Vermeere BC1400XL chipping problem....HELP!

[ctrees4$]

I have a 2005 1400 and have been running this chipper for about 5 years. I am having a problem with the machine not blowing the chips to the front of the truck. I have put new blades and cutter bar on. I have filled all the seams around the drum with caulk. New hydraulic filter. Checked belts and clutch. RPM is at 2,600. Chipper chute is clean.

At this point I will take any advice, good or bad.

 

[capetrees]

seams around the drum with caulk? what seams and why?

Have you checked the side fins, possibly clogged with chips or vines etc?

 

[ctrees4$]

seams around the drum with caulk? what seams and why?

Have you checked the side fins, possibly clogged with chips or vines etc?

That year chipper was a new design with a few flaws. It was not built air tight causing you to loose pressure through the seams. The more air flow you can trap inside the drum the more force you have throwing chips to the front of the truck. The side fins are good and the cutting wheel is center in the drum.

Today we maxed out the speed to both valves on the feeding rollers and set the blades to almost no clearance. This seem to help a bit but I am still getting more than the usual amount of chips on the ground. There wasn't enough brush to fill the truck so how well todays fix really worked is still just a guess.

Thank you for your help !

 

[jefflovstrom]

I would try chipping with the roller feeds slower,
usually it is the gap of the knives but sometimes if feeding to fast, you need a lot of push for the amount to blow out,
Jeff

 

[ctrees4$]

I would try chipping with the roller feeds slower,
usually it is the gap of the knives but sometimes if feeding to fast, you need a lot of push for the amount to blow out,
Jeff

Thanks for the input. We have tried slower speeds and it makes things worse. Everything worked great at every job for years and its like something small has happened to create the difference and too small to find. There is no difference in the size of limb fed through the chipper,2" or 12" chips blow the same.

 

[capetrees]

you say the chute is clear but everything? two or three small branches caught in the chute can deflect the flow very easily

 

[BC WetCoast]

Have you checked the chute to make sure there isn't a small ding, dent or pin hole that's affecting airflow.
I ran a chipper with an 1/8" pinhole. It would get twigs caught in it and the next thing you know the chute is plugged. Doesn't take much.

 

[ctrees4$]

Have you checked the chute to make sure there isn't a small ding, dent or pin hole that's affecting airflow.
I ran a chipper with an 1/8" pinhole. It would get twigs caught in it and the next thing you know the chute is plugged. Doesn't take much.

On the 3rd day of this adventure I removed the chute expecting to find small twigs or vine possibly trapped where the chute and drum meet. I was amazed and disappointed at how clean everything was. I will look again today, the small ding, dent and pin hole idea will be where I start. This chipper has cost me thousands in downtime and starting to think about trading in on a newer model.

Thanks for the ideas.

 

[jefflovstrom]

If your knives have been sharpened too many times, that will cause it too.
Jeff

 

[ctrees4$]

If your knives have been sharpened too many times, that will cause it too.
Jeff

I never have the knives sharpened. The cost savings to sharpen them over new isn't worth the extra maintenance adjusting the cutter bar. I always stick the old used blades on a shelf and think someday I will build a massive log splitter with a 50 way wedge. lol

Thanks Jeff for the input. Sooner or later an idea will get hammered out that will fix this problem.

 

[capetrees]

Cost savings? I'll have mine sharpened next week at a cost of $7/inch each side. New is over 200 dollars. Maybe this is where your problem starts from. Try new blades and see if the extra edge length helps.

 

[ctrees4$]

Cost savings? I'll have mine sharpened next week at a cost of $7/inch each side. New is over 200 dollars. Maybe this is where your problem starts from. Try new blades and see if the extra edge length helps.

New blades are on the chipper. I look at the cost savings as time not spent adjusting the cutter bar. I don't know the exact length of my knives but lets say they are 5 inches. 7x5x2 sides 70.00x2 knives 140.00 . New blades 200.00 install in 15 minutes and back to work.
Capetrees I do appreciate the input and removed the chute again today. I noticed a plate inside that looked to be installed by vermeere and it had a spot weld broke causing a small lip along the bottom. I fixed it along with changing out fuel filters thinking It may be sluggish regaining rpms while chipping. Tomorrow is a new day and looking forward to see what happens.

 

[capetrees]

Good luck. I'm going to the dealer this week and I'll ask for any insight they might have.

 

[ctrees4$]

Good luck. I'm going to the dealer this week and I'll ask for any insight they might have.

Thanks. I went to my dealer last week and all I got was a lot of this

 

[ctrees4$]

Still no change in performance after the chute repair but I have found what should be a problem. This chipper runs with 2 fuel filters and 1 has no fuel in it. I am getting vacuum to the filter but its not sucking fuel into it. How is it possible for that engine to run like that ?

 

[jefflovstrom]

Your RPM's are fine, so what does the filters have to do with it?
Jeff

 

[jefflovstrom]

I have a 2005 1400 and have been running this chipper for about 5 years. I am having a problem with the machine not blowing the chips to the front of the truck. I have put new blades and cutter bar on. I have filled all the seams around the drum with caulk. New hydraulic filter. Checked belts and clutch. RPM is at 2,600. Chipper chute is clean.

At this point I will take any advice, good or bad.

Our 15 inch Morbarks are around 2400 RPM,
Jeff

 

[ctrees4$]

I think the engine is not picking the rpm back up fast enough while it is chipping. When I put it under load, if my fuel system is bypassing I am guessing it may require more fuel that is not there.

 

[ctrees4$]

Today I am pretty sure that all of my problems are fuel related. We started the day running as it has for the past week and each time I shut the chipper down I would have an empty fuel filter. While chipping brush this afternoon it decided to start throwing chips like it should. After a few limbs went through correctly I shut it down, checked the filter and it is full of fuel. We ran the rest of the day with no problems.

I'm guessing there was trash in the system that finally broke loose and hopefully found a new home in one of the #@% filters. I think if it happens again I will need to blow out the entire system or possibly replace the fuel pump. Time will tell.

 

[capetrees]