WoodMaxx chipper and flail mower

[flyidaho]

It, along with the flail mower (I got a discount for pulling the trigger on both at the same time) arrived in good shape. First impressions: Very well packed, I got a lot of free angle iron, once I cut the steel shipping frame apart. Like I did before with other implements, this will be earmarked for making more racks in my outbuildings for..... tractor implements, I just like the serendipity of that. This seems to be a serious piece of equipment, heavy and with what seems to be a well written owners manual. Written by someone who's first language is English, with no glaring errors. the shipping manifest states it weighs 949 lbs., with crate. A fair bit of assembly plus 7 gallons of hydraulic fluid will be required to get it up and chipping, simple enough, and I can't see them including the oil, when I can get it local.


I used my universal QA forklift frame, sans the forks, to pick it off my small trailer with the L3301. Note the lack of a heavy rear implement, but I do have filled tires. I used a chain in the frame's receiver, short rigged with the frame curled down, so all I needed was a little up curl to levitate it. This method keeps the load as close in as possible of course, plus keeps the tare weight down to a minimum. They colored matched to Kubota Orange real good, cool. Bringing mower home tomorrow.

 

[Beaudeane]

Very cool implement. I want one. Which model did u get? Just how good a discount by buying both at same time? Let us know how long it takes to get it from out of crate to mounted and chipping

 

[flyidaho]

It's an 8H.

Here's a pic of both units right after I loaded them up. Tonight I undid the steel shipping frame for the mower, I'll post a pic of all the material they used for that, let's just say it was about as bulletproof as they could make it. As in custom corner brackets for the angle iron, and nylon insert nuts on all the bolts, and lots of both. The guy in the shipping department is Mr. Obsessive Compulsive it would seem, a good place for him!

 

[NYOrange]

You seem to know how to tease us eastern guys with your mountainous pictures whenever you post something. I can’t wait to get out there this fall. Sorry for getting off topic.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[flyidaho]

The remains of the mower shipping crate. Lots of bolts etc., an impact driver came in handy for those. Galavanized angle iron no less! And the wire ties they used to secure the misc. small items were vinyl coated for scratch protection. Really good, over the top almost, attention to detail for something that's going to be dragged behind my tractor.

Sorry about the view, it can't be helped.

 

[sgtboz]

I'm equally enamored with both the equipment and the view!

 

[flyidaho]

I finally had time to get both units in the shop and totally unpacked. The only glaring ommision so far has been the lack of an owners manual for the mower. Odd, as the one for the chipper was extremely detailed and complete. I emailed WM and they got right back to me and said they'd send one out, and were sorry.

Then, about 10 minutes later, in my first overall close inspection of the mower once out of the crate and actually hooking it up to the tractor, I discovered what the little plastic round container was mounted on the mower top was for, the owners manual! The screw on cap has an O ring, so water tight, nice touch. The manual is 51 pages long...... and like the chipper's has an exploded parts list plus every single little detail you'd ever want to know about the thing. So I had to email them back saying I HAD found it, my bad. I did make a suggestion to them, to tag that little container like they do the gearbox (warning to first fill it with gear lube) with a removable paper tag stating "OWNERS MANUAL INSIDE, DON'T EMAIL US COMPLAINING YOU DIDN'T GET ONE!"

 

[Digger Dager]

We bought a flail mower from Woodmaxx in the fall of 2016. Great unit, built sturdy. I really like the rear panel that opens for cleaning the wire and debris that can rap itself around the shaft.
The One thing to make sure you do, follow the manual about checking the tension on the belts, and re-torquing the bolts. After about 12 hours of running over 2 days, the belts were toast. They are a metric/weird size. Also keep an eye on the bolts mounting the flail hammers or blades. A couple of ours came off. You will know when you lose a hammer, the hole unit shakes from being out of balance.

Digger

 

[flyidaho]

I'll keep that in mind, thanks. It's working so well it would be easy to just keep on keeping on.... I have about 3 hours on it now, and yes, it has an hour meter, for those that don't know, I just need to look at it.

There is something oddly satisfying about operating it, or any chipper I imagine. Seeing it make limbs into chips is great fun, a two for, getting rid of the debris and deadfall and getting useful chips as a bonus. The noise it makes is reasonable, though I'm wearing earmuffs anyway, the frequency is such as to not be annoying, unlike the larger units I see the big commercial outfits use.

There is a bit of a learning curve, but it's obvious enough after an hour or so as to what size and shape of limb it will accept. I started out positioning a plastic drum under it's chute, but now am using a wheelbarrow. I pre position a good stack of limbs, then fire it up and chip a heaping large barrow full in about 5 minutes, then shut it down and distribute the chips and make a new pile of limbs. The idea being of course not to waste time while everything is running at 20 some hundred RPM.

The completeness, almost overkill, of the owners manual continues to impress. Today I noticed they go on at some length and detail about modern bearing construction, and how "old school" thinking on greasing may be worse, as in too much grease can blow out the seals and let dirt in. Then they list all the bearing sizes, all with their own recommended hourly greasing schedule. Then they wrap up the manual with a fully detailed exploded parts list, just great overall attention to detail for us the end users. I've tried to be impartial here, as it's human nature to not admit you bought a piece of crap, and to rave about the wise purchase you made, but really, I am extremely pleased with both the flail mower and their chipper and feel the company deserves a shout out!