I thought about renting a big one, but my job isn't going to allow me to do it all in one weekend. I guess I could cut all the wood and pile the branches to be chipped and do it all at once. But then, burning it would be just as easy at that point. Prior to the fire, I planned on purchasing an 11 hp Bearcat to use as I progressively trimmed the trees on my property, now I really just need a one time deal. Maybe a rental is the way to go...
Well, I just stopped myself and thought of it like this...
Ideally, I want to buy a Wallenstein BX62 for my 50hp tractor. That's $3500 new, and they are dang hard to find used. It sure would be convenient to have it on my property, with trees falling all the time from storms, and constant sapling clean up. However, I could rent that bigger
chipper ($400) 8 times before I got to $3500. And I could rent that smaller
chipper ($140) 25 times before I paid as much as the BX62. And I get to "use and abuse" those units and just tow them back and drop them off. No worries about breaking anything to fix, or sharpening anything, etc.
That's what helped me to make my decision. YMMV, however.
But I would think that with 6 acres, you could do a couple weekend rentals and get it all knocked out in a month or so. Then, you would have a ton of wood chips to spread and compost the soil, too! :thumbsup:
I like chipping vs. burning most of the time because you are left with a very useful by product, and are not exposed to the risk of spreading a fire. And you don't have to wait for mother nature to rain so it's safe to burn, ha!
Anyway, this is just how I have calculated what works for me. I really want to buy a BX62 someday, and I will, but if you can pile up the brush and just feed it through a
chipper for 4-6hours, that works really well.