Possible Bradley product & convienant for us GREEN'rs too.

[precookingsmoker]

A lighweight & unique design in Garden Chippers, this Swiss designed garden chipper saw brief marketing out of Pennsylvania around 1989 under the unregistered trade name of Mantis Chip Mate.

Frequently found on Craigslist for under $50 because owners do not know how to disassemble the motor housing to change or flip over the used blades to a new cutting edge. These blades are no longer available commercially. Fortunately, the blades do have a second cutting edge on the opposite sides unknown to most owners.

I can publish instructions on how to disassemble & change the blade edges on this model that I found on Craigslist yesterday evening. It is not an intuitative proceedure and motor can be permanently damaged if it is taken apart wrongly. (Believe me!).

The images characterize this small compact model (being suggested to Bradley on this forum) as a guideline for production it they so choose to add it to their impressive product line.

Side view-  http://s947.photobucket.com/albums/ad314/meteorized/?action=view&current=Bradley1.jpg

Front view- http://s947.photobucket.com/albums/ad314/meteorized/?action=view&current=Bradley2.jpg

Smoking food- http://s947.photobucket.com/albums/ad314/meteorized/?action=view&current=BradleySmokingFood.jpg

(Technical Overview)

Weighing in at 35 lbs and 1 1/2 HP, this small machine is a DRUM chipper. The chips look like a bowl of nut based cereal, without any long stringy shreddings.

Recommended fruit branch size is 1 inch or less. And should be GREEN, not dried hard, to preserve the fairly thin slicing blades.

Unusual power is derived from the unique design which is a reverse of the common synchronous motor such as used in washing machines & dryers that use gearing or belt drives to power the accessories. Technical description of this motor and chipper design is a reverse of normal motor construction. In a synchronous motor, the outer case holds and contains the AC powered field windings and their cores with the smaller diameter armature having fixed magnets only. This smaller diameter armature requires gearing or belt multiplication to supply enough power(torque) to operate anything bigger than a fan. This newer Swiss design departs from that and has permanent magnets attached to the much larger OUTER housing of the motor which can rotate!. The inner armature is fixed in position and has the stationary field windings and cores. The electrical wiring goes directly to the fixed armature and a starting capacitor is piggy back on the side of the machine incased in plastic. Being the rotating outer motor case is so large in diameter its mass and momentum translate into far higher torque than would be possible using the afore mentioned small standard armature size and design which needs gearing.

(The downside)

Awkward to carry, the machine has no comfortable handle placements. Do not lift by the "very tempting" starting capacitor housing!! Hardware is metric. Blade spacing must be kept below .005 inch between blade and a sharp metal block attached to the mainframe in the drum feed area. This block is adjustable in height but shim stock is somewhat awkward to use in setting the gap. Blades are about twice the thickness of commercial razors used in floor scrapers and would be easily dulled with a hard wood product. Little material is present for grinding new edges and any grinding would significantly increase the gap to the point the razors might be broken. No blade replacement or substitution has been found since manufacturing but it might be possible to machine thin cutting bars which would not need a .005" critical spacing.

All in all........a GREAT little chipper for smoking greens in my opinion. -Larry   

[precookingsmoker]

Forgot to mention that after dis-assembly, I used my wife's best scrub pads, brushes, and antiseptic soaps to scrub inside and outside of all parts which may have come in contact with toxic or harmful weeds, branches or vines(like poison oak), that the previous owner may have used it on at his Sierra Nevada home. Best to take no chances.....right?  :)