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what anvil gap and belt tension are you guys running on your chippers?
just flipped my knives and ran the anvil up tight, way tighter than spec and its chipping good for once, tightened the belt up to 1/2" give like spec (I think, its what one shop said in a video lol, I cant find the spec sheet for the life of me, I need to order a manual)

Just tighten it up till you can’t spin the big wheel thingy, then back off a little. You should be fine.:laugh:

The actual clearance is a bit more than just learning the spec provided by the manufacturer.

In general, the protrusion of the knife and the gap clearance are linked together to produce a chip size that feeds well and doesn't bog down the engine. That's hopefully what the manufacturer's spec gives you.

Then you need to figure in how much slop you have developed in your chipper drum/disk bearings. If they are getting loose, then the drum/disk can wobble over and strike the bed knife hard enough to do bad things. I like to set my knives to the manufacturer's spec by getting enough sheets of paper to match the spec. Then I hand feed the stack of paper through the gap while hand turning the chipper. Do this for all knives on the drum, and all positions on each knife. While turning it through, you can see if your stack of paper is getting cut (too tight!) or if the knife isn't hitting it enough to drag on the paper a bit. THEN I take the paper out and see if I can pry or oscillate the drum by hand into a position that will cause the knives to strike the bed knife. If you can force the knives to clash by hand, anywhere on the rotation, you need a bigger gap!

So far, this method has always worked for me.
 
The actual clearance is a bit more than just learning the spec provided by the manufacturer.

In general, the protrusion of the knife and the gap clearance are linked together to produce a chip size that feeds well and doesn't bog down the engine. That's hopefully what the manufacturer's spec gives you.

Then you need to figure in how much slop you have developed in your chipper drum/disk bearings. If they are getting loose, then the drum/disk can wobble over and strike the bed knife hard enough to do bad things. I like to set my knives to the manufacturer's spec by getting enough sheets of paper to match the spec. Then I hand feed the stack of paper through the gap while hand turning the chipper. Do this for all knives on the drum, and all positions on each knife. While turning it through, you can see if your stack of paper is getting cut (too tight!) or if the knife isn't hitting it enough to drag on the paper a bit. THEN I take the paper out and see if I can pry or oscillate the drum by hand into a position that will cause the knives to strike the bed knife. If you can force the knives to clash by hand, anywhere on the rotation, you need a bigger gap!

So far, this method has always worked for me.
Or you could simply adjust things by the book and be safe. :innocent:
 
The actual clearance is a bit more than just learning the spec provided by the manufacturer.

In general, the protrusion of the knife and the gap clearance are linked together to produce a chip size that feeds well and doesn't bog down the engine. That's hopefully what the manufacturer's spec gives you.

Then you need to figure in how much slop you have developed in your chipper drum/disk bearings. If they are getting loose, then the drum/disk can wobble over and strike the bed knife hard enough to do bad things. I like to set my knives to the manufacturer's spec by getting enough sheets of paper to match the spec. Then I hand feed the stack of paper through the gap while hand turning the chipper. Do this for all knives on the drum, and all positions on each knife. While turning it through, you can see if your stack of paper is getting cut (too tight!) or if the knife isn't hitting it enough to drag on the paper a bit. THEN I take the paper out and see if I can pry or oscillate the drum by hand into a position that will cause the knives to strike the bed knife. If you can force the knives to clash by hand, anywhere on the rotation, you need a bigger gap!

So far, this method has always worked for me.
bandit says .045" to the highest knife
I set it till it will scratch but not cut a business card, so far its chipping great
doing 12" oak and barely having to touch the feed control bar and its spitting out dime sized chips now, lots of small sticks getting by but the wood chips good so im happy
 
Or you could simply adjust things by the book and be safe. :innocent:

My point was that machines wear out. Bearings get looser, chip pockets and backing plates wear out. Even bolts and bolt holes can stretch or change, although a decent mechanic will detect some of those problems.

My suggestions were describing how to set the chipper to the manufacturer's spec, then how to confirm that there were no problems using that setting. Now I'm sure that some owner's manual somewhere tells the user how to set the clearance on a chipper, but my Bandit 200xp manual damn sure doesn't. It just tells you what the clearance specification is, not how to measure it, nor how to change it.
 
My point was that machines wear out. Bearings get looser, chip pockets and backing plates wear out. Even bolts and bolt holes can stretch or change, although a decent mechanic will detect some of those problems.

My suggestions were describing how to set the chipper to the manufacturer's spec, then how to confirm that there were no problems using that setting. Now I'm sure that some owner's manual somewhere tells the user how to set the clearance on a chipper, but my Bandit 200xp manual damn sure doesn't. It just tells you what the clearance specification is, not how to measure it, nor how to change it.
id be worried about the disk having deflection and wobbling, just as much if not more than the bearing, like you say things move and wear out/in
its ~40" diameter hunk of steel spinning at 1300 RPM, with .045" clearance from becoming a bomb if it moves too much, kinda sketch lol
BUT ive never had a disk come out despite millions of rotations and hundreds of tons of wood chipped through mine, and only heard of 1 or 2 failures
 
bandit says .045" to the highest knife
I set it till it will scratch but not cut a business card, so far its chipping great
doing 12" oak and barely having to touch the feed control bar and its spitting out dime sized chips now, lots of small sticks getting by but the wood chips good so im happy

Yeah, well my business card comes in at .013, and it's made of out some pretty premium paper. A laminated card from another business came in at .013 also.

You'd better put 3 of those cards in the stack if you want to be close to what Bandit recommends. I'm sure those engineers down at Bandit just picked a number out of a hat, and had no reason for spec'ing .045. Don't be surprised if your chipper teeth get dull real quick and the bed knife changes shape.
 
Yeah, well my business card comes in at .013, and it's made of out some pretty premium paper. A laminated card from another business came in at .013 also.

You'd better put 3 of those cards in the stack if you want to be close to what Bandit recommends. I'm sure those engineers down at Bandit just picked a number out of a hat, and had no reason for spec'ing .045. Don't be surprised if your chipper teeth get dull real quick and the bed knife changes shape.
knives and anvil are going perfectly fine and ive got probably 30 hours of chipping since touching it
 
Yeah, well my business card comes in at .013, and it's made of out some pretty premium paper. A laminated card from another business came in at .013 also.

You'd better put 3 of those cards in the stack if you want to be close to what Bandit recommends. I'm sure those engineers down at Bandit just picked a number out of a hat, and had no reason for spec'ing .045. Don't be surprised if your chipper teeth get dull real quick and the bed knife changes shape.
zin trees cant be advised. dont waste your breath or experience.
 
Awww... That's not true. He listens, argues with everyone, and projects that he has all the answers. He's obviously not a complete dummy though, so something is sinking in from somewhere, by some means. Myself, I'm not too worried about whether he follows my advice, as I gave it away without any surcharge, and he can take it for the value he paid for it.

Said fees might still be incurred, however, if he doesn't listen to good advice.

Afterthought: I'll bet he got that business card clearance advice from small engine repair. That's the traditional method of setting flywheel clearance for magnetos on lawnmowers. Just a guess...
 
That might perhaps be why you argue with all the experts here. You think the internet is almost always wrong.

Using your evaluation method, I'd speculate that there is a 99% chance that you are wrong about that statement, especially with respect to this forum and the advice you get here.
:laughing:
:angry:
 
yall can have an opinion about what I do, thats fine and dandy
however it wont affect anything I do on the job, I will continue to leave scabbards on the ground next to my fuel cans, I will continue to use the only crane that will do trees till I buy my own, despite it being too short half the time
I will continue to let my groundies stand in a lane that is shut down on a road with 5 cars a day anyways, I will continue to do what works for me weather any one of you has a problem with it or not
 
zin trees cant be advised. dont waste your breath or experience.

Agreed. This reminds me of "The Aerialist" once he got fully schooled in tree-speak from reading on the internet. Was like we had created a monster. That guy had it all figured out too.

Trying to think of what ever happened to him...🙄
 
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