john87

I would go the digger route too, [I own one] but there is no access.. Good news is that the stuff has not spread everywhere, it is just like a 12 foot diameter clump. I cannot burn it where it is either as the surrounding buildings are stuffed with smoke alarms in the roof spaces too. One whiff and the fire brigade will be around!! john..

Thanks!! Just ordered one!! john..

Could you recommend one you think would be better?? I would not know where to start with selecting one.. john..

The bamboo is about 1/2" diameter i suppose. You have a job to cut it with a machete.. Hopefully my brushcutter with a steel blade will do it though. [I hope] This blade here i have.. Do you feed the bamboo in a bit at a time or just chuck armfulls in?? john..

Hmm, Mine has a brand new blade now and i checked the anvil too and that has a nice sharp square corner so all is well, but the bamboo is so hard i might give it a miss and burn the stuff.. How do chippers cope with leylandi trees.. Will it munch them up happily?? I have a huge amount of laurel to do too but i cannot see a problem with them.. john..

Yes, as i say, i have never used one before, and when i started mine i was amazed at the velocity and volume of the air that came out the chute, never mind the chips.. From a quick calculation the periphery of the disc would be doing about 130 MPH so if it all fell to bits shrapnel would fly in a big way.. On a different subject, i have to cut down a load of bamboo.. I would imagine that i would have to be an idiot to put this in the chipper or am i being too fussy?? john..

Yes, exactly right, which is why the very first thing i did when i got it was to check the entire thing, new oil, new air filter, i checked the belt tension with a proper belt tension gauge too.. I would hate to see what happens if a blade came off; It would destroy the machine in a big way, probably the engine too, as the sudden stop and the flywheel then twists the crank, seen that a few times on rotary mowers.. I had to go and help remove what was left of a centrifugal fan exploding once.. It was in a paper mill and was something to do with drying the paper.. The fan broke up and despite the housing being a welded construction of about 10mm thick steel, that was just torn open like a papaer bag.. The one piece that burst out of there, cut completely through a steel beam about a foot deep in the roof of the place, then made a large hole in a brick wall and shot off god knows where. All around was just wrecked.. Someone was walking past at the time. They were untouched, but i bet they crapped themselves!!! john..

I would think so too.. john..

You could very well be right. Why someone would do that though is beyond me.. Either too much money and not enough sense, or never paid for the thing themselves is all i can think of.. john..

I saw the house and land the bloke had and so had no reason to disbelieve him. The rest of the machine is absolutely immaculate, so i do not think it has had a hammering.. Put it this way, the paint inside the chute is not even worn.. They "could" have fed it handfuls of gravel or nuts and bolts!! That is something i will never know obviously.. Might have been pallets!! john..

I do.. I bought it from a man who had only used it to do one job in his own garden. It had never been used commercially. The rest of the thing is literally like brand new, it was used for the one job and lived in a garage ever since... That is why the bolt problem is a big deal.. something like a bolt should not just crack, stretch perhaps if overloaded, but not crack and fail in a brittle manner.. Funny how the other four "seemed" ok.. john..

That is right. The point being that Timberwolf need to be telling people not to reuse the bolts. The corrosion was within the cross section of the core of the bolt, as you can see. Therefore, the bolt had a pre-existing crack.. That cannot be good, especially as the bolt had never been replaced.. I did say they came out easily; What i meant, was that i was able to get them out easily. I was well worried that they may have been corroded in, but happily not!! john..

Yes, Gareth has been great and Timberwolf just got back to me a few hours ago, so all good there!! john..

It snapped on tightening in a brittle manner at about a quarter of the specified torque. It can be seen from the type of failure, that it would, had it not snapped then, subsequently failed in service.. john..

Thing is, i do. I also know a fair bit about, metallurgy and materials technology.. Something like a bolt, if overloaded, would usually fail in a plastic manner, it would stretch, neck off and then fail. For a bolt to fail in a brittle manner, complete with a pre-existing crack perpendicular to the applied stress [it can be seen the crack was pre-existing as you can clearly see the products of corrosion within the cross sectional area of the core of the bolt would suggest corrosion fatigue.. john..

Eh???? What you mean "going off early" ????? or "one little mistake" ???? YOU would be the FIRST to scream if your chipper exploded in your face. I pointed out perfectly validly that there is a SERIOUS problem with the bolts but they apparently do not care. They want to count themselves lucky i do not inform the HSE.. Ever seen rotating machinery explode?? I have, and it is something you do not want to see.. john..

That is right..... But they have chosen not to.. How is that my problem??? Come on then Timberwolf???? where are you??? john..

For the benefit of everyone on this forum can i just say that Gareth of Green Plant UK has been very helpful and the blame lies fairly and squarely with Timberwolf, who cannot even be bothered to answer emails. They would answer quickly enough if i said i wanted to buy a new machine though, you can be sure of that.. Cannot wait to hear the response from Timberwolf.. This i have got to hear.. john..

So what was i to think?? Had i been sent the wrong bolts?? Have Timberwolf changed the design?? No idea.. Given the importance of these bolts i have no idea what to do now for the best.. Thank you for helping as you and your firm have been a lot more help than Timberwolf themselves who i am VERY disappointed with, they are completely useless as far as i am concerned and could not even be bothered to reply to my email. They would reply quickly enough if i said i wanted to buy a new machine.. Thank you john..

Ok, so next thing, since Timberwolf had failed to help or answer in any way, i thought i might as well send off for a spare blade and bolt set, and another two sets of spare bolts as well, fifteen bolts in all.. Ok, so blade arrives and is fine, but i got a mixture of bolts.. Four were obviously the low headed bolts that Timberwolf supply, whilst the other eleven were ordinary bolts and somewhat shorter too.. See photos below..

Hi Gareth, Thanks for helping.. As you say, these bolts are extremely important. I emailed Timberwolf themselves about this, but they never even responded, total waste of time.. Now, the original problem, was that i went to fit a new blade to my machine. It was still fitted with the blade that came from the factory, it had never been removed.. Ok, so i went to fit the spare blade and when i went to tighten the bolts, the second one i went to fit, snapped at a very low torque.. I examined the bolt and you can clearly see that there is some sort of fatigue related problem. Have a look at the crescent shaped mark where corrosion has started at what was obviously a crack in the bolt.. See photos below.

Undid easy. I could still see the copperslip on the threads.. from now on i will use new bolts every time i change a blade.. john..

When you say about setting the anvil. Why is it that timberwolf say to return the machine to them for them to fit a new anvil.. What is so hard about fitting one?? Further to the broken bolts in my first post in this thread, timberwolf ignored my email to them, but the new bolts i ordered were of a different design to the originals, so there is a story there.. john..

Do they usually look like that or have the last owners been putting roots and stuff through there?? What is the thinnest stuff a chipped will deal with?? Could i put a hydranger bush in there or is there not enough wood and too much stalky green bits?? john..

Do different things compete with each other?? What i mean is, say a load of wasps decide to set up shop in a hole in a tree. Would wasps piss off bats in a big way, or do bats eat the things?? john..