Chipping Brush

[drivadesl]

Took my 10yro son out back and put him to work on a small brush pile. We used my 8hp Troybilt Tomahawk chipper. I know theres differing opinions on these machines, but I happen to like it for what it is. Can't expect more than to have to shove the sticks and brush into the shutes, and it can be a pain with odd shaped sticks sometimes. The blades on mine are definitely dull so that didn't help making it easy, but as you can see, it reduced the pile to my expectations. OK so I did most of the work, but he was a good helper, and is hard worker for a kid.

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[Heavyduty]

Looks like you showed him that safety comes first. Good job

 

[bontai_Joe]

I have an older version of the same machine with a 4 1/2 HP Tecumseh motor on it. Trust me, you are MUCH better off with the 8 HP motor. I hope you had your little helper wearing ear plugs in addition to the glasses. These machines are LOUD! I'll bet that no one has done anything with your blades since it was new. The hammer knives have cutting edges on both sides, so (with spark plug wire removed!) you can remove the bottom screen and go inside the hopper and turn each knife 180 degrees and have new cutting edges. The chipping knife can also be turned 180 degrees to get a new cutting edge. Soak the bolts on that with penetrating oil and make sure the allen wrench you use to loosen the bolts is of good quality and fits snuggly. So if it's never been done before, you can have all new sharp cutting edges for about an hour or so's work. I love my chipper, even though it's under powered. It'll turn anything smaller than 3" into usefull mulch and the rest is firewood. Be sure that you teach your son to NEVER EVER stick his hands further into the machine than the edges of the chute. These machines grab a little less forcefully in the shredding section than some others, but they do pull it pretty good. If your's has had the blades all turned, they can be sharpened. They are NOT sharpened like a knife, but are ground square on the edges, same with the chipping knife which is made of tempered tool steel.

 

[drivadesl]

Thanks for the replies. Ear plugs, and glasses at a minimum when operating ANY equipment of mine. (check the last photo, you can see them hanging off his neck) That includes all engine powered equipment, and transfers into my basement workshop. (woodworking machines mostly, my lathe is pretty quiet) Also no one enters my workshop without at least sneakers on at minimum. I always felt ear plugs were underutilized, so any king of noisy operation, we all get ear plugs. These chippers are loud, and really you have to watch your feet since they discharge at the bottom and can throw a chunk of wood at high speed into your toes. Should have had him wearing boots to. Anyway, thanks for the tips on the cutting blades Joe. I got the machine last year, and need to take care of either reversing or sharpening them. My brother had a 12 HP version of this, and it was an animal for what we used it for. These are well built machines and will last a long time with proper maintenance. In my case the 8HP B&S starts on a couple of pulls. Some day I will get a PTO driven machine for my tractor, but untill then, this will do.