Need some help.

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I've got a chunk of wood stuck in my wood chipper. This is a big chipper (18hp motor and will handle branches up to 6") and I hate to have to tear it down for a simple mistake and stuck piece of wood. I know I've seen them in the past but I'm looking for a breaker bar that has an adjustable crescent wrench on the business end. If you know what I'm looking for I would really appreciate any help. Thanks in advance.
 
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This could work as long as I can put a bigger piece of pipe on it. The one's I saw were a breaker bar and crescent wrench all in one. I guess my age is catching up and I sure can't remember where I saw them.
 

egnald

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Hmm - that is Knot a good problem to have. Can you reach the offending wood with a chisel or reciprocating saw or anything to see if you can free it up? - Dave
 

Mr Vic

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If you have a crescent wrench that fits then grab a section of long pipe that slips over the end. Broke the Jesus nut loose on a Huey helicopter with a 4' breaker bar, a 6' pipe and a wood mallet 8" in diameter. Powerdyn wrench wouldn't budge at 1200 ft/lbs
 
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We used wrench with a 4 foot handle on the railroad for the bolts on the rail joints. But they were not adjustable. Do you have a pole saw?


I tried using a crescent wrench and a pipe but the wrench kept moving too much to keep it attached to the drum nut. I was hoping to get something more substantial and something that didn't wiggle around. Tried the blade on the pole saw and couldn't get enough bend in it to get it under the drum. The stupid thing I did was try and clean up the saw mill area and was putting last years cutoffs through the chipper and put a piece in that was to thin and it jammed the machine up. First time it happened I got it right out, should'a learned, the second time it didn't go so well. So the machine gave me a hard time but near as much as my wife.
 
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If you have a crescent wrench that fits then grab a section of long pipe that slips over the end. Broke the Jesus nut loose on a Huey helicopter with a 4' breaker bar, a 6' pipe and a wood mallet 8" in diameter. Powerdyn wrench wouldn't budge at 1200 ft/lbs


I think we're talking about the same type approach.
 

Charlie_W

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Instead of a crescent wrench, I would recommend a BIG pipe wrench with a Length of pipe. A pipe wrench will tighten its grip as torque is applied where as a crescent wrench tries to open up and slip over the corners of the nut. If you can beat on the housing with a mallet while applying torque, it may budge.
If disassembly is not an option, last ditch method is to burn it out but that will
have other undesirable consequences. Burning paint fumes, weakening housing/drum/ cutters, heat on bearings, etc.
 

Dalecamino

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We also got a BIG A$$ ratchet wrench with sockets. Handle was two feet long and 1" diameter. We got them from the Tway company right here in Indy. Is that drum nut accessible? If you can locate a heavy equipment mechanic in the area, they might be able to help. Have Barb make a Sweet Potato Pie. ;)
 

howsitwork

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Bit more left field but how about an old bandsaw blade slipped past the drum and pulled back and forth manually ( care gripping it ) to cut it free?
 
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Instead of a crescent wrench, I would recommend a BIG pipe wrench with a Length of pipe. A pipe wrench will tighten its grip as torque is applied where as a crescent wrench tries to open up and slip over the corners of the nut. If you can beat on the housing with a mallet while applying torque, it may budge.
If disassembly is not an option, last ditch method is to burn it out but that will
have other undesirable consequences. Burning paint fumes, weakening housing/drum/ cutters, heat on bearings, etc.
We also got a BIG A$$ ratchet wrench with sockets. Handle was two feet long and 1" diameter. We got them from the Tway company right here in Indy. Is that drum nut accessible? If you can locate a heavy equipment mechanic in the area, they might be able to help. Have Barb make a Sweet Potato Pie. ;)
Bit more left field but how about an old bandsaw blade slipped past the drum and pulled back and forth manually ( care gripping it ) to cut it free?
How about a vise grip with a pipe?
... carefully placed explosives might prove interesting. 💥 not sure the outcome but a video would be great. 😊


We tried just about everything mentioned here. I did try a hack saw blade by taping up the end and it seemed to work until we found out how big the piece of wood was. My son in law, an Air Force trained mechanic, has the breaker bar that might work...plus a much stronger back than mine right now. I did call a tree trimming company out of Bozeman and they told me they drop the bottom of the machine down, I don't have a machine like theirs so there's no way for me to get to the drum underneath.

The sweet potato pie idea might work Chuck except I'd have to make it. To be honest, Barb has done most of the work on trying to get the piece of wood unstuck. She worked on it for 4 hours with a screwdriver and chisel and got a lot of it out, it's just this one piece left. I did the "heavy lifting" until she told me to knock it off so I didn't hurt my back anymore.

I thought about using a flame to get it out but then had a clairvoyant moment and thought better of it. And to your point Mike, I did think about using some black powder to blow the whole machine up. But again, thought better of it.

Once it's removed I'll show the end results with a photo of the offending piece of wood. I might even frame it.
 
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Can we have a close-up pic on the problem..?

Cheers
George


I could attach a photo but all you'd see was a flat piece of wood about 6" wide stuck under the drum. Based on what I can see, the piece looks to be about 6" wide by maybe 1' long. I'm hoping that after a bit more compression, and maybe some more drying out, that I can turn the drum in reverse and see if it will pop out. I did learn my lesson though and now will take the thin milled pieces to the dumps where they will be turned into some kind of mulch, which was my original intent. I have a whole pick up bed full of the cutoffs.
 
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