Bandit 200+ chipper

[VINIFIREWOOD]

Having trouble with my Bandit 200+
Especially when chipping dead branches, there seems to be a lot of small pieces that don't go through the knives and stay in the chipper between the feed rollers and the knives/disc. They end up back in the feed rollers and jamb them up, stopping rotation and constantly having to reverse the rollers to clear these chunks. Also longer pieces that the top roller catches and tries to feed them back out toward you over the top of the roller but get wedged between the roller and the housing above it.

Is this just the nature of the beast or is something wrong/worn?

Yes the knives are sharp and I check and adjust the anvil clearance each time I rotate or change out the knives.

 

[TRISTATEFORESTRYEQUIPMENT]

open the trap door on the bottom of the lower feed roller. it will drop out all the smaller pieces of wood, also rocks, dirt and other material you dont want in your chipper. if your feed wheels are coming to a complete stop over a small piece of wood you may need a pump


joe

TriState Forestry Equipment - Home

 

[VINIFIREWOOD]

Thanks for the reply Joe

The chipper didn't have the trap door in it when I bought it a little over a year ago so that problem is out.

I talked last night with a friend of mine that has a Bandit 250, same design, and he has replaced everything in the hydro system on his, the pump, drive motors on the rollers, relief valve, etc and he still has the same problem with the smaller chunks jamming up the rollers.

 

[imagineero]

I've got the 250XP, all this class of machine has that problem. It's partly the design, but it's als the setup of the machine and how you run it. Your problem is probably caused primarily by a crappy anvil, and poor anvil adjustment. I'm assuming you run sharp blades. People underestimate how important the anvil is. It needs to be square and have a crisp edge on it. Once that edge starts getting rounded, it won't suck the wood in. You can flip it 4 times. The anvil is pricey, and you can have it re-ground or grind it yourself to save money, but only if you're handy with a grinder. Scribe a line on it so you've got a straight edge to work with, then start grinding with a flap disk. Stop regularly, don't let it get too hot to touch. Finish up by draw filing. I set my gap to less than reccomended and find it runs real nice that way. With a square edge on your anvil and sharp blade, and proper adjustment, pieces won't sit between the disk and feed wheels.... they'll get sucked in just like on a chuck n duck.

The rest of it is just normal chipper common sense stuff. Always chip downhill, never up hill. Try to cut your brush long rather than short, and leave foliage on the end to chase it through where possible. When feeding logs, try to feed each one directly behind the last one and not off to the side, so the new log pushes the little piece of the old one through instead of just going past it. If you do find yourself getting a jamb, feed some branches through, they'll clear the little pieces out. If you can't get a branch in because the roller keeps jamming, and can't lift the roller for the same reason then try reversing the rollers while lifting, then once it's lifted get the rollers going in the right direction again.

Shaun

 

[lone wolf]

Having trouble with my Bandit 200+
Especially when chipping dead branches, there seems to be a lot of small pieces that don't go through the knives and stay in the chipper between the feed rollers and the knives/disc. They end up back in the feed rollers and jamb them up, stopping rotation and constantly having to reverse the rollers to clear these chunks. Also longer pieces that the top roller catches and tries to feed them back out toward you over the top of the roller but get wedged between the roller and the housing above it.

Is this just the nature of the beast or is something wrong/worn?

Yes the knives are sharp and I check and adjust the anvil clearance each time I rotate or change out the knives.

Nature of the beast . The dead chips cant be avoided really! I had a old bandit disc feed I forget what size but around 150 model and it would always clog the shut when chipping evergreen or wet hardwood with leaves. After many years of this problem I sold it and bought a drum feed 1890 problem solved!

 

[imagineero]

Clogging the chute sounds like a whole other problem from what the OP is describing.

 

[lone wolf]

Clogging the chute sounds like a whole other problem from what the OP is describing.

Yes I was making the point that some machines are what they are and cant be fixed is all.:smile2:

 

[CalTreeEquip]

I've got the 250XP, all this class of machine has that problem. It's partly the design, but it's als the setup of the machine and how you run it. Your problem is probably caused primarily by a crappy anvil, and poor anvil adjustment. I'm assuming you run sharp blades. People underestimate how important the anvil is. It needs to be square and have a crisp edge on it. Once that edge starts getting rounded, it won't suck the wood in. You can flip it 4 times. The anvil is pricey, and you can have it re-ground or grind it yourself to save money, but only if you're handy with a grinder. Scribe a line on it so you've got a straight edge to work with, then start grinding with a flap disk. Stop regularly, don't let it get too hot to touch. Finish up by draw filing. I set my gap to less than reccomended and find it runs real nice that way. With a square edge on your anvil and sharp blade, and proper adjustment, pieces won't sit between the disk and feed wheels.... they'll get sucked in just like on a chuck n duck.

The rest of it is just normal chipper common sense stuff. Always chip downhill, never up hill. Try to cut your brush long rather than short, and leave foliage on the end to chase it through where possible. When feeding logs, try to feed each one directly behind the last one and not off to the side, so the new log pushes the little piece of the old one through instead of just going past it. If you do find yourself getting a jamb, feed some branches through, they'll clear the little pieces out. If you can't get a branch in because the roller keeps jamming, and can't lift the roller for the same reason then try reversing the rollers while lifting, then once it's lifted get the rollers going in the right direction again.

Shaun

This is good advise. Its mostly a matter of what and how your feeding it.

 

[VINIFIREWOOD]

Good info

I've got the 250XP, all this class of machine has that problem. It's partly the design, but it's als the setup of the machine and how you run it. Your problem is probably caused primarily by a crappy anvil, and poor anvil adjustment. I'm assuming you run sharp blades. People underestimate how important the anvil is. It needs to be square and have a crisp edge on it. Once that edge starts getting rounded, it won't suck the wood in. You can flip it 4 times. The anvil is pricey, and you can have it re-ground or grind it yourself to save money, but only if you're handy with a grinder. Scribe a line on it so you've got a straight edge to work with, then start grinding with a flap disk. Stop regularly, don't let it get too hot to touch. Finish up by draw filing. I set my gap to less than reccomended and find it runs real nice that way. With a square edge on your anvil and sharp blade, and proper adjustment, pieces won't sit between the disk and feed wheels.... they'll get sucked in just like on a chuck n duck.

The rest of it is just normal chipper common sense stuff. Always chip downhill, never up hill. Try to cut your brush long rather than short, and leave foliage on the end to chase it through where possible. When feeding logs, try to feed each one directly behind the last one and not off to the side, so the new log pushes the little piece of the old one through instead of just going past it. If you do find yourself getting a jamb, feed some branches through, they'll clear the little pieces out. If you can't get a branch in because the roller keeps jamming, and can't lift the roller for the same reason then try reversing the rollers while lifting, then once it's lifted get the rollers going in the right direction again.

Shaun

Shaun, thanks for the info here.
Never really thought about the condition of the anvil that way. Always check the clearance when I flip or change the knives. I will admit I don't know what the actual specs are for clearance but have always set it at about 1/8".
The chipping down hill I have thought about though obviously not always possible.
Again thanks for the info.
If anyone could post the anvil setting spec I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[NRTS]

I have the same chipper, I set the anvil to .040, When my 200's feed wheels slow down its usually the pile under the trap door going back in to the feed wheels, chunks do get caught in there, we just reverse the wheels. If there's chunks caught in between the feed wheels and disc feeding a live tip thru clears it out.

 

[Eq Broker]

Dead Wood

When you need to chip dead wood, run a green piece with it and it should help carry out the dead wood.

Hop this helps!

Dave
Global Equipment Exporters

 

[gorman]

Shaun, thanks for the info here.
Never really thought about the condition of the anvil that way. Always check the clearance when I flip or change the knives. I will admit I don't know what the actual specs are for clearance but have always set it at about 1/8".
The chipping down hill I have thought about though obviously not always possible.
Again thanks for the info.
If anyone could post the anvil setting spec I would greatly appreciate it.

An eighth of an inch is way too much space. You want less than a sixteenth. You should find out the actual specs for what was designed for your machine and have a angled piece of metal made so you can check the tolerances.

 

[VINIFIREWOOD]

Just thought I would give a little update on this.
I had to flip the knives the other day so while I was at it I pulled the anvil to inspect. Looks like I need this one ground or a new one. It really doesn't look too bad but it is rounded off.
I put that back in and adjusted it to approx. .050"
I haven't had a chance to run any dead stuff through it yet, but this made a big difference in the way this machine operates on live stuff. Makes smaller chips and doesn't seem to bog the motor as bad when chipping bigger limbs. Although I have yet to find the actual spec for the anvil setting.
I will probably have to wait for another rainy day to get a new anvil made. From what I have gathered, having one made will be cheaper than getting a new one from bandit.
I also plan to re-position the pintle ring to the upper mounting holes to tilt the front of the machine downward so that any debris between the rollers and flywheel will naturally move toward the flywheel from the vibration of the machine instead of back towards the rollers.

 

[2dogs]

I know this is an old thread but I thought I would reply. I set the anvil at 1/16" nominal. The reality is I set it as close as I can, which works out to just less than 1/16 when I measure it once a year.

Change the hydraulic filter every few months and if your machine has a screen then clean it too.
Keep the belts tight and the clutch adjusted. Ours just broke a leaf spring clip that allowed the clip to shift and twist enough to slice through the tire sidewall.