Comparison wood chipper

[Grn mtn boy]

Good Evenin Grn mtn boy,
Nice lookin unit ! Let us know how you make out !

Any where near me ?

Thanks! I'm north of you....Near Stowe.

I finished putting together the chipper last night and ran a small pile of brush through it. It seem to work great. The unit is fairly heavy.The specs say the WH-8H is 990 lbs and it does feel like it on the back of my tractor. The flywheel housing is fairly think...3/8" I think. I bought an extra set of the American made blades and they're a heavy chunk of steel also. The one marginal thing I noticed was the swivel discharge chute. It seems kind of thin but it's functional. As for the fit and finish, I think it's fine. It has that typical orange peel look that so many imported goods have. It's powder coated but I'm not sure exactly how durable the finish is. Some on the finish rubbed off from me rubbing the five gallon bucket against it when I was filling the hydraulic tank. Most of the holes are elongated so that any deviation in placement is overcome.
The hydraulic feed for thousands less was what attracted me to this unit and I feel it works really well. I can see why people would want a direct drive unit but having this unit with belts doesn't bother me. All my mowers have belt drive, it's not all that different and these belts are supposedly available through your local parts store. As a plus with the belt drive, the unit has it's own hydraulic pump. If the hydraulic system fails it won't wreck your tractor's. Also, if you happen to be someone who loans out their implements you won't have to worry about plugging in the unit to your hydraulic system after it's been on your neighbor's tractor. One thing I do need to check with WoodMaxx about is the variable speed feed. The feed rate doesn't seem to change when I screw the needle valve in or out. I did send them an email yesterday with a question and they responded very quickly with a valid reply. I let you guys know more about this issue ( whether it's operator error or faulty part) when it's resolved.
I didn't have time to shoot a video and I'm not sure if I'll be able to this weekend as I have to finish getting my piers in for my pole barn addition. I guess you could call it my addition for my addiction....
When I get time I'll add one to the thread.

Chris

[RPW]

Boy I can't believe how bad I type when I use my cellphone to post so I'll repost what I was trying to say. I bought a WM-8 last spring used. The previous owner used it very little to clean his property. Since then we've cleared about 38ac and we're working on chipping everything. So far we've chipped up several of the trees so far and the machine has worked flawlessly.

[sandybeach]

How about Bearcat 4" or 5"?

Comments, warnings, etc?

[EastTexFrank]

I don't mean to hijack the thread but basically all the models that have been discussed come from one manufacturer.

How about a Liberty Ranch 8", made in the USA?????

[RPW]

That liberty is what I was looking at new. The WoodMax kinda fell into my hands (thanks craigslist).

[lt190b]

Greetings all. Does anyone know if the woodmax and and the oxxn chippers the same machine?

[murphy1244]

I don't mean to hijack the thread but basically all the models that have been discussed come from one manufacturer.

How about a Liberty Ranch 8", made in the USA?????

Wallenstein makes their own machines. Bearcat is made by Echo.

[tractchores]

I don't mean to hijack the thread but basically all the models that have been discussed come from one manufacturer.

How about a Liberty Ranch 8", made in the USA?????

As stated wallenstein makes their own machine (and a very good one at that, I love mine). Liberty is a chinese chipper I believe, but the marketing tries to convince you its US made. They suffer from all the typical problems that the chinese chippers do (wrong parts, reliability, etc). There should be a lot of info on here if you search.

[RoyJackson]

How about Bearcat 4" or 5"?

Comments, warnings, etc?

I've got the Woods 5000 which is made by Bearcat. This one is a chipper/shredder which is a great combination for a residential, estate or small farm user.
Good machines and I'm very happy with mine.
Belt driven, BTW, which I much prefer. I don't get many jams but I'd rather a smoking belt then a busted PTO.
The biggest downside of mine (an older machine I bought used) is it doesn't have a blower chute. A bit more work, but I'm OK with it since it's a 3-4 times a year yard clean up machine.

Now, if you have all logs and branches > 2-3 inch diameter, a dedicated chipper might be a better choice.

[Wineohill]

Hello all,

After much deliberation and thought and Ebay luck I now own a Salsco 627XT chipper with speed sencing. Its rated as a 6" chipper. It's direct PTO drive and the feed rollers (2) run on the tractor hydraulics. There is a speed senceing unit that pauses the feed rollers if the tractor slows down. It is also an hour meter and shows the RPM. The hieght and size of the hopper is great, the throat is over size, I think 6 or 8 x 12. Its built like a brick you what. I run it on my Kubota 3130 with 25 HP at the PTO and it works great. I run 6" oak and manzanita no problem. Just stick it in and turn your back. one little thing that does bug me is there is a weld at the bottom of the throat on the sides of the rollers that can stop a branch from going in and you have to redirect it into the rollers. A little anoiance. Other than that I could not be more pleased.