Forst ST6P common issues?

[Mike Hill]

  On 08/05/2021 at 11:13, Paddy1000111 said:

I agree but as long as you check them and make sure they're greasing every now and again then it saves a lot of time. It's less time to have a check of the pipes every now and again than it is to open all the covers and grease all the bearings individually. It only takes 2 minutes to grease all the nipples when the tank is refilled. Plus if I ask someone to grease the bearings for me I know that nothing getting missed. 

 

Also, why is one of the bearings on the feed rollers on these ungreasable? The lower roller on the motor side has a phos-bronze bearing that can't be greased but it gets replaced every 400 hours instead? 

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You would be supprised how often chipper bearings Crack the housing,I have experienced decent chunks of the radius fall from the block. Having pointless central greasing banks on a wee machine like a 6" chipper is simply a gimmick.

 

Forsts are built to a low price point and the design shows that.Chop it in inside the 2 year warranty and its likely going to do you well.Dont expect it to hold up for 5000 hours though.

[Paddy1000111]

Maybe I'm seeing mine through rose tinted glasses as I have spent my hard earned money on it but what makes forst worse than say timberwolf? Mine is a 2017 with 360 hours on and it's almost brand new. Obviously time will tell, but what makes it worse? From what I can see in it's design and build it seems pretty solid. Everything including the trailer is overbuilt with run on brakes, a 3 tonne tow hitch for a 750 machine etc. The flywheel is solid, the bearing mounts seem pretty good. There's nothing on it that seems "cheap" when compared to something like a timberwolf (which I have had more experience with than forst) 

[Mick Dempsey]

As for the convenience of the grease bank. You could do worse than get the cover off and have a good poke around on a regular basis on a Forst, greasing the nipples direct makes you do that.

Checking roller motors, shaft collars, the crappy motor holders, welding and everything else on a regular basis can save you a few quid.

 

I hope yours works well and long Paddy, there’s no doubt that there have been issues on build quality though.

They’re very good at helping over the phone and sending out spares, so there is that.

[Mike Hill]

  On 08/05/2021 at 15:09, Paddy1000111 said:

Maybe I'm seeing mine through rose tinted glasses as I have spent my hard earned money on it but what makes forst worse than say timberwolf? Mine is a 2017 with 360 hours on and it's almost brand new. Obviously time will tell, but what makes it worse? From what I can see in it's design and build it seems pretty solid. Everything including the trailer is overbuilt with run on brakes, a 3 tonne tow hitch for a 750 machine etc. The flywheel is solid, the bearing mounts seem pretty good. There's nothing on it that seems "cheap" when compared to something like a timberwolf (which I have had more experience with than forst) 

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200kg less of steel in a Forst than a Jensen.Redwoods copied Jensen as close as they could and found cheaper solutions to some items and still got a law suit over it.

 

Main thing is your happy,don't get to attached to it and sell it before the warranty runs out.

 

I have been working on chippers and using them daily for 22 years,I was genuinely going to buy a Forst untill I visited their dealership and looked at one.

[Paddy1000111]

Out of interest does anyone know the RRP on a new forst st6p? 

[Ty Korrigan]

  On 08/05/2021 at 16:28, Mike Hill said:

200kg less of steel in a Forst than a Jensen.Redwoods copied Jensen as close as they could and found cheaper solutions to some items and still got a law suit over it.

 

Main thing is your happy,don't get to attached to it and sell it before the warranty runs out.

 

I have been working on chippers and using them daily for 22 years,I was genuinely going to buy a Forst untill I visited their dealership and looked at one.

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One of my subby climbers managed to feed an innocuous garden ornament into an ST6 tracked. The blades shattered, puncturing the wall of the chip chamber which doubles as the hydraulic tank.

Here in France, this is a 3 month+ €7k repair PLUS the hire of a chipper until the replacement GM arrives. Painfully, this ST6 was actually provisionally sold, with a deposit taken on the day of the accident which was it's last job with the owner.

I thought I knew misery until I heard this from Jerome.

   Stuart

[Mick Dempsey]

  On 08/05/2021 at 19:41, Ty Korrigan said:

One of my subby climbers managed to feed an innocuous garden ornament into an ST6 tracked. The blades shattered, puncturing the wall of the chip chamber which doubles as the hydraulic tank.

Here in France, this is a 3 month+ €7k repair PLUS the hire of a chipper until the replacement GM arrives. Painfully, this ST6 was actually provisionally sold, with a deposit taken on the day of the accident which was it's last job with the owner.

I thought I knew misery until I heard this from Jerome.

   Stuart

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In fairness to Forst, if you’re going to stick garden ornaments, innocuous or otherwise into any chipper, you have to expect consequences.

[Rich Rule]

  On 08/05/2021 at 19:41, Ty Korrigan said:

One of my subby climbers managed to feed an innocuous garden ornament into an ST6 tracked. The blades shattered, puncturing the wall of the chip chamber which doubles as the hydraulic tank.

Here in France, this is a 3 month+ €7k repair PLUS the hire of a chipper until the replacement GM arrives. Painfully, this ST6 was actually provisionally sold, with a deposit taken on the day of the accident which was it's last job with the owner.

I thought I knew misery until I heard this from Jerome.

   Stuart

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Is that not a justified reason to be more careful with staff selection?

 

Or reason to blame it on the manufacturer?

 

That example is like blaming Audi for the wife curbing my wheels the A6,  FFS and on the morning I just sold it...

 

To make matters worse, my Tesla won’t arrive for 3 weeks.

 

Audi are the worst!

[Ty Korrigan]

  On 08/05/2021 at 20:25, Mick Dempsey said:

In fairness to Forst, if you’re going to stick garden ornaments, innocuous or otherwise into any chipper, you have to expect consequences.

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It was learning that the chip chamber wall was also the wall of the hydro tank which surprised me given the occassional mention online of blade break ups.

A bit like a fighter pilot sitting on top of the petrol tank, only takes a single cannon round to light him up.

  Stuart

[Ty Korrigan]

  On 08/05/2021 at 20:28, Rich Rule said:

Is that not a justified reason to be more careful with staff selection.

 

Or reason to blame it on the manufacturer?

 

That example is like blaming Audi for the wife curbing my wheels A6,  FFS and on the morning I just sold it...

 

To make matters worse, my Tesla won’t arrive for 3 weeks.

 

Audi are the worst!

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Sorry, I should have been clearer with the point I was trying to make. 

It was not in one of my jobs and not my chipper either.

  Stuart