Wallenstein Chipper or Chipper/Shredder

[farmeratheart]

It's always about the compromise between horsepower-wallet-want! A couple of years ago I approached this same quandry. Unlike some of you, however, I did not envision myself going beyond the BX32 chipper vs the BXM chipper/shredder due my local horsepower limitations (18HP @ PTO). I really liked the direct drive construction of the BX32/42/ ... But, like the OP I could see myself wanting to put more "stuff" through the unit than just branches. I went with the BXM32 from Woodward Crossing (good people to work with!!) and haven't regretted it a single time. It handles the branches I feed it, the small stuff goes through the chipper with ease (yanks the stuff right out of your hand!) and even shreds large amounts of bark that slough off my seasoning firewood. If it ever dries out down here I'll take the digital camera out and get a picture of my pile of chipped material for your reference (my cellphone just doesn't have a good enough camera ...)

Frank

 

[oosik]

Furu -
The Kubota dealer in Spokane carries Wallenstein. I list Amber (pop. 2) as where I live because its closer to my place than Cheney. I'm about two miles NE of Amber. Most would have to do as you to find Amber.

 

[RoyJackson]

I have a chipper/shredder, but it's not a Wallenstein.
If you're clearing a wooded lot, a dedicated chipper would be the better choice. But for typical residential or small farmette clean up, the chipper/shredder may be a better choice.
Chippers don't do well with small leafy twigs and such...that's where the shredder works best.
It really depends on how much use one expects. I use my chipper/shredder a few times a year for yard clean.

If I had a lot and limited time to clear it out, I'd rent a dedicated full sized chipper. As long as you plan the job (that is, felling and stacking the trees to minimize chipping time), you can chip a lot of stuff in a day...be a tough day though.

 

[tractchores]

I have a bx42 on a 29 HP tractor. It does fine with small stuff, I often feed pruning trimmings into mine with no issue. The only clogging issues are when you feed extremely sappy material that is green without putting something with wood in it too (starts to jam the chute). For example today I fed a ton of maple branches big and small with full leaves with no issue. On the small stuff just feed a bunch of it at once or mix it with slightly bigger branches and you'll be fine. The best part of the wallenstein is the 4x10 opening, I can muscle just about anything in there and almost never trim branches, even really gnarly ones.

If you feed just plain leaves, garden clippings (i.e. non woody plant material), acorns etc then you probably need the shredder. The only downside to it is that it uses some of the PTO power and is more expensive.

They're great chippers and you can't go wrong either way.

 

[Cinco]

Sounds like you guys have answered the question I came here for. Picked up a Wallenstein bx42 over the weekend. I was really disappointed that I jammed it three times in less than half an hour. It was jamming when I was putting green pine and cedar through it. I think it is partly because of the sticky sap, and the way the leaves or fronds of the piice spread out and catch on the outfeed. The outfeed looks like it is about 6" across at the start just above the chipping wheel, and then necks down to about 4" at the junction that holds the pivot for the chute. I will lay off the evergreens and run just other stuff through it for a day and see what happens.
What speed am I supposed to run the PTO at? I have 540 or 720. What RPM on the engine is needed? I have a Jinma 354 diesel. I have always used 540 with a brush hog and tiller, so was hesitant to run at 720. Maybe if I crank up the speed it won't jam. I was thinking more power vs more speed.

 

[murphy1244]

Sounds like you guys have answered the question I came here for. Picked up a Wallenstein bx42 over the weekend. I was really disappointed that I jammed it three times in less than half an hour. It was jamming when I was putting green pine and cedar through it. I think it is partly because of the sticky sap, and the way the leaves or fronds of the piice spread out and catch on the outfeed. The outfeed looks like it is about 6" across at the start just above the chipping wheel, and then necks down to about 4" at the junction that holds the pivot for the chute. I will lay off the evergreens and run just other stuff through it for a day and see what happens.
What speed am I supposed to run the PTO at? I have 540 or 720. What RPM on the engine is needed? I have a Jinma 354 diesel. I have always used 540 with a brush hog and tiller, so was hesitant to run at 720. Maybe if I crank up the speed it won't jam. I was thinking more power vs more speed.

You need a shredder! It should run at 540

 

[RoyJackson]

It was jamming when I was putting green pine and cedar through it. I think it is partly because of the sticky sap, and the way the leaves or fronds of the piice spread out and catch on the outfeed.

I always let freshly downed pine set for about a week before chipping...let that sap dry out a bit. Even then, the needles can be a pain.
As far as RPM...run it per your manual....which I'm sure will be 540 RPM.

 

[s219]

Sounds like you guys have answered the question I came here for. Picked up a Wallenstein bx42 over the weekend. I was really disappointed that I jammed it three times in less than half an hour. It was jamming when I was putting green pine and cedar through it. I think it is partly because of the sticky sap, and the way the leaves or fronds of the piice spread out and catch on the outfeed. The outfeed looks like it is about 6" across at the start just above the chipping wheel, and then necks down to about 4" at the junction that holds the pivot for the chute. I will lay off the evergreens and run just other stuff through it for a day and see what happens.
What speed am I supposed to run the PTO at? I have 540 or 720. What RPM on the engine is needed? I have a Jinma 354 diesel. I have always used 540 with a brush hog and tiller, so was hesitant to run at 720. Maybe if I crank up the speed it won't jam. I was thinking more power vs more speed.

Define "jamming" -- did you break a shear pin, or stall the tractor? Or is the chute "plugging up" with small stuff? If the chute is plugging up, it probably means you are going too heavy on leafy/twiggy stuff. It's important to feed a fairly big limb through periodically to keep the chute clear. I think the manual covers this, and has more tips. I always try to alternate, and if I send a lot of leafy/twiggy stuff through, follow up with a big limb to push everything out. But definitely read the manual, it has a lot of important info.

 

[Furu]

Sounds like you guys have answered the question I came here for. Picked up a Wallenstein bx42 over the weekend. I was really disappointed that I jammed it three times in less than half an hour. It was jamming when I was putting green pine and cedar through it. I think it is partly because of the sticky sap, and the way the leaves or fronds of the piice spread out and catch on the outfeed. The outfeed looks like it is about 6" across at the start just above the chipping wheel, and then necks down to about 4" at the junction that holds the pivot for the chute. I will lay off the evergreens and run just other stuff through it for a day and see what happens.
What speed am I supposed to run the PTO at? I have 540 or 720. What RPM on the engine is needed? I have a Jinma 354 diesel. I have always used 540 with a brush hog and tiller, so was hesitant to run at 720. Maybe if I crank up the speed it won't jam. I was thinking more power vs more speed.

I will start off stating that I do not know the Wallenstein chippers so am not familiar with the way they are put together.

Use 540 RPM.

I am not bad mouthing any brand but every machine has or can have issues/limitations that you learn to deal with.

If you have a rotatable chute on the chip exhaust that could be a factor in your jams.

My unit is a large and capable chipper. (look at my avatar)
The chip exhaust is formed by an 8"x8" square tube. It has a rotatable top to the exhaust so that chips may be exhausted in 360 degrees as the operator chooses. I state this as I have found that if I am chipping high mass greenery (lots of leaves and not just coarse woody stems) that I can jam the 8 inch square exhaust with vegetative green debris if the adjustable rotating top exhaust is set 45 degrees from the bottom tube which restricts the passage way. If I am chipping large amounts of greenery then I ensure that the upper exhaust tube is set to match the lower exhaust tube so that there is no air flow restriction. If I am doing just coarse woody stems then I never bother about it as only greenery seems to cause it.

If you have an adjustable exhaust, look and see if you could be partially blocking the exhaust path by accident. Mine never jams if I am chipping wood no matter how big but if I get a lot of leaves and fronds, with the tube rotated to restrict, then a jam will occasionally occur.

If you do not have an adjustable exhaust then forget I said all of the above.

 

[tractchores]

You need 540 RPM for PTO speed. Try spraying your chute with WD-40, that will help to remove the sap that is there and help for a short while with new stuff. As stated feed larger woody material through with any small branches or leaves, the mass of the wood will blow out anything that's getting stuck in the chute. The chute clogs because the light leaves don't have enough mass to push through and tend to come out in clumps. You can feed slowly and that will help too. I personally like to let stuff dry a couple of days and then there's no issue, or I put the butt end of the next branch in with the top of the previous one to have plenty of wood chips mixed with the leaves and slow my feed rate a tad and that works.