I own a wallenstein 42 and looked at the bearcat version before buying. The main deciding factors for me were:
- Kept hearing a ton of positive feedback on the wallenstein from lots of people and any used one got bought immediately, so there's a good demand. Did not hear anything bad about the bearcat, just did not hear anything...
- The bearcat didn't have a chute, I think there was maybe a kit to add one, but that was a huge factor as blowing chips is hugely important. It lets me keep the
chipper on the driveway or lawn and blow chips into the woods or into a trailer for use in other places.
- In people I had talked to the wallenstein blade setup seemed to self feed a bit better, so no hydraulic feed was needed and the chute setup to feed branches was MUCH better. In use I really appreciate it now. The 4x10 opening means I virtually never trim branches before feeding them through and the big feed chute is at the perfect working height. The extra wide opening lets you chip lumber (rarely need it for this), but more importantly you just rotate big branches the right way and no trimming is needed. The blades pull in with enough force to collapse most things to fit in the chute without manual intervention.
I don't remember the specs, but check out the flywheel weight on both too, heavier is better in terms of keeping up momentum so you don't bog or stall the tractor. Also I didn't look for it back then, but the wallenstein has a twig breaker, which is just a slot in the housing that the rotating disc pushes through to break up small stuff that won't chip. That really helps with clogs. Not sure if the bearcat has something like this. Older wallensteins don't have it, but I think they put in in around 10 years ago, so anything reasonably modern will have it.
I don't think you can go wrong with either one. Mine is one of my favorite implements and something I use constantly and have had great luck with. My wallenstein was used as well and after 2 years of frequent use I haven't had to do anything other than grease it once in a while.