the anvil, and yes you ought to keep it regularly adjusted and flip it as it wears, replace it when all sides are worn. Makes a hell of a difference in chip quality, how far you can throw the chips, and how easy things get sucked into the machine. The feed wheels are doing a lot more work if you have crappy anvil adjustment, you're putting unnecessary wear on your machine. Get that cover taken care of, you can do it in an hour or two and you'll kick yourself for not having done it earlier.

 

[Eq Broker]

Chipper anvils/cutter bars start rounding off like a table edge over time. I would say the anvil needs to be flipped every 500-600 hours. The anvil should be set about a 1/16" away from the knives. If you're looking to make chips bigger, I would set it about 3/16" away from the knives. Remember to turn the drum backwards after setting the anvil. This will protect the knife and anvil edge if they were to hit. Most flat anvils can be used 4 times as this is a drum chipper and on disc chippers you'll have to buy a new one.

Hope this helps!

Dave
Global Equipment Exporters