Messed up bearings on chipper: VIDEO

[NickfromWI]

So last week our chipper hadddd....a.....situation?

Started making this ugly noise and as the guys were heading to shut it down they noticed BITS OF METAL FLYING FROM THE DISC BEARINGS!!!!

We've been following the lube recommendations in the owners manual Not sure how it happened.

Guys were almost done for the day, so they just threw limbs in the back of the truck like the good ol days (more like bad ol' days)

So any thoughts what woulda caused this?

In the vid you can hear the squealing/squeaking of the bearings, then we lube it and it goes away.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/iUK4tn9rk9Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

FWIW, we sent the vid to the dealer, he's sending it to Morbark. He is checking with his parts dept to see if they have the bearing on hand so they can just swap it for.

Kinda sucks.

love
nick

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Wow... That was bought new as I recall... Must have been a defect if you guys were lubing regular.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Sorry that happened Nick. Bearing pictured looks to be a simple wrenching fix after cost of part. If you spend a lot on this repair after parts or on repairs in general - I think there is a lot you can do with that.

 

[Merle Nelson]

P.S. The last set of bearings that I bought for a Bandit (off the shelf sizes) a machinest buddy pointed out that I paid about twice what I would have needed to down at the bearing supply/hydraulic store.

 

[rskybiz]

+1 on the bearing house. This should not have happened with a near new chipper though. I would expect Morbark to cover it all and your rental in waiting for the fix. My .02

 

[lumberjack]

This should be a warranty issue, and the dealer should straighten it out quickly.

After the warranty runs out, then I would outsource everything possible.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Did you use high-speed bearing grease, or low temp steering component type grease that one would use on the grease fitting with a lube/ oil/ filter?

 

[MasterBlaster]

This should be a warranty issue, and the dealer should straighten it out quickly.

This!

 

[treebogan]

Chipper Bearing don't rotate at a high speed in the world of "Spinny things".

A decent named brand of Grease is adaquate.Especially as those bearings "Purge" the excess grease.Perhaps they were damaged when they were installed.I have usually gotten 1000+ Hours out of a set of bearings and its always been the front (infeed) side that goes.

 

[NickfromWI]

The chipper is at 45 hours right now.

The lube we use might be the problem. I purchased it under advisement of one of my mechanics...



Dealer talked to morbark and they are selling me a new one ($400) and I'll ship back the old one. They'll inspect it and if they seem it defective they will refund the purchase and shipping price.

I might need to research some better lubes.


love
nick

 

[NickfromWI]

Anyone have a recommendation on the specific brand/model grease I should be using?


love
nick

 

[sawinredneck]

For SAGS, I texted the number on the tube and got, extendable tongues, bunk rollers, out drives, all bearings, trim and tilt, outboard tilt and swivel mechanisms, atv's and motor cycle suspensions. Nothing about high pressure or high RPM.
I'd suggest something high pressure in the future, there are more to choose from than I have time to list! But look for high pressure and high heat.
I'm not going to say the grease was the problem, as I don't think it was. I think it was a bad bearing that would have gone no matter what you used. But I do know you will get more life out of a igh pressure type grease, it was required on all the heavy equipment I worked on, and I'd consider a chipper roller bearing as high pressure for sure!

 

[Husabud]

This was suggested to me, but I have yet to change over.

http://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-produ...r-resistant-grease/?page=/storefront/gwr.aspx

I may wait until I change the bearings out and start then, fresh.

 

[NickfromWI]

That stuff is for trailer wheel bearings, which is what mine says, too...


love
nick

 

[brendonv]

I cant believe they arent sending a bearing no charge.

I use lucas, red and tacky.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I cant believe they arent sending a bearing no charge.

I use lucas, red and tacky.

 

[Tucker943]

Ive used the lucas and Amsoil grease on skidders. The Lucas grease hangs on for a good bit. John Deere brand Moly grease is damned good stuff too. At 45 hours on the machine, grease was not the issue at all. I will bet my last dollar on that. That's a manufacturing flaw.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I would second that bet.

 

[cory]

Good call. They hardly need grease in the 45 hrs, imo.

 

[rangerdanger]

They're really not replacing it no charge? Seems to be at 45 hours I'd deem it defective.

 

[Tucker943]

At 45 hours I'd be dropping it off at the dealer and leaving my number for them to call me when its finished. Anything less is unacceptable.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

45 hours, If I was the dealer, I would have had some new bearings and a mech at your door step just as a courtesy. Not charge you a dime. Seriously.

 

[NickfromWI]

I'm glad you all are chiming in. This is not my area of expertise so I immediately assume I just did something wrong. As I spend more time on it, I don't think I did.

Recent developments...

Dealer said the bearing is a "wear item" so it's not a guarantee that morbark will cover it.

I looked again in the owners manual...



It does specify that the bearing need only be greased every 40 hrs. We're good there.

It does say that I should be using EP grease. That's an easy fix and isn't the problem. This happened before it had received its first re-greasing.

I've found one on amazon
Ultra Lube 10314 Moly EP Biobased Grease- 14 oz. Cartridge
http://amzn.com/B002BVY9MG

I'll keep that on the truck now.

I'm very interested to see, after I've seen all your feedback, how morbark treats this.

I sorta shot myself in the foot when I selected that dealer. They are an hour away, so if I have a guy drive an hour, wait three hours and drive back, that's basically an entire day out of commission for a $400 part.

I asked them to ship it to me. With three of us we should be able to replace it in one or two hours and not have the chipper out of commission for a whole day.



love
nick

 

[FJR]

You should not have to pay for a dime. There is a 2 year manufacturer's warranty on Morbark machines. They should also supply you with a demo in the meantime.

 

[Husabud]

That stuff is for trailer wheel bearings, which is what mine says, too...


love
nick

That is why I haven't changed yet. I wanted to research it more. Currently I use Lucas Red and Tacky with no issues to date.
I would approach Morbark about their warranty before you take on a main bearing job. Who knows what they will do to your warranty if something goes wrong in the future and those bearings were not installed by a factory trained tech.