Chipper's trap-door....

[NickfromWI]

I have a question- the little trap-door under the chipper that lets all the small stuff fall to the ground rather that going through the chip-chute......what are the pro's and con's of leaving it open during the day? Is it better to have it shut.

I don't do the big equipment maintenance, so I think it's better to leave it shut...less clean up needed. What else is there that I'm not seeing? Is it bad for the blades?

love
nick

 

[Tim Gardner]

When using the Bandit 250, certain types of pine trees do not chip very well. The needles get wrapped around the feed wheels. By opening the door the needles will drop out and you can keep chipping. You have to keep forking the debris that falls out into the truck though because it piles up pretty fast. Other than that I see no benefit in leaving the door open during operation.

 

[Menchhofer]

W/regards to the 250, we always leave the door open due to the fact when the bottom feedwheel cavity fills with debris the wheel has trouble moving.

We have tried the door closed but it does not take long for the area to clog.


Reminds me of the Morbark salesman who told us the bottom door was to let rocks fall through so they would not get into the knives....we could tell he never chipped a day in his life!!!!

 

[NeTree]

That dumb little trap door that lets debris fall out is exactly why I like the Vermeers better.

 

[Cicero]

Yes the trap door allows for the free falling of chips and yes to allow those bottom feed wheels to keep moving. You do have to clean up a little afterwards.

In regards to the Vermeer. The benefits of a horizontal feed roller far outweighs the benefits of a vertical feed system. Should my chipper clog (which is a regular occurance on the 1400) I will have mine unclogged before you can even loosen the spring on your vertical feed roller.

 

[NeTree]

But... it never clogs!

 

[Frans]

rocks falling from chipper

I got a little Gravely chipper that has an opening at the bottom.
Do you really think that rocks dont fall out?
I always thought it was a "last line of defense"
Frans

 

[Yellowdog]

I wish my Vermeer had a way of catching juniper needles. I get the problem of my feed wheels getting stuck. A trap door might help. I would rather have a pile of needles than be frustrated by the feed wheels stopping all the time.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Cicero,

The benefits of a horizontal feed roller far outweighs
the benefits of a vertical feed system.

Would you list the pluses and minuses of horizontal and vertical? I have a 1230 with vert which replaced a Bandit 150 with horizontal. I can see some differences but can't really see a big enough advantage to say "outweigh"

Tom

 

[TREETX]

I love the 250XP a chipping machine that will take what you throw at it. I don't mind the little piles. I do have one large exception to that, I have done some large commercial and residential jobs requiring me to chip many piles in many different areas. Where you leave the truck running and pull up, chip a pile, pull up chip a pile..... over a half mile of street or parking lot. A half mile of pavement is a long way to have to shovel chips and blow the pavement clean. A lot of manhours sunk right there!!

Those days made me ache for having a 1250 again.

 

[NickfromWI]

well, now I'm confused...

I haven't had problems with the wheels getting slow, even when we chip conifers or Weeping Willow. That being said, am I wasting the bosses money by leaving it open and having us spend more time to clean up the debris and toss it in the back? On small jobs, I lay a small tarp under the trap door so that i can just toss the whole thing in the back (no need for raking, scooping and tossing). However, on medium+ removals, many pounds of debris fall down their, and it can take quite a while to get it loaded into the truck.

love
nick

 

[Menchhofer]

The more sharp the knives are kept, the less falling debris down through the chute on the 250. Depending on the size of the job, it usually only takes a few minutes to remove the debris pile from the chute area.


Last year Vermeer demoed 6 chippers an an Arbormaster Training
Episode in IN. The main reason I have not considered the vertical wheel set up was every machine as it was demonstrated threw chips back out the infeed chute toward the operator.

 

[Menchhofer]

Re: rocks falling from chipper

Originally posted by Frans
I got a little Gravely chipper that has an opening at the bottom.
Do you really think that rocks dont fall out?
I always thought it was a "last line of defense"
Frans


Doesn't everyone know rocks of any type should never even make it to the infeed chute?

 

[Menchhofer]

Originally posted by BIG CICERO
[ Should my chipper clog (which is a regular occurance on the 1400) I will have mine unclogged before you can even loosen the spring on your vertical feed roller.

Not if you have hydraulic feed wheel lift

 

[Cicero]

Vertical feed rollers have problems in that they will not accept larger material as well as a horizontal. The reason is simple...they cannot hydraulically spread like a horizontal can. Large material can be difficult for any feed roller system. When you come across large wood like that simply raise your wheels up and give a little shove and you are back in business.

Vertical feed rollers are not supported by a true axle. They more or less dangle in the air which over time will cause strain on the one bearing supporting the roller and also cause the gap between rollers to widen.

Horizontal feed rollers can be manipulated by hydraulics and can add down pressure for crushing and extra power. That is a big no go on those vertical feed systems.

I have said many times before the 1250 was the best chipper that Vermeer made. It was faily durable and performed well too. The BC 1400 is in my mind a joke in comparison to that machine or Morbark or Bandit. I have a customer (a Municipality) who was forced to buy a 1400 due to low bid. Last Saturday the had an event where the city folks can bring their branches and have the city workers chip them. By 9:30 A.M. they were renting a Model 13 from us because theirs had clogged 5 times.

Their current crew will tell you that they must clean behind the rollers twice a day in order to keep the sensor-feed system from reversing on them.

I could not be happier that Vermeer made these changes. It makes my life easy. I have yet to loose a head to head demo against a Vermeer 1400 and a Morbark 13. In fact I have had some customers buy the Morbark 13 over the BC 1800 because the performance was quite similar. Most people have come back saying that the Vermeer 1800 barely out chipped that 13.

Sales pitch is over. I hoped it helped.

 

[NickfromWI]

Okay....the results are in....

It's a Morbark Tornado model 13. I think that's right. Does this make a difference?

love
nick

ps- I kept the chute closed all day today!!

 

[Striker]

We have a Morbark 2100D. Nice machine. Wish it had the original engine, the hydraulic lift on the feed roll, and a trap door under the disc.When the blades are getting dull, or the crew tries to chip wood too wet, to rotten, or too muddy the disc gets plugged. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to unplug it. But For some reason nobody else can figger it out. Thats where a trap door under the disc would be handy.