Greasing bearings is a subjective thing. Bearings can and are commonly over greased resulting in a shorter than expected life. One example is my Rayco stump grinder. Dad would grease twice a day, bearings would last 3-400 hours at most. I stopped greasing them entirely (to prove a point) and the bearings now have ~1100 hours on them and are still serviceable. The truth is they could handle some grease currently. This is not saying you shouldn't grease your chipper as per the owners manual, but it is to say that owners manuals have been wrong before. Personally I wouldn't grease them very frequently.
I can't speak for the whole of Morbark as we are only a Boxer dealer. However, with Gehl/Mustang, warranty will pay for ground shipping of warranty parts, or pay that portion and you can pay the rest for expedited shipping. At the dealer level, depending on the situation, we have paid for overnight shipping out of our pockets on a few occasions. I can say $53 is a premium for shipping and handling on that part, as is the $417 price tag. The part could be shipped via USPS in a medium or large flat rate box. Picking the part and packaging it costs something, as does markup, but $53 is pretty steep. Not paying you for your attempted labor is understandable, as it was ineffectual. Buying the bearing from an outside vendor would likely have cost around half what the dealer charged you (speculation).
Loaner machines aren't required. A loaner is usually a demo or out of the rental fleet, so it's not a cheap proposal to have a loaner on hand. This is better if they have a rental devision and have a machine available.
The work done on the machine is an abomination.
I had a disc chipper with a cover like that, but the difference was I was at least the third owner and bought the machine well used. Servicing it wasn't a priority as it was an ordeal to access the disc. Instead of selling that chipper, I sent it to the scrap yard. The chute should be able to be straightened up, if not, it should be replaced at no cost including the custom paint. They should also provide you with a can of touchup paint.*
The bent tab can be bent back, although the paint may chip. I would likely take the pin out, and use a large adjustable wrench or large pliers and bend it back straight. The end user shouldn't have to fix the dealership's faux paus.
The exposed shaft means either the dimensions on that bearing are different, or the disc has been moved forward by that amount.
The leaking fuel tank likely violates some California law, given how strict they are on everything else. The leak is a result from either a poor fit up, or poor part choice. The two chippers I have owned both leaked from the fuel tank, the stump grinders and other equipment doesn't leak. I don't know why it's acceptable to have leaking fuel tanks on a chipper.
*: I would clean the machine up before making videos. It will strengthen your case and present you and your equipment in a better light. It's hard to bitch about the paint being damaged where the chute doesn't line up when the machine looks rough. Now, I would take a picture of the fuel tank prior to cleaning it. The fuel tank part irritates me. If I ever buy a new chipper, that will be a sticking point made clear from the beginning, in writing. My last chipper was a Morbark 2400, holding near 50 gallons of fuel. I don't like partially filling tanks to keep them from leaking for obvious reasons.
Carl Rutherford
Top Notch Equipment Dealer Representative
