And the universe said, "no more yard work for you"

So this is my day. I spent all morning prepping and stacking brush, and then in the heat of the day I fire up the old HF chipper. 20 minutes into it, I hear a disagreement in rpms between shredder and engine. Uh oh.




Ah, yup, that would be one unhappy crankshaft.


Here's my poll.

A HF no name engine is $140.
An even no-er name crankshaft is 40, seals included, gaskets not included.


Would you unbolt every part of the engine to save 100 bucks, or would you just eat it and bolt a new engine on?

...




In other news, I walked into the garage seconds before the wife was about to back the truck into the car. I was feeling very lucky that I was there to stop that, until this happened.

 

Depends upon how much time you got. Easiest route it to probably just bolt on the new engine. But it is HF. Could last years. Could implode tomorrow.

 

used up all your luck on the truck

 

I'd try to get the broken crank out of the rotor first.
If it's stuck in there, trash the whole thing.

I'm still torn between a DR.Chipper or DK2.
I'd like a 5"+ but then you're looking at about $1,000 more.

 

I'd just buy a new wood chipper. Scrap the old one.

 

Thanks to the angle of the driveway, I was 2 seconds away from a can-opened hood and a slightly scratched tow bar.

Good point. I'll try that next. It looks easy enough to back out, but thems famous last words. I would love a 5" also. The 3" requires a lot of chopping branches down to straight pieces before feeding them.

 

Can't you just return it to harbour freight and get a new one?

 

No.
The warranty on power equipment is like 90 days.

 

Oh. They won't buy it if you tell them you bought it 89 days ago and lost the receipt?

 

It's 6 years old.

Im not gonna pull the ol gypsy exchange routine.

 

How many times have you had to sharpen the blades?

At 6 yeas old. You got your money worth for sure.

 

Never. I've never even opened the clean out hatch before today.

 

If it's working, leave it alone.
I'm guilty of that too.

 

Seriously though, the sharper the blades the easier it is on the crank and bearings.
Dull blades make the blades "hit" harder. Which puts more stress on the engine.
Is that why the crank broke? Probably not.

That's why the higher end chippers are use a belt drive system. The belt absorbs some of the shock.

 

I vote new engine. I had close to the same math for a honda mower engine and decided just to buy used honda mower with a horrible rusted deck but good engine and do a engine swap.

 

lol, i'd probably split the difference.

i'd get the new motor to use it now, and order the crankshaft and seal kit to see if i could also repair the old one. that way i'm back up and running doing what needs to be done, but have a less-urgent project to keep me occupied later on which would result in a 'cheap' replacement motor for any other obsession i might come across.

if projects and occupying your time are not of interest, i would get the new motor, as at 6 years, it's probably coming up to needing a carb rebuild anyways with what ethanol seems to do to the seals, and even an off-brand carb replacement is going to set you closer to $70 total in parts costs, which makes justifying brand new everything much easier to deal with.

 

I’m amazed that the cutter head is bolted directly to the crank I can’t image any of that engine is in good shape without a belt to cushion against the shock load

get a new engine

 

Time for a V-twin upgrade......

 

Those hammers already spin at a scary speed, as in, didn't grip the branch too tightly unless you want to go into the hopper with it.


... A 500cc twin would be perfect.

 

A few extra hp is always nice.