I recently bought a Jinma 6"
chipper in JD green of course. It has worked great. I did have to replace the belt on the drum feed for $10. Prior to buying mine, I rented a Vermeer 6" industrial version that you will typically see at rental yards. It was $180 for the weekend. My clearing project would have required renting it at least 3-4 more times in the next 4 months due to accessability. It was a hard decision, but I decided to pay $2000 in order to have one forever versus paying almost a grand for a few rentals over the course of 4 months. The Jinma worked just as well the Vermeer and mine was just about $2000 delivered to a freight terminal that was close by. Vermeer owners will probably go spastic when they see that claim, but there was no way I am going to pay $10,000 for a 6" Vermeer
chipper when the Jinma was $2000. The Vermeer units are powered by a motor that is approx 25-30HP. Guess what, my tractor already has that size motor with a PTO ready to go. Both units can handle the same size material. The only real advantage to the Vermeer was the ability to rotate the chute. It is just as noisy and burns a lot of fuel.
I have access to it whenever I want without the 70 mile round trip to the rental yard. My neighbors all suggested burning. I would prefer to have a few cubic yards of free mulch anytime I am willing to fire it up for about an hour. Mulch is good. Burning is a waste.
The only things I burn are stumps and root masses with small rocks embedded in them or ones covered with excessive dirt. Most roots can be left out in the weather and after they get rained on a few times, they are then ready for the
chipper since the dirt has been washed off.
You could always buy one, use it for a few months and then resell it. I don't think it would take long to resell if you priced it $500 less than what you paid. That would give you unlimited use for several months for $500. That is a huge bargain.
One last thing, a PTO powered unit can get into tighter spaces than a tow behind Vermeer. To me, that was a major factor. I take the tractor into the woods to where the materials to be chipped are located. The Vermeer would have had problems getting there. You can slip a lone tractor between trees pretty easily.
