Chipper Vac - Need Some Ideas

Bindicator: Home These would work as a high alarm.

This may be too pricey.

Me, I'd just get a hole saw and put some holes in the front, where you can see them from your seat. Get some acrylic to make replacable porthole covers.

Maybe you could just replace that side panel with plexiglass...? Maybe the whole box?

I don't think windows will work because of all the debris moving around in there, but I may resort to trying that

Yeah, I can "tell" when it's full, but the problem is getting it TOO full. I was hoping someone knew of an easy way to make a load or strain sensor that is cheap. I'm even thinking of just an adjustable contact and some sort of compressible material between the dump body and the frame, or maybe putting a "false" bottom inside and having a sensor under it? It's just something I'd like to play around with...any other ideas?

Bathroom scale...? but wouldn't the weight vary? How about an expanding top panel inside the collector box as it expands it hits a switch ?

_{CR4 hung up on me for a few minutes there...}

I like that idea! I can make a wooden panel that's hinged to the top, place a switch on the side of the box that will get switched when the panel lifts to that height. I can use a safety shutoff switch and wire it to the vacs engine, and then when it's full it just shuts off! I love it!

your only need a inspection port........... big enough for a flashlight to peer through also.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#inspection-ports/=n5bxqw

If you can already tell when its full what exactly do you need a sensor for that tells you it's too full?

I have a tire that leaks on my tractor. I can tell when its low and needs air soon but I would like a sensor that tells me when it's "too low" and needs air "now" instead of when I can tell its low and just needs air "very soon".

Any ideas?

Fix it. No more sleepless nights wondering if it's time to air up that tire.

When the pressure drops below a certain level that you deem "too low" possibly ~10psi a warning audible signal can sound and grow increasingly loud and irritating....

"If you can already tell when its full what exactly do you need a sensor for that tells you it's too full?"...because I'm retired and have time to spend doing stuff like this!

Simple. Just put a guy inside it,

but maybe not like this.

loved that movie!!!

We watched that last week, when we were in Minn.

Doorman lives in Fargo, ya know, yaa. I wonder if "he's a funny lookin' guy"?

I like the idea of a simple scale. However, the bin is above the rear axle. I would put the scale at the rear axle and not at the tow bar end. Added weight to the far end of the bin will tip the tow bar up while weight near the chipper will tip the bar down. So you will not get a predictable reading at the tow bar end.

my sears tractor grass collector has a pressure output indicator that has a simple

paddlewheel that is 'lightly' suspended in the air flow it turns if the bagger

has room and is not starved from pressure.

it works reliably.

it probably cost a quarter to add to the product.

it is within the view of the operator and it's rate of spin

shows the pressure differential.

It's designed to work on a pressure differential and flow

so tuning it should be easy, change the port size on either

side of the paddlewheel with some tape until it meets your need

then fab a equal opening to the tape slot.

check out the parts list on a sears bagger about 4 years old.

jr

I have one of those units too. The problem here is that by the time that wheel ever stopped spinning, the box would be so full that the back gate would probably get pushed right off. Remember, this thing is sucking and packing all the stuff into that box. When I open the back when it is really full, it's packed tight, and there's still some room left. I still like the idea of a limit switch that will shut the vac down.

I think a scale is not going to work. If you're chipping pine one day and oak the next (say) then the mass that indicates "full" will be highly variable.

I'd stick a little lever in the side near the top of the bucket (say 2' poking inside, 1' poking out (I used feet - not my forte but I just assumed you're somewhere that uses feet). If you can reach back and wiggle the lever up and down freely it's not full. If the lever won't move freely, it's time to empty that there bucket...

Depending on how much vibration you get, you might even be able to watch the stick poking out - when it stops moving (vibrating and getting hit by flying chips) then it's probably held fast by a mountain of chips inside.

Good luck!

Tom, first things first, employ the KISS Principle here. Why make things more complicated than they need to be.....

Cut a 1-inch wide vertical slot in the side wall of the tank and install a 1/8-inch thick clear plexiglass "sight glass" secured with self-tapping sheet metal screws. Simple as Mom's apple pie.......

See #4 - to look at the side wall I would have to get off the machine. A limit switch connected to the vac motor as a shutoff would work fine, and that's pretty simple. Probably less work than a sight window and I don't have to cut the side! The shut off would also allow other people to run the machine (wife comes to mind) that are not adept at determining when it might be time to dump it. I can fill that bin so full now that I can't lift the front to be able to dump it! (and I lift weights!) That's part of the problem I'm trying to solve.

Time to install hydraulic actuators to dump it! LOL

They do sell those! If I really get bored I'll build a hydraulic system to push the debris out the back too, then I can fill it up till the tractor can't pull it anymore!

"I can fill that bin so full now that I can't lift the front to be able to dump it!"

Mount some counter-weights at the back so you can now lift the front with a full load.

Here's an off the wall idea.

So there must be a screened air exhaust vent right? Is it on the top? Take out the screen and replace it with a heavy plastic or thin rubber sheet that sags down. Make a screened exhaust port(s) down lower so that once the box is almost full it blocks off the air exhaust port(s) enough to create some air pressure. This pressure can push up on the thick plastic sheet or thin rubber sheet enough to be seen. Or attach a flag or something to the pressure window that can be seen when it billows up. Or have it push a switch to turn on your light.

This way you are monitoring volume not the weight.

Will this work? - I don't know!

Good luck.

There is no screen or exhaust vent...just blows around the rear door which is heavy plastic. Yes measuring the volume is the way I'm planning to do it...flap inside that goes up with the load and hits a limit/kill switch...or turns on a light. I could get really funky and put several switches to turn on different colored lights to show the level status! _{getting outside the KISS parameters I think}

Something like this should work...

Visual inspection? how about OPTICAL SENSORS

similar to those in elevators (reflector type) or some production lines, (etc.) mounted at the right height on the vac.

You will have to modify the output so it does not alarm as long as there is occasional light-pulse passing through within a period of a few seconds (to account for the expected light interruptions). When the internal pile is solid at the chosen level and no light passes at all, the alarm will go off. It is also fail-safe when dust covers the sensor since it will false-alarm and you will realize it needs cleaning.

details TBD...

Seems like the sound of the vacuum motor would change when it got full to the point of creating back pressure. If not, maybe just a little adjustable, spring loaded check valve near the outlet. When it was full, the limited space would raise the pressure near the outlet, pop the check valve, and you could hook that up to a light....or maybe even a whistle, if you didn't want to run wires.

A pressure gauge might work too. The smaller the available space gets, the higher the oulet pressure would read... I think.

I wonder if there's a measurable and repeatable difference in decibel level between empty and full?

http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Digital-Sound-Level-Meter/dp/B001THX3M0#productDetails

After using this machine for a while I've decided that it's not necessary for me to do anything! I worked it until it was just about completely full. When the load backs up to the input chute, the grass and leaves start blowing around the rubber gasket and start hitting me in the back of the head! The rubber gasket is held in place by a strong band of rubber, which allows it to be detached when the box dumps, enough pressure builds up to blow some debris around it and onto me! I also discovered that if I try to mow a lot of small twigs/brush I can plug the hose and the blower doesn't even miss a beat! I may take that suggestion of jrjr using the little "pressure wheel" from my old bagger unit, to detect loss of flow in the pickup. Good idea now that I've seen how it plugs up.

My solution is to mount a rake on the side of the box to assist me in getting the load out when it's so full I can't lift the dump. KISS is always the best solution, but we had a fun discussion here! Thanks everyone of you.