wood chuck drum chipper not auto feeding

[subs1000w]

i just picked up this wood chuck chipper with a 2.3l ford for $1250 but cant find a model number on it but its probly from the 70s it has 12in wide blades and seems that altec is still making a very simalare machine. so i wasnt expecting much it hadnt been used in several years but i got it running and chipping but it still doesnt seem to live up to the name "chuck n duck" somtimes on certain limbs it will auto feed but somtimes it wont. i did search this site and read a few good post about adjusting the knives and cutter bar and ive already sharpened all of the knives and set to "3 grooves away from the drum this is what i read in another post" and flipped the cutter bar to a new edge but i dont know how close the cutter bar should be to the metal plate that the wood "ramps" up to the bar, should it be flush or stick above, sorry its kinda hard to explain but i also read to set the clearance .020 in between the bar and the knife edge does that sound right any help would be great thanks

 

[subs1000w]

i used this today for about 30min and it worked great on smaller stuff less than 2in but anyhting bigger and i had to force it in it chipped it fine but would not pull it in on its own if anyone has a pdf owners manual for this or any advise that would be great

 

[radisoon]

Re:

If you want you can contact Altec direct at 1-800-269-5188 and they might be able to help you with questions and also might have a manual for you. Just a thought. What size of machine is it? You can also go online to www.altecep.com and look there for a manual

 

[subs1000w]

it looks almost identical to the WC 126 12" Drum / 6" Capacity Chipper only mine has to be from the 70s although it makes me think its a proven design if they still make it today

 

[VA-Sawyer]

Not sure what you mean by 'setting the blades to 3 grooves'. Blade heigth has a large affect on how much the chipper wants to 'pull' on the wood. Too low and you have to push the wood into the blades and get small chips that look more like shavings. Too high and it will feel like it is trying to rip your arm off as it grabs the wood from you. Also, the chips will look like THICK tomato slices. Thicker limbs will tend to stall out the engine due to overload.
On the 14" drum Chuck and Duck that I currently take care of, I have found a setting of .140 inch above the outer drum diameter works best. I use a dial indicator to get them matched side to side and with each other. I also set the clearance between the blade edge and cutter bar to about .025 inches. Recheck settings after everything is torqued down. They will sometimes change a little during the final tightening.