changing disk bearings on a 250XP

[pdqdl]

Slow down the feed-wheels and it would be making sawdust, not chips. Like you said, more heat...because it is destroying more wood.

What do you have against autofeed? Mine has worked flawlessly for 16 years. No repairs yet, and it lets us walk away from the chipper to go get the next big branch.

 

[imagineero]

We probably work differently. We tend to stack then chip rather than chip as we go in most cases. Seems more efficient and a faster way to get the job done. I got the biggest engine i could because I'll generally have a big stack ready to go and 3 guys to feed it so the bottleneck is definitely the machine.

With branches i don't need the autofeed. No matter how many branches the guys stuff in at once, the autofeed does not ever kick in on the 120. The only time it kicks in is in logs, where it's too sensitive. So i turn it off and run it manually. I need to be there to operate the lift anyhow, and unlike the machine i can see how big the log is and know how much of a bite or can take. So for me, the auto feed is redundant.

If I had the 80 and found it couldn't take large branches without bogging then I'd probably want the autofeed.

 

[Pelorus]

Slow down the feed-wheels and it would be making sawdust, not chips. Like you said, more heat...because it is destroying more wood.

The auto feed proportions the feed rate to engine RPM, so it "slows down" (start/stop/start/stop?) those feed wheels when chipping large dia. material. A flow divider slows down the rotation of those wheels. Same difference. The idea being to reduce to load on the engine. Either automatically with auto feed, or manually adjusting a flow divider when the situation calls for it.
More heat results from restricting the flow of hydraulic fluid, nothing to do with "destroying more wood" or " making sawdust".

 

[Pelorus]

Further to that feed rate thing, why do you suppose a three knife cutter head is sometimes offered as an option instead of a 2 knife head? I've heard 1. a faster feed rate is possible, (with > hp required) and/or 2. Better chip quality.

 

[imagineero]

Maybe so's they can sell more knives? ;-)

No idea really. I've not seen a 3 blade setup before. Have seen a small chipper that had rotating knives though, similar to the green teeth. You got 3 goes at turning them. Also saw a serated blade once, guy said it worked well and lasted a long time but couldn't be sharpened

 

[pdqdl]

The auto feed proportions the feed rate to engine RPM, so it "slows down" (start/stop/start/stop?) those feed wheels when chipping large dia. material. A flow divider slows down the rotation of those wheels. Same difference. The idea being to reduce to load on the engine. Either automatically with auto feed, or manually adjusting a flow divider when the situation calls for it.
More heat results from restricting the flow of hydraulic fluid, nothing to do with "destroying more wood" or " making sawdust".

Maybe on some machines, but not my Bandit 200xp. If the RPM drops below a certain point, the feed wheel stops. The wheels don't move, and no wood advances until the engine rises back up to the programmed upper limit. I can modify the set points at the digital tachometer on a permanent or temporary basis, too. It is all controlled by one wire to an electric solenoid-valve. There is no flow divider on the machine.

I have read that newer machines actually reverse the feed wheels during the recovery cycle, so that the disk speeds up quicker without dragging on the tip of the stopped log. Mine does not do that.

 

[pdqdl]

We probably work differently. We tend to stack then chip rather than chip as we go in most cases. Seems more efficient and a faster way to get the job done. I got the biggest engine i could because I'll generally have a big stack ready to go and 3 guys to feed it so the bottleneck is definitely the machine.

With branches i don't need the autofeed. No matter how many branches the guys stuff in at once, the autofeed does not ever kick in on the 120. The only time it kicks in is in logs, where it's too sensitive. So i turn it off and run it manually. I need to be there to operate the lift anyhow, and unlike the machine i can see how big the log is and know how much of a bite or can take. So for me, the auto feed is redundant.

If I had the 80 and found it couldn't take large branches without bogging then I'd probably want the autofeed.

All good points, I can see your perspective.

What are you calling a branch? Around here, it is common to get long straight oak branches that are too big for 3 men to drag and too big for my machine to chip. A bandit 200 has an upper limit of 12" (24.5 cm), and it had better not have any knots at that size, either.

 

[imagineero]

That's interesting you can change the kickin point on the autofeed, how do you do that? I think mine kicks in way too early. My machine runs at 2465rpm and the autofeed seems to kick in about 2400. I think it ought to be about 2250.

A branch for me is up to about 8". 6" stuff flies through. With sharp blades and a well set squared off anvil my machine will swallow hardwood logs 12"x12" in 3' sections without needing to take a rest. The infeed is 12x19, and when we do trees bigger than this we rip the logs down to this size. We cup everything because I don't have a yard for firewood or anything. At 12x19 in hardwood the machine is not having a good time and drops down to taking little 3" bites.

 

[arborlicious]

This particular machine does have autofeed. Had been looking around for few months for a second hand chipper and this seemed to be the best available at the time. Although i didn't know the bearings were in need of changing.

We put a few bigger logs through today, not quite 12" diameter stringybark - hardwood but it ate the 4-5' lengths in a few bites (autofeed) kicked in.

Definitely producing better chipper now with new bearings.

Nice machine to work on now that I know what I'm doing. After having worked on a mates BC1000xl this is much better.

 

[pdqdl]

That's interesting you can change the kickin point on the autofeed, how do you do that? I think mine kicks in way too early. My machine runs at 2465rpm and the autofeed seems to kick in about 2400. I think it ought to be about 2250.

A branch for me is up to about 8". 6" stuff flies through. With sharp blades and a well set squared off anvil my machine will swallow hardwood logs 12"x12" in 3' sections without needing to take a rest. The infeed is 12x19, and when we do trees bigger than this we rip the logs down to this size. We cup everything because I don't have a yard for firewood or anything. At 12x19 in hardwood the machine is not having a good time and drops down to taking little 3" bites.

If you are chipping everything, you really need to invest in a "whole tree" chipper. I can't imaging dicing up all the logs to make chips with them...We would never be able to compete with all the hacks in our area.

Adjusting the autofeed settings is really pretty simple; I'll see if I can post the instruction set and maybe a picture. It only takes me about 1 minute to do the temporary change. I don't think Bandit doesn't publishes the instructions for the regulator/tach.

If I am just chipping a bunch of forsythia bushes (cane-type plants that are easy to chip), I will adjust the kick-in point to about 1900 rpm, and leave the minimum at 1650. If we happen to toss in a weed tree that actually slows the machine down...it's ok. Toss it in and go back to work.

Reducing the kick-in point, we can throttle it down, we don't have to listen to the monster screaming all the time, and it also doesn't blast chips as hard. Sometimes (like right now), my chipper truck is out of service and we tow it with an open top dump. MESSY! Slow the damn chipper down!

 

[imagineero]

I was thinking I'd get a whole tree chipper with a grapple, right after I get a mini, a bigger truck, a bucket truck, a crane, a bigger crew, and some more work to pay for all that gear ;-) In the mean time I guess I'll just have to work with what I got. My truck has a 12m3 bin (about 15 cubic yards) and we can fit some medium size trees in there. A tree that will fill my whole truck generally won't need a lot of ripping in the barrel, maybe just the first 15' of trunk or so. If it's too big to fit in my truck in one load I sub my chipping out to a guy with a 30 cubic yard bin and an 1890. The infeed on that is 18x30 which isn't whole tree but it takes some good size logs. barrels up to 6' only need to get ripped into 6 chunks which isn't too bad. For really big trees I'll try to use a crane where I can and just put the barrels directly onto semi's and give them away to firewood guys. Saves a lot of ripping!

Even on the bigger trees, it saves quite a bit of time/money having the 250xp and a 15 cube truck. I'll chip all the branches as we go and you can fit quite a lot of branches into 15 cubic yards. The barrel I'll put into the 1890. The two trucks together will take 45 cubic yards and we don't do many trees bigger than that. Few times a year we'll do a single take down that's 70cubic yards+, then it just turns into a 2 day job.

 

[arborlicious]

You forgot about importing fuel by the gallon to run all of that new equipment you're about to buy ;>

 

[imagineero]

at $4 a gallon?

 

[Erwin]

Sorry to bring up such an old tread. Did not find anything newer. The write up Shaun did on page 1 is very informative. Thx

Over the past two years I gradually replace n repaired most other parts of my 250. Last week I finally get a chance to check the health of those 4 dreaded allen bolts on the infeed side. As I tried to test the torque on them, the head of the lower right one came right off just as I started to torque, cleanly from the shank. Obviously the shock force from the cutting wheel over the years sheared it off. The remaining 3 are still in good shape holding things together. I know I'll have to do the hard thing some day to address this, just not ready yet until at least winter time. I wonder if Shaun or Arborlicious or anyone else who went through this can answer the question I have concerning the broken bolt. Since mine is sheared off flush from the head, or the outer most side of the bearing housing, how can I lift the disk out of there assuming the rest 7 bolts will come out clean and easily? Looking into the machine, I don't see enough space to allow the disk to move axially toward the infeed side sufficiently to clear the broken bolt. Of course this is the best case of scenario, I might have more broken when I'm ready to do it. Am I missing anything? Do I maybe need to somehow cut the broken bolt in order to lift the disk? Please enlighten me. Thank you! Also, from now on, I'll start getting parts for the job. Did anyone find any alternative vendors for the expensive bearings?

 

[arborlicious]

Hi Erwin,

Don't have that old 250XP anymore so I'm just going off the top of my head and looking at the old pictures in this thread.

Given that you'll be replacing the bearing and housing it might be possible to get in there with an oxy torch and cut the bearing housing to clear the broken bolt.

I did not find alternative vendor for bearings at the time - needed them in a hurry. The one on the engine side has the housing machined so if you might be able to start with standard off the shelf bearings and modify to suit.

Steve

 

[Erwin]

Steve. Thx for taking time to reply. Yes. I agree that a oxy torch might b my only option. If I can preserve the part of broken bolt sticking out of the hole I’ll make it much easier to work with. Erwin

 

[Erwin]

for people who need to replace the disk bearings and my future reference when my time comes, the price for the bearings came down quite nicely. They used to be over 1300 for a pair, now about half of that. Fairbankequipment.com, louisvilletractor.com and allbanditparts.com have them for that price. If u want to further save, cut the front bearing by ur self. it does not look hard to do to save another 200. Good luck. Erwin

 

[pdqdl]

I have never priced new bearings, but mine are 21 years old. Probably going to become an issue in the near future.

Is that what you are paying for the bearings, or for the service to install + parts? I would think the bearings would only be $100 each or less. Much more if they are made by Dodge.

 

[Erwin]

no, that the price for just the parts. Now I'm planning to do it in 2 weeks. trying to do more readings and gather all information I can get, order the parts and start shooting PB Blaster on the bolts daily. The best price I found so far for the larger one on the pulley side (900-1900-34) is $185, and feed side one (900-1900-33) $385. If anyone found better pricing for them, Please share. If I can get it from someone selling dodge bearings, I have the means to do the cutting myself. Thx