Feedwheel mods

[Stumper]

Has anyone on here tried modifying a dual horizontal wheel machine by scrapping the bottom wheel and welding in plate for the upper wheel to pinch against? I've been thinking about the complaint that many of us have about the debris pile that forms under the infeed and the jamming that dead stuff causes with broken pieces wedging in the opening that the bottom wheel spins within. I've been looking at my Olathe 984 and thinking......Hmmmm. I bet it would feed better (Jam less)without the bottom wheel.

 

[Koa Man]

I really liked the one feedwheel design and the way it worked on by Morbark M17 as well as the one on my Woodsman 18X. The one wheel design has a much bigger wheel than the dual wheels. If your chipper was mine, I would be afraid to mod it. What if it doesn't work? How much trouble would it be to go back to original? If you do decide to go ahead, I would strongly suggest not welding full beads on the plate before you try it out.

 

[DDM]

Stumper Before you remove the wheel Disconnect the bottom wheel so it will free wheel to see if it has enough Torque to Pull in the bigger stuff. You might have to upgrade the Motor on the top.

 

[fpyontek]

If you disconnect the bottom feed wheel, the wheel it will not move as soon as any debris accumulates under it, and will cause more drag on the upper feed wheel. Brush Bandit uses a trap door underneath the bottom feed wheel to lessen this problem. Look at how your machine is designed. You may be able to cut out a portion of the steel under the bottom feed wheel, weld in braces and reinstall that removed steel as a trap door . Be aware though that any modifications you make will void your warranty and place some additional liability on yourself.

 

[Stumper]

fpyonek, I'm sure DDM means doing a temporary test with an unjammed free wheeling lower wheel to make sure that the upper wheel can pull material in on its own. I really wouldn't expect a problem-It sometimes manages to drag stuff over the jammed lower wheel depite the teeth on the lower grabbing and peeling bark. Warranty is not an issue on My 20+ year old Olathe. One nice feature of the Olathe is the variable down pressure on the articulated upper wheel. It has a hydraulic cylinder fed by a hose with a flow control valve. Pressure can be 0 (just the weight of the feed wheel and motor ) up to 1500 lbs. I find 200 lbs about right most of the time.

 

[a_lopa]

ive used a 9"bandit that had the bottom roller taken out and a stainless bottom chute put in,i got say it worked every bit as good if not better,sharpening rollers and rapping the stators with bands made out of truck tire tubes helps things along considerably as well