king_black_shoes
New member
Me again. I went back and read the rest of the thread so here is a little more info. I recommend the Yardman 8 hp machine (for conversion to hydraulic) because before mine frooze up (my fault) it was great. Consumer Reports magazine liked it enough to top rate it. I put 3" pine and oak in mine and it chipped it without any problem. I think Yardman has a lot of other brands so it may be easy to find a similar one. Mine had an 8 hp Tecumseh and was direct drive via tapered shaft. The cutter head looks like an auto flywheel with 3 (I think) straight blades each bolted over a hole. The other side has centrifical hammers for chopping brush and leaves. The main motor output bearing served double duty as bearing for the cutter head so a direct drive hydraulic motor would need sturdy bearings. Surplus Center (800 488 3407 no web page) has good prices on new and used hydraulic motors. Hope this is of help. I hope to convert my gas generator to hydraulic also. I'm tired of maintaining (or not) small engines that get only occasional use.