ADin
Bronze Member
The more I look at the chipper options the more confusing things get. For example, on the MacKissic, do the large branches go through the knife, then hammers while the shedding only involves the hammers, etc. Looking at the photo this would appear to be the case. I have 30 year old 7HP chipper (given $free$) which is exactly opposite, hammers for chipping and blade/hammers for shredding. It doesn't work that well on anything above 1", but dull hammers could be a big part of that. With enough effort I might be able to locate new hammers but I'm not sure just how much difference it would make. I don't want to buy a new unit needlessly, but the current unit is a PITA as is.
Actually my bigger concern is surrounding the chipper throat designs. My current chipper has a throat of about 2 3/4" sq. What I find is that many things I would like to "shove" in won't because of twists and turns in the branches or side branches. If I have to prune the bulk of the side limbs first (e.g. hawthorne limbs), then I end up spending more time pruning than chipping. Looking at chippers like the MacKissic (3.5" and 4.5") they appear to have a little larger opening, but seems they would still have the same fundemental problem (e.g. how to shove in a 2.5" stick with .5" - 1" side branches?). Even most of the advertising photos show people chipper long straight limbs with no branches (we call that firewood around here). People here seem quite happy with their machines, but I can't resolve this point. I'm not keen on spending $1500+ for a chipper unless it's an order of magnitude better than the piece of junk I currently have. I liked the 6" Jinma for this reason, among several others, but sounds like it might be to big (weight) for my JD2305. Can anybody here comment on the level of pre-pruning needed before feeding limbs in the Mackissic, DR, etc.?
Last question - How big of material can be thrown in the shredders of these "Mackissic" class shreaders - 3/4", 1", etc? If the shreader can deal with minimum 1" material then that helps the mitigate the chipper throat limitation a bit above a bit. Of course my current chipper recommends 1/2" or less for the shredder making is mostly worthless for managing small side limbs.
Actually my bigger concern is surrounding the chipper throat designs. My current chipper has a throat of about 2 3/4" sq. What I find is that many things I would like to "shove" in won't because of twists and turns in the branches or side branches. If I have to prune the bulk of the side limbs first (e.g. hawthorne limbs), then I end up spending more time pruning than chipping. Looking at chippers like the MacKissic (3.5" and 4.5") they appear to have a little larger opening, but seems they would still have the same fundemental problem (e.g. how to shove in a 2.5" stick with .5" - 1" side branches?). Even most of the advertising photos show people chipper long straight limbs with no branches (we call that firewood around here). People here seem quite happy with their machines, but I can't resolve this point. I'm not keen on spending $1500+ for a chipper unless it's an order of magnitude better than the piece of junk I currently have. I liked the 6" Jinma for this reason, among several others, but sounds like it might be to big (weight) for my JD2305. Can anybody here comment on the level of pre-pruning needed before feeding limbs in the Mackissic, DR, etc.?
Last question - How big of material can be thrown in the shredders of these "Mackissic" class shreaders - 3/4", 1", etc? If the shreader can deal with minimum 1" material then that helps the mitigate the chipper throat limitation a bit above a bit. Of course my current chipper recommends 1/2" or less for the shredder making is mostly worthless for managing small side limbs.
