changing disk bearings on a 250XP

[imagineero]

Welcome to arborist site

 

[arborlicious]

Welcome to arborist site

Cheers. Are you still in the Blue Mountains? Might need the number of the thread repair specialist.

 

[imagineero]

Will dig it up for you. I'm in Sydney now, work around Hornsby, Ryde, kuringgai mostly. The guy came out to annangrovw to give me a hand, think he was based somewhere near parramatta.

 

[arborlicious]

Will dig it up for you. I'm in Sydney now, work around Hornsby, Ryde, kuringgai mostly. The guy came out to annangrovw to give me a hand, think he was based somewhere near parramatta.

Less pines more eucs then...

 

[arborlicious]

Assuming you got the bearings from the team at Seven Hills? They quoted me same prices. I like that idea of using longer bolts with the unthreaded part at the head end to act as a locating dowel.

Steve

 

[nk14zp]

What ever you do don't use chincom bearings on a chipper disc.

 

[pdqdl]

It's pretty hard to avoid them anymore. Even the high dollar bearing houses will slip them in on you.

 

[arborlicious]

Is it possible that this chipper still has the original bearings after 5,300 hours? Have only had it since about the 5,000 hour mark and it seems like a good time to replace the bearings if the disc has to come out for bearing bolt repair.

 

[imagineero]

Yeah less pines, more Eucs. Wouldn't care if I never saw another granddaddy radiata for the rest of my life. I got my bearings at Marriott as you guessed, they had them in stock and I needed them urgently so it was a no brainer. The day the bolt sheared on my chipper I put it out of service - the blade was contacting the anvil under heavy load. I couldn't afford to have my machine off the road. If you've got time up your sleeve you could probably round up the exact same bearings for less money. The output side bearing is just a stock bearing which you can get at any bearing supply shop, it'll be a stocked item. Try CBC etc. The self aligning one might be a bit harder to track down, but not all that hard I guess. It needs to also be cut down a little to fit in.

The guy's number is 0416 366 927. I think he charged me about $600, but it was a late call out on a sunday. $300~$400 would be a fair price for a regular callout. There are a few other guys providing the same service, so shop around. I think there are 3 guys doing it, and apparently they're all good.

It's unlikely your chipper has original bearings. It seems the standard thing that happens is that the bolts are never loctited or anti seized, and they cop hell on the intake side. The top of the chute is a natural collector of crap, and then fills with water. Then whey someone swaps the bearings, they shear the bolts and don't bother replacing them. Dodgy as! My bearings were actually pretty good and could have been re used, but I had them already and plan on hanging on to the machine so I figured I might as well change them out.

There aren't so many guys up in the mountains, we may have bumped into each other.

Shaun

 

[arborlicious]

Ha ha, there's always another megapine after the last one. I've only been working up here–Katoomba–solid for just over two years so don't mind working the pines – yet. It's getting rid of the chip and wood that's the problem – everyone wants gum.

Thanks for the number - came up as 'Shannon - Billet Automotive in Bass Hill.' Will first try the drilling/punching method you detailed at the end of last year. The bearings themselves might be OK but seems like a good time to pull everything apart for a good servicing.

Yeah, there aren't many guys in the mountains, you must have moved down the hill before I started climbing in the clouds.

Thanks again for all the info. Will let you know how it goes.

Steve

 

[arborlicious]

Progress update.

The disk is out - a forklift came in handy for lifting off the discharge chute, disk cover and the disk itself after struggling to remove the bearing bolts. Like I said earlier one of the bolts was already loose and badly corroded possibly held in place with grease with wood chip. Managed to get two of the other bolts out intact but one of the top ones sheared off. Maybe some heat would have helped. Time for a drill and extractors.

Did all this at the engineers place so he can sort out re-threading the bolt holes and possibly cutting off the bearings tomorrow. Which brings me to the bearings. There is a large amount of play in both bearing - I'm talking about 1/4" / 6mm. Should there be any play at all? Both bearing are still painted the original color of the chipper so unless the whole thing has been resprayed...seems like a good time to replace the bearings anyways.

Thanks to Shaun again for the detailed instructions near the start of this thread - especially regarding removal of the taper lock.

Gotta climb trees tomorrow luck everything stays on site so don't need the chipper.

Steve

 

[imagineero]

Hi Steve,
Sent you my phone number in a private message in case you need a hand. You need a right angle drill to get at the bolts, but the top ones are easier for sure because you can get at them from both sides. The bottom two are blind. That amount of play is WAAAAAYYYYY too much. There should be zero play in the discharge side bearing, and in the intake side self aligning bearing rotation is ok but up/down or left/right play should be very little or none. You need a replacement for sure by the sound of it. If you ring CBC with the measurements of the discharge side bearing they'll give you a price on the phone and it'll be a stocked item. Worth giving them a try on the self aligner also, could save a tonne of cash.

Make sure you save the spacer rings off the intake side when cutting off the self aligning bearing! You'll be screwed without them.

 

[arborlicious]

Our engineer managed to get the intake bearing off without cutting but the other side required the oxy. Both bearings need replacing of course. CBC don't even stock the discharge side bearing anymore. They could make up the intake side with a cut down housing for $850+ so just decided to order the parts from Marriots - again not in stock but shipping from Melbourne.

Got a few other fixes to do as well. One of the bolts holding the engine down had sheared off so that corner was held in place by the tensioner only. The gate underneath the feed rollers is bent and in need of replacement - 6mm plate and some angle iron to stiffen should do the trick. Might as well drain and clean the hydraulic tank too.

Looks like I'll be spending Australia Day putting a chipper back together...

 

[imagineero]

is that because it's imperial? Kinda surprised. Guess you'll just have to suck eggs mate! Be sure and get all your fasteners ready if you haven't already done so, and be generous with the anti seize. I'd be replacing all the smaller bolts holding the chute together too, go metric high tensile and use both split washers and nylock nuts. Closest fastener shop to you is boltmaster on borec rd penrith. Not sure if they're open tomorrow.

You might be surprised how clean that hydraulic tank is. It's pretty much a closed loop, and even without filter changes it stays pretty clean. The oil in there is very likely just ****** old motor oil though, unless you've drained and refilled it yourself. The replacement hydraulic fluid isn't cheap (about $200~$250) and not many places will have enough of it in stock to fill the tank. Use the heavier 64 weight if replacing it. The filter is pretty easy to find. If you're cashed up, now is also a good time to do an oil and filter change, fuel filter change, and replace the drive belts ($$$) if they are worn.

The fuel tank on the other hand, is often full of all kinds of crap!

Take some pics while you're there, we all love to see ;-)

 

[arborlicious]

We're back in action - almost. Why use the heavy ISO 68 hydraulic oil?


Here's what it looked like with the disk out. The two closest mount holes are OK while the other two have sheared bolts. I reckon the bearing had been installed with both lower bolts bottomed out.

Cutting off the discharge side bearing.

The man with the oxy torch managed to get both sheared bolts out. He cut a hole from the inside to access and remove the remainder of the lower bolt. No drilling required thankfully.

Disk back in with the new bearings. Lower bolt on the RH shortened so it won't bottom out. LH lower bolt goes all the way through now. Lots of anti-sieze on the housing bolts. Red Loctite on the retaining bolt.


After a quick run in - no chipping. Need to install the blades, belt cover and two more bolts in the disk cover.

The discharge chute is easy to move after a good clean out and liberal application of grease. Also lifted up and cleaned under and diesel tank.

 

[imagineero]

Your machine looks pretty good! You did well getting replacement allen head bolts also, I was only able to get hex head in high tensile in that size. You'll sleep well knowing the bearings are done. Sounds like you have a pretty decent engine. The only other common faults on this machine at high hours is the wear in the disk which you've already identified, the clutch which is reasonably priced and not all that difficult to replace, the coupler/shaft on the feed wheels and maybe the radiator. Look after the radiator, it's $$$$. The fan sucks stuff in, and some of the later model chippers have a fine screen on the outside. Many don't. Blowing it out after chipping helps.

Lots of hydro guys recommend the heavier grade oil for older/high hour applications. My understanding is that as the (vane) pump wears, the clearance between the tips of the vanes and the housing increases and the pressure drops off. I think the higher viscosity stuff is an attempt to increase the life of the pump.

Setting the hydraulic pressure is an important part of keeping your machine running well. It isn't all that hard to do, but it requires a hydraulic pressure valve and a couple fitting which aren't cheap. Unfortunately all the pics from that thread are lost, but I can take some more and do another walk through for anyone who is interested.

 

[arborlicious]

The machine does look OK after being degreased.

Put the blades back in today and adjusted the anvil. I hadn't taken the anvil out when replacing the disk bearings but when I did today could see where the blades had been hitting. Surprised that there wasn't a lot more damage to the blades. Have now set the gap to 2.5mm.

Another thing, the pin for locking the disk now goes in easily. Could never get it in before so quite possibly the old bearings where worn out when I picked up this machine.

Will definitely be getting a hydraulic pressure value etc so that set/check the pressure. The hydraulic pump is the newest looking bit on this chipper (well it was until the bearings were replaced) so should be OK to stick with the medium weight hydraulic oil for now. I removed the 3 bolts holding the hydraulic tank earlier today and also removed the toolbox over the guard in order to clean out the years of compressed wood chip sandwiched between said tank and guard.

Next week the disc will be welded to build up that worn out area behind the outer blades. Will take a look at the feed wheel coupler/shafts then too and weld some reinforcing on the torque arms.

If only I'd known all this stuff when buying the chipping in the first place. Might have got $2,000 off the price.

 

[imagineero]

The pin not going in is one of the signs that your bearings are shot, the other one is the blades eating the anvil. My pin never used to line up either, goes right in perfectly now. I get better blade and anvil life than I used to, and my chip is more consistent now too.

The factory specifies motor oil for the hydraulic setup I'm pretty sure. Setting/checking the pressure is worth doing every now and then. It takes about 15 minutes.

Sounds like you're onto a good thing with your machine anyhow. doesn't look like you got the auto feed, but I rarely use it on mine anyhow. It's totally overrated. Did you get the 120 turbo perkins? It's a great engine and has loads of power though they often crack/leak at the turbo where the exhaust bolts up. It isn't really repairable, but it doesn't really affect performance either so not a big deal. Most of the problems people have with these machines are caused by not having sharp blades or a square well set anvil. Lots of guys complain about bits of logs getting stuck in between the rollers and disk, causing a log jam when you try to lift the rollers. With sharp blades and a well set square sharp angle everything gets sucked in, there are no bits of logs in the space. When I start getting logs not 'sucking through' I sharpen my blades. The other indicator is that thin stuff goes through stringy.

I think it's a great machine, the parts are readily available and reasonably priced for the most part. It's a robust unit and they get many many hours of good operation and are not too expensive to run. Coming from a bc1000XL it was night and day.

Shaun

 

[pdqdl]

Autofeed is not overrated, depending on the horsepower and the kind of wood that you throw in the chipper. Without the
auto feed, we would be spending a lot more time unplugging the chute.

I only have an 80 hp engine in my 200XP, and if we start throwing in 9 to 12 inch wood, the machine would grind to a halt without the auto feed. Since our auto feed works fine, we can throw in a big log at the limit of the machines throat and walk away in the full confidence that it will turn it into chips.

Since I knew I was going to have the auto feed, I figured I did not need the extra horsepower from the optional larger engine. I knew that most of the time the chipper would not be maxed out, and I couldn't see the need for a bigger engine roaring all the time to dispose of smaller branches.

I have had my machine since it was new in 1997, and the autofeed has always worked flawlessly. We often throttle the machine back to only 2000rpm when we are working with smaller branches and slow production of wood. With autofeed, we can reduce our fuel consumption and machine wear.

Note: don't throttle it back too far; it is much easier to plug the chute when not turning as fast. I have turned off the autofeed and only run the machine at 1700 rpm...not a good idea. You will lose lots of time unplugging the chute when it gets blocked by some slowly thrown "stringers" and you have to dig 40lbs of wood chips out of the machine.

 

[Pelorus]

I only have an 80 hp engine in my 200XP, and if we start throwing in 9 to 12 inch wood, the machine would grind to a halt without the auto feed...

You could probably get by just fine without the auto feed if you have a flow divider to dial back the speed of the infeed rollers when feeding mongo stuff. Cheaper and simpler than auto feed, except for more heat build up.