Post by stumppuller on Sept 30, 2008 1:08:49 GMT -5
I have put about 8 hours on my Jinma chipper now and would like to pass on my obsevations & experiences. Chipping up to 6" redwoods creates a fine, uniform chip with no slowdown at 1,500 rpm, however a 6" oak stalled the motor. Perhaps more initial speed would have prevented that. Sprawling branches like Manzanita won't feed without trimming those tough branches first. Smaller wood pieces turn sideways, spitting out wood strands rather than chips, but that's OK with me.
Make sure you don't include any poison oak! Ask me how I know.
The feed roll drive V-belt jumped off the pully twice in the first 4 hours. Although it was quite tight, the initial pulley alignment was off by a 1/2". Realignment seems to have solved the pulley jumping, but the belt is still very tight with no further adjustment available. I think I can live with this however.
Only 2 or 3 bolt sizes are used to assemble the chipper for economy reasons. This means the 8 x 30 mm bolts are everywhere, sticking 25 mm into discharge chute and clogging it. Also, when it comes to disassembling a sheet metal cover to fix a problem, be prepared for a lot of unscrewing time just to clear the thickness of sheet metal.
The safety clutch mechanism also needs improvement to be truely safe. You can push on it to stop the feeding action, but if your other hand is snagged on a branch, you can't let go of the clutch lever to help untangle your snagged hand. I am going to add a trip catch which will capture the release lever in the disengage position so you can let go of it without fear of the feed wheels starting up again.
All in all, it's a very capable unit just in need of a little refining.
Make sure you don't include any poison oak! Ask me how I know.
The feed roll drive V-belt jumped off the pully twice in the first 4 hours. Although it was quite tight, the initial pulley alignment was off by a 1/2". Realignment seems to have solved the pulley jumping, but the belt is still very tight with no further adjustment available. I think I can live with this however.
Only 2 or 3 bolt sizes are used to assemble the chipper for economy reasons. This means the 8 x 30 mm bolts are everywhere, sticking 25 mm into discharge chute and clogging it. Also, when it comes to disassembling a sheet metal cover to fix a problem, be prepared for a lot of unscrewing time just to clear the thickness of sheet metal.
The safety clutch mechanism also needs improvement to be truely safe. You can push on it to stop the feeding action, but if your other hand is snagged on a branch, you can't let go of the clutch lever to help untangle your snagged hand. I am going to add a trip catch which will capture the release lever in the disengage position so you can let go of it without fear of the feed wheels starting up again.
All in all, it's a very capable unit just in need of a little refining.
