Fitchburg chipper

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Fitchburg Frustration

Wondering if anyone could help me with removing/replacing the blades on my 9 inch Fitchburg with a Ford Industrial 6 cyl engine ? I removed all of Allen Bolts, 4 for each Blade and there are 4 Blades. After removing the bolts, I cannot seem to get the blades loose for removal to sharpen. There are two threaded holes below each Blade, but there does not appear to be any kind of set screw inside ??? Are these holes used as jacking points ? I have been searching for a manual on-line for for months and came across this web site. I would very gladly pay for a manual or photo copy of a manual. Also if you know where I could purchase replacement blades. The machine is in excellent shape have just completely overhauling the motor....please email me at [email protected] ......Thank you - Waltonjoe35
 
Fitchburg

hey Fitch ! I have a suggestion. Tow it downtown and put a FREE sign on it. Haven't you spent enough money on that beast already?
 
HELP, Fitchburg chipper

Bill
I too have a Fitchburg, an older model. Am having trouble with the feeding of the limbs, when feeding small limbs, the drum stops turning and the engine dies. The machine does not seem to pull the limbs in correctly. I am not able to find any information on this machine. Any information, or pictures would be helpful. Willing to pay for a copy of your manual. Thanks so much for you time and trouble.
Samantha
 
Fitchburg Chippers Revisited

I too own a Fitchburg chipper with an IH 240 six banger for power. I contacted Bill G about a manual. He couldn't find his but is looking for it. Maybe someone else can help me out here. I took this large
8 1/2" wide by 6 3/4" tall double ended plate out of the underside of the chipper. Although it does not have any sharp angles to it. There are (4) 40 degree angles on both sides and both top and bottom with a 1/4" flat between the two side angles. Is this the front cutter? Here is the photo of the plate. C-4, do you still have your manual? How's the fishing on the Cape so far? I have yet to unwrap my boat this summer. I'm near Worcester, Ma. I usually go to The Race off Long Island because it is close to me than the Cape.

Jim
 
JimR said:
I too own a Fitchburg chipper with an IH 240 six banger for power. I contacted Bill G about a manual. He couldn't find his but is looking for it. Maybe someone else can help me out here. I took this large
8 1/2" wide by 6 3/4" tall double ended plate out of the underside of the chipper. Although it does not have any sharp angles to it. There are (4) 40 degree angles on both sides and both top and bottom with a 1/4" flat between the two side angles. Is this the front cutter? Here is the photo of the plate. C-4, do you still have your manual? How's the fishing on the Cape so far? I have yet to unwrap my boat this summer. I'm near Worcester, Ma. I usually go to The Race off Long Island because it is close to me than the Cape.

Jim
Click to expand...

I'm going to assume that is your bed knife that your blades run against... I do not own a fitchburg but every chipper ive ever seen the top of it should be flat. Most are not hardened and the edge wears at a angle over time. I take mine out and put it on the mill to mill the top flat again.
 
Thanks for the reply. I did clean up the edges for the picture as they were all rusted. The only edge showing any kind of wear was the one aiming at the drum. The other three angles are ground surfaces and all identical. They are not wear marks. I guess that is why I need a manual to see what it should be. I have access to a big machine that is used for grinding items. I think with an angle vise I could set this up to re-sharpen the edges or grind them straight if that is what it needs to be. How far should this plate be set from the drum cutter blades?
 
Thanks, That is a hell of a lot closer than what it was. I want to say that the blade was a good 3/16th of an inch away from the cutters. How about the lower plate tension. Any thoughts on that. Someone put spacers on the rods and cranked the springs almost all the way down tight. I can't chip anything larger than 3 inches without the chipper stalling and getting stuck. The cutter blades are sharp and all set the same depth. I'm sure setting the lower plate will help that out considerably as it will be taking a much smaller chip.
 
I just tore down my chipper and replaced the chipper head bearings. That was not a fun job to say the least. One of the bearings was shot and spun on the shaft leaving a good 1/8" wear ring in the shaft diameter. I welded up the shaft and turned it back down to specs. I have it all back together now. Can someone please tell me how far the knives should be set out from the chipper head? Is there a certain set point for the bottom spring plate that is hooked to the springs arms? This was all screwed up when I took it apart. The previous owner had tons of washers under the springs to make them virtually fully compressed when the bolts were cranked down. I think this was one of the problems for the chipper not working properly. I also found the bed knife was set at least 3/16" away from the cutters. Now it's time to get this back up and running. Hopefully someone knows where to start with the cutter settings or lower plate setting. At least that will give me a starting point. I don't want to hang the cutters too far out from the cutter head. I also heard that there is a gauge for setting the cutters. Does anyone have one of these? If so, could you post a picture of it with dimensions so that I could make myself one.
TIA, JimR.
 
here's is what I ened up doing. I set the floating plate slightly down from the end of its upward travel. I then set the blades for .065. This really stunk as they moved when you did the final tightening on them. I then put the front plate in and set it by the highest blade for .010 clearance. Then I adjusted the other blades to match the first one. I can truly say that the chipper works so much better than it did before. Now I need ot either replace the governor or rebuild it. It does not rev up when under a load. I can chip a 3 inch branch with no problem. A 4 inch branch tends to bog it down because of the lack of automatic throttle from the governor. I'm happy enough as I burn anything over 2 inches anyway. The chips are much smaller than previously and no long 3 and 4 foot stringers flying out of the shoot.
 
Fitchburg Chipper Adjustments

I have owned this 12 inch drum type chipper for 18 years. It built a nice tree service and I still use it, sold it, bought it back again!! The Ford industrial 300 runs clean, tight and strong and I have never worked on it except carb radiator, routine PM.
I set the Bed Knife(or Anvil) to cutter blade clearance to .006 to .007 and it's tedious but jerks a 4"x25 footer out of my hand and throws chip 40' + !! Keep the blades sharp and the belts tight.
I built a big belt guard, run a aux fuel tank with primer bulb and mounted a clutch output shaft adjustable timken to counteract the overhung belt load.
I made enough to buy the new disc self feeds and they're great because I could change blades and adjust in an hour. The Fitchburg takes 3hrs and a careful clean out of all socket head cap screws, then USE NEVER SEIZE on the wedge bolts!
I also made an adapter plate where the side chute mounts and set a PB 400 Echo leaf blower to blow Palm Fronds. It never had the blower option installed and I only need help on the light stuff unless the blades are dull (as they dull the clearance increases and it compounds the efficiency loss)
So it's critical to feed clean brush and wood to keep em sharp.
the spring load on the jam plate never was an issue , if a branch jams I mash down on the "clear" bar with my foot to get it feeding again. If you have to clear very often it's time to adjust or sharpen or both.
Tell me what other chippers are working 50 years later??
 
donaldburgess said:
I have owned this 12 inch drum type chipper for 18 years. It built a nice tree service and I still use it, sold it, bought it back again!! The Ford industrial 300 runs clean, tight and strong and I have never worked on it except carb radiator, routine PM.
I set the Bed Knife(or Anvil) to cutter blade clearance to .006 to .007 and it's tedious but jerks a 4"x25 footer out of my hand and throws chip 40' + !! Keep the blades sharp and the belts tight.
I built a big belt guard, run a aux fuel tank with primer bulb and mounted a clutch output shaft adjustable timken to counteract the overhung belt load.
I made enough to buy the new disc self feeds and they're great because I could change blades and adjust in an hour. The Fitchburg takes 3hrs and a careful clean out of all socket head cap screws, then USE NEVER SEIZE on the wedge bolts!
I also made an adapter plate where the side chute mounts and set a PB 400 Echo leaf blower to blow Palm Fronds. It never had the blower option installed and I only need help on the light stuff unless the blades are dull (as they dull the clearance increases and it compounds the efficiency loss)
So it's critical to feed clean brush and wood to keep em sharp.
the spring load on the jam plate never was an issue , if a branch jams I mash down on the "clear" bar with my foot to get it feeding again. If you have to clear very often it's time to adjust or sharpen or both.
Tell me what other chippers are working 50 years later??
Click to expand...

Thanks for the posting. What are the new disc self feeds that you speak of? I used N.S. on every bolt when I tore it down for a rebuild. You mention the clear bar on the lower plate. How do you mash down on it when it doesn't hang out? Maybe mine is missing something here. Can you send me a picture of yours so I can see what you mean. Now you have me thinking that just maybe my springs have way too much pressure on them. If I slacken them up, the lower plate will go down instead of forcing the log into the cutter head. Maybe that is why is is bogging down. I must admit this this machine is fast. My wife will not go near it. I wish it had a set of hydraulic roller heads to slow it down just a little bit.
 
TWC 915 chipper

Bill G said:
Samantha,

Send me your address and I will send out a copy this week.

Bill
[email protected]
Click to expand...

Hi Bill,
Do you still have a manual for a fitchburg chipper? I just bought the chipper, TWC915, and am looking for the manual. If you could mail or email me a copy, I would be glad to pay you for your trouble. Email is fostertreeservice (at) gmail.com
Sean
 
Fitchburg Chipper Manual Needed

I just got a 12" Fitchburg chipper (12" drum with 9" blades) that need a lot of work and I am trying to locate a manual. Any help would be greatly appriciated.

Regards,
Gary
[email protected]
 
I haven't been able to find a manual either. But I can give you some info from what I have found out from several websites. I also rebuilt my chipper head recently.
 
I have still have the manuals here. I am not sure how many I have copied and sent out over the years but the ole Fitchburg must have been very prolific.:smile2:

Bill
 
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