My chipper jammed up so bad last Tuesday I had to take the whole housing off

I was clearing a big silver maple job in Portland and the brush was wet from morning dew. Should have let it dry out but I was rushing to beat the rain. Got a massive tangle of vines and branches stuck in the feed wheel and it just stopped dead. Took me a solid 45 minutes to unbolt the side panel and pry everything out with a crowbar. Anyone else have a trick for keeping wet material from binding up in a small chipper?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_claire1d ago

Oil on the feed wheel? I'd probably just end up seasoning my lunch instead.

young.thomas1d ago

Did you try spraying the feed wheel with cooking oil first?

charlies371d ago

Cooking oil on a feed wheel, huh. That's one of those fixes that sounds too simple but usually works because the real problem is friction. It's like when my garage door started squeaking and WD-40 fixed it for two weeks, but lithium grease actually solved it for good. People always reach for the quick spray instead of thinking about what's actually binding up. Same principle applies to rusty bike chains or sticky cabinet drawers. Sometimes the cheapest answer is the right one, you just have to understand what's actually causing the drag.