TR8 woes.

[lux]

Once someone has fired some chip through them they are all second hand . We had a 540 from new some 12 or so years ago . Had the rollers sharpened a few times , a new solenoid and a new battery lead .  Its still going now chipping as good as ever . 

That they are , and the first person had the benefit and safety of the warranty.
One thing this experience does highlight is its worth its weight in gold.
If I’d bought a used forst outside of their network I’d be having my pants pulled down on a weekly basis ...

That could happen with any make machine.

Don’t see so many Jensen around now as maybe 10 yrs ago.

[maybelateron]

15 minutes ago, Stubby said:

You would be better off with a second hand Jensen A540 .

I have a Jensen A540 turntable, and a Forst TR6.

While the Jensen wins the competition for pulling in awkward timber, but not by a massive margin, Forst win for much better parts availability and service. 

[Stubby]

1 minute ago, lux said:

That they are , and the first person had the benefit and safety of the warranty.
One thing this experience does highlight is its worth its weight in gold.
If I’d bought a used forst outside of their network I’d be having my pants pulled down on a weekly basis ...

That could happen with any make machine.

Don’t see so many Jensen around now as maybe 10 yrs ago.

I think its because Red Wood stopped Stocking them . We used to get " South African " Charles out to service it as he did work for Red Wood then went on his own . Think he has gone home now .

[Mrblue5000]

You'd love to know what it actually costs to make a machine that they sell for almost 30 k? In reality there isn't a lot to a wood chipper, blades, flywheel with a few paddles on the back, a chute and a pair of feed rollers. I hope it works out for you Lux, if it was mine I'd be looking for all my money back. 

[topchippyles]

8 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Once someone has fired some chip through them they are all second hand . We had a 540 from new some 12 or so years ago . Had the rollers sharpened a few times , a new solenoid and a new battery lead .  Its still going now chipping as good as ever . 

Sounds like my mrs this old chipper of yours stubby 😁

[Stubby]

1 minute ago, maybelateron said:

I have a Jensen A540 turntable, and a Forst TR6.

While the Jensen wins the competition for pulling in awkward timber, but not by a massive margin, Forst win for much better parts availability and service. 

I think its not so much the chunks it can pull in but how it handles fluffy brash , especiallt connie .

[lux]

I think its because Red Wood stopped Stocking them . We used to get " South African " Charles out to service it as he did work for Red Wood then went on his own . Think he has gone home now .

He has. I bought a Timberwolf off him.

The company is still running. There is still a South African connection here. I bought a predator 38 stump grinder through them about May time 2020

[topchippyles]

13 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Once someone has fired some chip through them they are all second hand . We had a 540 from new some 12 or so years ago . Had the rollers sharpened a few times , a new solenoid and a new battery lead .  Its still going now chipping as good as ever . 

Forgot to add she is still going strong but a chirper not a chipper version 🤣

[5 shires]

On 31/12/2020 at 14:11, lux said:

 

Dear All,

 

I’m looking for your constructive inputs and advice on my new chipper. I’m not looking for a stihl v husqvarna style debate of slating each other’s brands on this thread please.

 

I purchased a new TR8 with the new 55hp Doosan engine and took deliver in September.

It’s done circa 50 hours work now.

 

In that time I’ve had what I consider an u acceptable amount of breakdowns. I can’t fault Forst for their attentiveness and speed in resolving faults but quite honestly I should of had so many if any at all on a new machine. I basically have their technical assist on speed dial

 

 

I’m looking to escalate this to a complaint , I’ve been inconvenienced enough. Good service goes so far but it doesn’t stop me losing money in down time on site due to breakdowns.

 

I’ll give some chronological history of faults. I have photographed all but the latest ones ( of which it still has but they are closed for Christmas so haven’t sent any yet )

 

September 24th

I took a belated delivery at the end of September. Not a big deal as they gave me a loan chipper until mine was ready.

Arrived and went through the delivery inspection. Found vulnerable electric wires left unsheathed rubbing on sharp edges.

Bonnet had damaged powder coat and poor fitting of the new style exhaust for the Doosan engine.

Machine declined and sent back to be sorted.

 

6th October.

Machine cuts out on site.

2/3 hours of downtime on site to establish the relays have been housed under the anvil and continuously come out making the machine cut out. Relays beginning to rub through on casing.

We padded out the relay box with a sponge to keep them in place.

The permanent fix from first is to send out their own sponge with sticky tape to fix it in place ....

 

6th November.

Bolts fall out of the linkage bar connecting the emergency stop bar

Thread (very short ) inside the link bar has been stripped by the bolt vibrating before coming out.

 

They send out a new link bar and new bolts with a longer shoulder .... the bolts are identical.

 

Parts swapped over, loctite on thread.

 

6 days later it’s unwinding again. Tightening these is now a maintenance thing every 2 to 3 days. These should never need tightening !

 

 

At same time I notice the powder coat is failing on the lugs that retain the hopper in its transport position. I assume these lugs that are welded on were not adequately descaled from welder meaning the powder coat has adhered properly.

 

Forst put me on a waiting list for a new mid section of the hopper.

 

17th December

Machine cuts out on site. Overheated.

Fault codes identify the radiator.

Examine carefully and find its leaking at the bottom of the rad. Manufacturing fault. The rad is well encased so cant really be damaged.

 

Engineer sent out who fits new rad on site.

 

24th. December

A shears bolt head is found by the chipper when clearing up. Couldn’t identify it at the time.

 

30th December I notice the top feed roller has moved off centre and is just ( only just ) starting to touch the weld on the Infeed opening.

 

Open the bonnet to investigate, this reveals the source of the sheared bolt head.

From the bonnet hinge

Bolt is sheared off and left in the chassis. Hing now moves as the bonnet opens and bonnet fowls on the chassis causing some damage to the powder coat.

 

In order to realign the bonnet to close I’m correct position we had to loosen both hinges , pop a ratchet strap from the spout to the handles on top of the bonnet and ratchet it into place and re tighten the hinges. More time wasted and another issue to sort but they aren’t open until next week.

 

 

I love the chipper when it’s working. The 55hp is fantastic and it flies through timber, but I’m reaching or have reached the end of my patience with these faults at 50 hours.

 

I’m aware some forst employees use this forum so I imagine this will work its way to first before they receive my official communication. I’m not fussed about that.

 

What are your constructive thoughts and views on a realistic resolution. Now the powder coat on the chassis has taken a dink from a fail I’m minded to say either replace my machine with another or take mine away and strip / repaint what needs doing and provide a loan machine for the duration.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow..and I won’t start by slagging Of FORST it not called for or helps you in anyway but that’s quite a few things going wrong with a brand new machine and like you said the service your haveing is as good as it gets but I would guess by now you have lost all faith in this particular machine and without going on and on I would suggest you ask,no on second thoughts tell FORST to come and get the machine and give you a replacement and start a fresh....have you got it on finance or brought it?either way use your warranty as you have purchased a sub standard machine and it’s not fit for purpose. 

[Stubby]

7 minutes ago, lux said:

He has. I bought a Timberwolf off him.

The company is still running. There is still a South African connection here. I bought a predator 38 stump grinder through them about May time 2020

Ok . Its a shame Jensen Parts/servicing is harder to come by now . I think they are a good " mid level " chipper , tried and tested . Not without their niggles , crud getting stuck under the right hand roller spigot is the annoying one   but can be sorted on site by shoving a big ugly lump in and hitting the stop bar mid way . This holds the rollers up and you can quickly clear it with a flat blade screw driver . Keeping the blades sharp and rollers sharp avoids this though .

Edited January 1, 2021 by Stubby