Urgent Jensen Failure Check yours ASAP

[Taupotreeman]

C'mon guys, cleaning the machine should be part of the maintenance. How many check towballs, hitches etc? You can't check for fractures in the hitch if the whole thing is covered in grime. I don't mean break out the wax and t-cut but you can't do a proper inspection of the gubbins if it's covered in crap, regardless of if it's just road spray or absolutely caked in mud. If your ropes are covered in crap you'd give em a bit of a clean before checking them for wear and tear wouldn't you? I'm not having a crack here and at the very least it shows that some should look a little more closely at their gear before presuming all is OK but a quick blast with some degreaser and a hose wouldn't go amiss.

[Andy Collins]

As Steve said ours (518) had issues with the drawbar snapping where the bar goes under the chassis. Terrible design fault. On another inspection I found most of the chipper mounting points sheared through, in fact it was only held by one point. This machine is (quickly) checked over every time before we take it out, as said hair line fractures are very hard to see.

In the past, I've had a Schliesing 220 break away when the towhitch snapped off the 7.5tonner, local engineer blamed the inertia brake for the added strain on the hitch. Interestingly the safety cable just ripped off too, didnt really do its job too well. I know of many people who just drop the safety cable in a loop over the towball, not a good idea, put it onto something else in case the ball comes away.

Jack your machine up and check wheel bearings, I've now seen 2 roadside with a wheel missing, grease is cheaper than a new chipper.

[treequip]

As Steve said ours (518) had issues with the drawbar snapping where the bar goes under the chassis. Terrible design fault. On another inspection I found most of the chipper mounting points sheared through, in fact it was only held by one point. This machine is (quickly) checked over every time before we take it out, as said hair line fractures are very hard to see.

In the past, I've had a Schliesing 220 break away when the towhitch snapped off the 7.5tonner, local engineer blamed the inertia brake for the added strain on the hitch. Interestingly the safety cable just ripped off too, didnt really do its job too well. I know of many people who just drop the safety cable in a loop over the towball, not a good idea, put it onto something else in case the ball comes away.

Jack your machine up and check wheel bearings, I've now seen 2 roadside with a wheel missing, grease is cheaper than a new chipper.

 

Well said that man, I would however ad that the consequences could be much worse than a wrecked chipper, the prospect of up to a couple of tons making its own way down the road don’t bear thinking about.

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

Clean vs dirty; just reflects differing priorities and opinions obviously. To me a clean machine is presentable whereas a tatty or dirty one shows a lack of respect for the machine.

[PeteB]

The original post was a sound "Heads Up!" to all chipper owners. Check your machines and all over too, on a regular basis. TreeGeek was doing the world a service by pointing it out.

 

The fact that he says that his employer does not have a system in place for keeping kit clean is another matter and whether kit is maintained properly or not is pure conjecture at this point.

 

The point of the thread was, this has happened, check yours and how are is supplier responding.

 

End of story..................

 

By the way, dirty kit is a pet hate of mine too.

[TREE-SURGEON-ESSEX]

Chipper builders are cheaper builders just using cheap crap substandard parts and still charging more were all mugs i tell ya,

[doobin]

Never mind how clean it is, it shouldn't fail so catastrophically with 300 hours on the clock.

[TRADITIONAL LOGGERS]

I would be interested to see some pictures from underneath as it looks like the chassis has been flexing on the welded section.

 

Good to see no one was hurt.

[Le Sanglier]

Never mind how clean it is, it shouldn't fail so catastrophically with 300 hours on the clock.

 

spot on.

[hazzygawa]

It is a very dirty but who's to say it was due for a wash tomorrow. Might have been doing some very dusty chipping for the last few days. He only posted this to warn others. Which he has done for me ........................

......... If I had a chipper.

Edited March 16, 2011 by hazzygawa