Warning to Belt Driven Woodchipper Owners/Buyers || Our Chipper Caught on Fire

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Warning to Belt Driven Woodchipper Owners/Buyers || Our Chipper Caught on Fire

Рет қаралды 5,268

Күн бұрын

Warning to Belt Driven Woodchipper Owners/Buyers || Our Chipper Caught on Fire
This video is meant to warn others that a fire can take place if the belt ceases to spin freely, so please do take the proper precautions when operating your woodchipper.
I hesitated on making this video, but luckily after replacing the belt, the woodchipper does seem to still work. I am still using the clutch that came with the woodchipper originally, so at this point my guess is that the clutch was not to blame, but hard to tell without opening it up. After having purchased a brand new piece of equipment however, it would be nice to replace all parts that were impacted via a fire. Just because it still works, doesn't necessarily mean it is safe. I could not find any pieces of debris that could have blocked the chipper from spinning, but that is all I can think of beyond the clutch that could have caused the issue. Be sure to double or even triple check to make sure debris has been cleared from your woodchipper before starting it up.
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Пікірлер: 38

@beerggls 8 ай бұрын

You probably had a chunk of wood left in the chipper from last time you were using it, usually from shutting it off before it’s done processing whatever’s in there completely. Also can happen if you run out of gas while chipping is in progress. The drum loses momentum and can’t finish spitting out what it’s chewing, so when it comes to a stop it does so on a chunk of wood. This in effect jams the drum like a doorstop wedge and the centrifugal clutch doesn’t have enough friction grip to power through it from a standstill upon next startup.. At this point either the motor stalls, the belt slips, or the clutch flyweight shoes (or whatever you call em) slip inside up against the inner surface of the jammed clutch drum which is jammed by the belt which is jammed by the drum pulley that’s not turning due to the doorstop wood chunk piece stuck in there. That last one would make red hot stuff happen for sure. Needs a centrifugal clutch rated for the horsepower of the engine being used, and needs to not ever be lubed inside with spray or oil lubricants. Yours is probably glazed badly and blue/gold/purple colored now, possibly out of round/warped too. If you get a sharpie marker and go to the drum bearing opposite the clutch side of the machine and color half the shaft end black(assuming it doesn’t have a cover of some sort over it) so it looks like half a full moon, you can use it as a visual indicator to confirm that the drum starts rotating when the engine reaches clutch lockup rpm.

@glxxyz Жыл бұрын

All chippers with belts can do this. Keep the belt tight, and make sure that the chute is empty and the drum turns before starting. Be ready to hit the emergency stop button if the sound changes or there's any smoke or rubber smell.

@jeffreyolive9951 2 жыл бұрын

After 3 years of use, and sharping blades each season, the belt started to slip when some wood curled around the axis. Belt also caught fire and I put it out with an fire extinguisher which I had attached to the chipper after I read about the belt catching fire if excessive slipping. Now I check the tension periodically.

@DnSAdventures 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing your experience. Glad you were able to put out the fire quickly. Good tip on checking the tension. - Shane

@garyblair3033 Жыл бұрын

OK. The inherent problem is a very small as a pop cycle stick still in the chipping chamber will stop the head from starting. This is more common if it dies or runs out of GAS. My chamber is bolted shut. Wish it was clamped shut. My gas tank is on the opposite side. Gas (the liquid) will not burn. Only the fumes (must be mixed with oxygen). The engine engages the centrifugal clutch/pully But the knife head will not start, therefore the clutch pull spins on belts. (That is the main issue). It is operator error. Give the scarcity of adequate or even owners manuals. Don't know how the commercial units are designed. It is very hard to tell if this happens before the belt gets hot. So remember. Especially if it runs out fuel or stalls with limbs in the chambr. Make sure there is nothing in the gap between the blade and edge it passes to cut the wood. (Before starting) (Only takes a twig).

@glxxyz Жыл бұрын

Yep this is exactly right- once it's got stuck once or twice I got used to keeping it clear and checking it, and I also avoid any damn small twigs- biggers stuff >1 inch mulches up much better!

@johnsnively6349 5 ай бұрын

The original design was great fuel tank in front...belt drive in rear. Just be sure to use lawn grade Kevlar belts. Auto belts will only last minutes.

@truthseeker3803 5 ай бұрын

New belts stretch. We need to re-adjust belt after initial use that stretches belt. A loose belt will slip. When belt slips friction against spinning pulley generates heat. Enough heat will cause a fire. Install a new belt, re-adjust after initial use. Keep belt tight and that will probably solve the issue. Chippers should have an automotive style belt tensioner to keep belt tight. Adding a heat shield sounds like a good idea, in case the belt gets loose again.

@allpowercorp Жыл бұрын

Nice video, thanks for sharing your story. You have to be careful not to spill gasoline too to prevent fires. Just a tip for safety. We sell belt driven chippers and have not had this issue yet, but you mentioned some other good tips. Thank you and keep up the good work.

@rerolley 4 ай бұрын

This happened to me. I was able to put the fire out before it started the gas on fire. I changed the belt and it ran just fine. Now I make sure that all wood has cleared the machine before turning it off.

@rerolley 4 ай бұрын

In my case it was caused by a piece of wood that was not completely chipped when I turned it off that got stuck and prevented the drum from turning.

@donnalau1522 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing your experience. John and I have tossed around getting a chipper. We may rent one - but this gives us things to consider when looking at the equipment.

@DnSAdventures 2 жыл бұрын

For sure, and this video isn't to discourage anyone from buy a wood chipper, just to have safety in the back of your mind. Luckily it didn't turn out to be a huge deal for us, but hopefully this catches someone's attention before it is for them. Thanks for watching - Shane

@ivyfrazier8039 Жыл бұрын

Very great advice. Thanks for sharing your experience.

@johnsnively6349 5 ай бұрын

That's why I still keep repairing my very old troy built tomahawk chipper shredder shredder s

@jgavin2174 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing, Brush Master was on my list, it was quickly removed

@jimlash5288 Жыл бұрын

Mine just caught fire today. same exact issue with the same design. Thank goodness I had a fire extinguisher near.

@DnSAdventures Жыл бұрын

Glad you had a fire extinguisher nearby as well. Did you buy yours recently? I think Home Depot stopped selling the particular model that I bought that had the issue. - Shane

@jimlash5288 Жыл бұрын

@@DnSAdventures My model is a CH1, and yes, I am sure thy are not selling this model any more.

@patrickhuebner38 10 ай бұрын

Before you started it, did you visually look down the chute to see that it was clear. When you started it did anything come out of the Chute as it was running. And what kind of noises did it make. Sounds like operator error

@bustersterling7667 Жыл бұрын

Sorry to hear that this happened to you. I have the CH3 model from the same company. I haven't had any problems (knock on wood, pun intended). I've had it for 2 1/2 years and didn't run it for about a year or so until recently. It started right up and ran a whole tank of gas to check it. Thanks for the heads up.

@DnSAdventures Жыл бұрын

Hope it continues to work smoothly for you. Ours still works as well after replacing the melted belt haha...but it certainly has me a lot more cautious while operating it now. Turns out they no longer sell this model at Home Depot, just a lower cc model...so not sure if that issue contributed to it at all. - Shane

@bustersterling7667 Жыл бұрын

@@DnSAdventures Good to hear that you are still able to use it. A few weeks ago, I went to their website to order some extra cutting blades. It didn't take too long for them to arrive, and I wanted to have some for backup.

@barisaxrider Жыл бұрын

Wow, same thing here. Just happened today (8/18/2023) I had not used it in almost 2 years after using it only once. I got sick and was unable to do yard work. Now I put new oil and clean fuel and after starting it saw it smoking and thought it was just fuel crud burning but when I shut it off, I noticed the flame coming from behind the belt guard. The pulley was so hot it took a few sprays to shut it down, so I suffocated the fire with a wet towel so air wouldn't get behind the guard. The belt broke off since it got scorched and the paint bubbled on the underside the guard. I noticed the pulleys move freely on the shaft. I thought at least one pulley should be locked in with the shaft. Is this why the pulley got hot since it was not turning with the shaft. I was running the engine without any load since I was not chipping anything.

@DnSAdventures Жыл бұрын

Certainly is scary when it happens. Something has to get stuck in order for that belt to start rubbing against the driving shaft. Like you, I didn't think too much of the little bit of smoke at first, but definitely why I made this video to hopefully make more people aware of the possible issue. Luckily most folks I've heard that had this happen to them were close to their houses so they could gather some way to put out the fire...but if someone hauls this into their woods and has no way to put it out...it could be a disaster in the making. - Shane

@dreday7100 4 ай бұрын

I have a similar model, did you ever get to the base of the problem wether it was the clutch or just the belt rubbing on something? Also do you know the length and diameter of the belt? Same thing happened to me but I can’t find the belt size

@DnSAdventures 4 ай бұрын

Unfortunately I did not find the cause, however I have not had a reoccurrence of the issue. I do keep something to put out a fire nearby in case it does happen again haha. I put the new belt on and also swapped out the blade and it seems to be working. I just searched for the belt size online, but not sure how accurate the results are. Mine luckily came with a spare belt, but I didn't pay close attention to the size before putting it on. I do see GXI has one posted online for about 45 bucks. www.serviceandwarrantyonline.com/c01406/ Hope this helps. Thanks, Shane

@shellyross8283 2 жыл бұрын

Glad no people (or trees) got hurt. 😁

@DnSAdventures 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Shelly! Yea, luckily I haven't heard about any horror stories of this thing exploding, everyone has been able to put the fire out prior to it escalating to that point. So hopefully I am just overreacting and being overly cautious. Thanks for watching and have a great weekend! - Shane

@freddiechow503 Жыл бұрын

This literally just happened today. Luckily I had workers at the house who had an extinguisher because in my panic I couldn’t find my own. Exact same brand as the one you have.

@DnSAdventures Жыл бұрын

Glad you were able to get the fire out. Hopefully future models will reconsider the gas tank placement.

@michaelfarmer6997 Жыл бұрын

I had exactly the same problem yesterday. Terrifying -- my fire extinguisher was 100 yards away in the house, and the fire from the V-Belt was licking up around the gas tank. The tank did not explode, fortunately; I was able to extinguish the fire. What's the damage? Not yet sure.

@DnSAdventures Жыл бұрын

Guessing that is why they don't sell this model at home depot anymore. Wish I would have just bought a model that hooked up to my tractor. At the time I couldn't find one cheap enough, but just did a few months back. Sorry to hear about your experience and wish you the best of luck. Glad no one was hurt. - Shane

@tazzharm 2 жыл бұрын

hey nice vid. sorry to hear this happen to you so far knock on wood we have had nothing but great things to say about our chipper. let us know what you end up doing. Glenn.

@DnSAdventures 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, yea...sometimes life happens. Luckily the chipper still works, although my confidence in it has obviously gone way down since the incident haha. As I was watching my own video I noticed there were a couple bolts that hold the gas tank on. Wondering if I could use those same bolt holes, use longer bolts, and bolt on some sort of heat shield in that location just below the tank. I'll play around with that idea. Have a good one and thanks for stopping by! - Shane

@prairiemushroom 9 ай бұрын

Hey theres a fellow on KZfaq playing around with his WoodMaxx chipper and he has drilled additional holes in the belt cover for ventilation and found that it has cut down on heat around the belts. His addition of extra holes on the bottom side of the cover (his chipper came with holes on the top side cover) has helped cut down heat. I noticed the cover on your chipper doesn't have ventilation holes - maybe these'd be an upgrade for very little work. Probably won't help with a slipping clutch and clutch fires though. See about 5:15 at kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fKd1f5Zyt5ycoJc.html (RedBarnBoats) Cheers

@DestinationEarth 2 жыл бұрын

Yikes, that sounds like a terrible experience. If that is how they treat someone who had one of their products catch on fire I can't imagine that they'll be around for too much longer. I would look at posting a public written review on places like Amazon or wherever you can buy it warning people. If people know about the problem and they refuse to address it, they'll find out soon enough that it will be a big problem for them moving forward as others will likely come out and tell the same thing as well.

@DnSAdventures 2 жыл бұрын

Very true sir. I should probably reach out to home depot specifically and let them know. Have a good one! - Shane