Help me identify this old chuck and duck chipper

[ChoppingBlock]

Please see the photos attached below. This is my first chipper I just bought as I'm only involved at the hobby level now. The title isn't original, so it does not list a brand.

Its a ford inline six 12" wide blades. Is it a Woodchuck from the sixties?

Also how do the knives come out? I have all the 3/8 allen bolts out but nothings budges? Do the little allens adjust the cutting depth, or do they need to come out?

Any idea if anyone out there has an owners manual for one of these that they could PDF?

Thanks so much!

 

[rarefish383]

That big bar with the holes in it is a wedge that holds the knives in. Sometimes they can be rather hard to get out. Try sticking a steel rod in each of the outside holes and pry back and forth and it may pop loose, Joe.

 

[pdqdl]

That remotely resembles an Olathe chipper, out of business a long time ago. That seems to be a pretty cheap unit, since the drum diameter is rather small, and I don't see a counterweight. Almost all the old chippers were built about the same, but I haven't ever seen one without a heavy flywheel.

It also does not look like there is a stop/control pan on the infeed that can be dropped to stop the chipping. That makes it both dangerous and ineffective. If you give it too much branch, it will jam, and there won't be anything you can do about it. With no heavy momentum, you will be eating belts quickly, and you will be limited to little branches. That looks like it would have trouble with anything over 4" diameter.

The old mechanical governors and throttle linkages are likely to be excessively worn, with great difficulty to replace. Your local NAPA ain't gonna have those parts.

The wedge is, not surprisingly, wedged in. The bolts apply a huge force onto a tapered fit, so the squeeze on the blades is enormous. You can usually get some sort of prying device under the ends and lift: forcefully! They will pop out eventually, but you may need to invent some sort of tool to lift at the ends. Heat usually is more hindrance than help.

When you put the knives back in, be sure to scrape every vestige of grime off the mating surfaces. Clean and shiny is best, but use NO abrasives to get there.

If you own it: sell it. If you don't yet...then make sure you don't. At all.

You'd be money ahead with a decent rental, unless you need it full time. If full time, buy a good chipper.

 

[ots]

chuck & duck chipper

It's a old fitchberg chipper. I had one of those it was a 1961 with a 292 v8 . they don't make them any more . Try searching this site under fitchberg chipper. Look for a stamp plate on each side of the hopper (where the brush gose in)