Morbark D52SP Stump Grinder

[Cut 2 Please]

I bought one last week. It is a wonderful grinder. The fact that it has a 52" arc swing is great. The power is good. The teeth are very easy to change.
I am having one problem though. When I bought the machine it had about 7 hours on it from the dealer demoing it. It had broken the poly chain belt and he had just replaced it. At 11 hours I noticed the belt making noise, so I pulled the cover to check it and 2 cogs on the belt had broken off. I tightened the belt and got about 2 more hours of grinding out of it before the belt broke completely. I have talked to my dealer and to Morbark and they are going to warranty it. Morbark is saying that the belt has to be tightened using a sonic tension meter or the belt will break. I have never heard of this. I never had this problem with my Carlton 2300-4. Has anyone else ever heard of needing this meter to tighten the belt?

 

[Koa Man]

I would conclude that it is a defective design as far as the belt goes. Why didn't they go to all hydraulic? At the TCI, I visited the Morbark booth 3 or 4 times, looking over their grinders and not once did one of their reps come and ask if I had any questions. I am still angry at Morbark about their Model 17 chipper that they produced and I made the mistake of buying one in 1992. Worst chipper I ever had and it would clog daily, some days as much as 5 times. I believe it is better to wait a couple of years on a new product and let someone else do the field testing. I would buy a Rayco stump grinder, but I wouldn't buy their chippers until I get some feedback.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

Ditto the above I left it a few years before I bought a vermeer 352 ,I don't want to be a field tester..

 

[Cut 2 Please]

Took my grinder back today. The belt and some other updated items had come in. The dealer had ordered the Sonic Tension Meter but it had not come in. New wheel motor mounts that were more heavy duty were among the updated items. We went to put the new mounts on and the hole the wheel motors sit in were not cut large enough.:bang: At this point I was fed up. I asked my dealer if he would swap me back out and let me get a Carlton 4012 with the diesel. He said sure no problem and that he totally understood. He even let me borrow a new grinder he had in stock so I could get a very important job done tommorrow. He will bring me my new grinder on Monday after he picks it up at the factory. My dealer has to be the most stand up dealer around. He is going out of his way to make things right.
The Carlton that I am getting has the new San Vic cutting wheel on it. (I think that is what they called it.) It has really neet looking teeth and they said it does not through the chipps as bad. I am looking foward to seeing how it works.

 

[Curbside]

The cutting disk is made by Sandvic and it is called a Dura Disk. I've been very curious as to how it cuts. Please let me know what you think of it after you've tried it on Monday I'm thinking of purchasing them for my machines but would like to find out what you think.

 

[Koa Man]

To me, having to use some type of new fangled meter just to adjust a belt is ridiculous. Thumbs up for your dealer. I think you did well exchanging the Morbark for the Carlton. BTW, I would not buy a Carlton chipper at this time either, but I would buy their stumpers. It is best to have the new stuff field tested for a couple of years first.

 

[Curbside]

A friend of mine also bought a D52SP about 2 weeks ago and it arrived on Saturday late afternoon. Sunday we went out to try it on 5 small oak stumps. I have never seen anything as ridiculous as what I saw. He was operating the machine from the controls on the grinder and all the mud and chips were flying directly into his face. The flaps seemed totally inadequate. The whole machine was convered in mud and chips within minutes and so was he. I also thought the cutter wheel was to small as the belt guard forced you to make a huge hole to get at the stump. I see why they need such a large swing but it doesn't seem to really bennifit because of the small wheel. It did not seem to grind very deep. I did not like the clutching of the machine as the entire engine would move to tension the belts. The dual wheels on the machine caused more problems than they were worth because they need a bolt going through to the inside wheels so that the two hubs will lock up. What was happening as soon as the grinder would hit a lump of mud or uneven ground on the outside wheels the inside wheels would turn and the outside ones would slip on the hub. Taking the wheels off was not as easy as we were told. The machine blew the inside seal on the cutter bearing in those few minutes of grinding.

After a couple of minutes the belt began squealing as soon as their was load on the motor.

Overall the grinder appeared very awkward to use and visibility from the operator station was not great of course our eyes had to be closed most of the time because of the debris flying against us.

Anyways he took the machine back to the dealer this morning and asked for his money back. I know I will not be buying this machine sure glad I got to see it work before purchasing.

 

[Dadatwins]

Thanks for posting these issues with the machines, it is great to have a forum such as this that actual users can list experiences with the new equipment that is out there. It all looks great at the dealer and in the brochures the manufacturer make them sound like the best thing since sliced bread, but when they get in the field the problems show up. Hope the problem machines get fixed and the work gets done.

 

[Cut 2 Please]

I got my new Carlton 4012 with the Sandvic cutter wheel and Lombardini diesel. This machine is awesome. I haven't had any big stumps yet but on the smaller stumps I have had all the chips and dirt goes under the machine like it is suppose to. I did not have any problems with it slinging chips to the side or in front of the machine.
This wheel is also considerably smoother than any that I have ground with. Even if you take to big a bite it does not jump or even vibrate. When taking to big a bite all I had to do is slow down the speed at which I made my sweep across the stump.
Curbside:
I had just about every problem that your buddy had. I did not have the problem with the wheel though because my dealer had put the Carlton dual wheel kit on the machine I had. The squeeling belt was probably the belt from the engine to the jack shaft. It had probably jumpe over a grove or to. I never had any problems out of the bearings on the one I had either. I used the Morbark for a total of 7 hours and thought it did alright but they have many issues that need to be addressed before it is ready for the public. I would like to see the Morbark with a Sandvic wheel on it. I bet that would change the way that machine worked considerably.

 

[howel07264]

cut to please, hope you get as good a service from your 4012 as ive got with my 4400-4. did you get the remote? if you ever use a remote youll never do without it. what part of alabama are you located?i would be interested in seeing the dura-disk wheel in action. i have a friend in bessemer alabama that retips the sand-vik teeth. these teeth were originally developed for the coal mining industry so durabilty in rock should be a plus. keep us updated on performance.
thanks ,regan howell

 

[Cut 2 Please]

Regan:
I am located in Montgomery. I did not get the remote. My dealer did not recomend the remote on a small machine, plus it would be a 4 to 6 week wait for it and I had to have a machine right away.

 

[Liston]

Carlton Remote

If you guys like the wire remotes
then try to up grade to radio remote if you have wire on your carltons then to up grade to radio is simple and only about one hours work.
We are selling a lot of 4012 and 7015 with radio remotes in the UK. it makes life very easy for the user and great when getting through narrow access.

 

[stumpy66]

about the multitip cutters. they are very aggressive...morbark should know that...good on a manual machine.....but can over stress a belt easily....(in my opinion)