The Walden Effect: Farming, simple living, permaculture, and invention.

Chopper 1 spring repair update

Chopper 1 in action on a log of Box Elder


Yesterday's Chopper 1 spring repair fix held up well during a moderate wood splitting session today.

The unknown factor is how long will it last. I suspect the adhesive I added might help to increase the time before a new one needs to be installed.

I think keeping the Chopper 1 stored inside will extend the time between part replacements and I blame myself for letting it sit outside all summer long, which is most likely what caused the shortened spring life in this case.



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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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What Mark didn't mention is just how much cash he saved by repairing the Chopper 1 at home rather than buying the spring off their website. The spring and clip kit is $7, and I can't seem to find the shipping without buying another copy. If I remember right, they charged us at least $5 for shipping last year, for a total of $12, versus Mark's less than a dollar repair.
Comment by anna Tue Dec 28 17:01:59 2010
Look for stainless or coated springs too. That will increase the lifetime, but at less than a dollar a repair, you could stockpile a few and have enough for 10 years of chopping.
Comment by Shannon Tue Dec 28 18:41:43 2010
Good idea on putting together a repair kit to have on hand with several springs in it! Once we see if this fix is going to last the long run, we might do just that.
Comment by anna Wed Dec 29 09:18:58 2010





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