A Couple of Chipper/Shredder Questions

[hazmat]

Thanks Hazmat. I figured that the Bearcat would cost more. Also, at these numbers, I supposed I should make double sure that I can't make do with a Jinma 6.

The BX42 with hydraulics is ~$4,200 if you're looking to save money. If I decided to skip the shredder, I was going to buy the Wallenstein (42) - anything bigger is firewood at my house.

Plenty of threads debating the merits of the Jinma - I suggest you read them. If you are willing to put some time into tuning one up, they seem to work well. But you need to be relatively "handy". Some dealers appear to do some of the setup work (at a modest cost upper). I'm not that old (33 next month) but I've come to appreciate that my time is worth more to me than money - I'd rather spend time chipping than putting the chipper together. Perhaps I'm a little jaded as my previous chipper (WW Grinder, no longer in business) which I bought used, required lots of maintainance to keep running. I honestly think I spent more time fixing the darn thing than using it.

 

[cmhyland]

I run a Salsco 600 3 1/2inch chipper on a B2910... It works great.

For me anything above 2 inches is firewood so I buck it up.

I have been clearing a section of my back field that has a lot of white pines in it.
That stuff blows through butter.... I've chipped 3" oak and it goes right through.

The downside of the Salsco 600 is you have to lift everything into the shoot.

But that is what makes it pretty much drop in and walk away....

I liked the 600 for it's small size and it can be put on a dolly and wheeled into the corner
of my barn and out of the way. The bigger units take up a lot of room...

Regards,
Chris

 

[BarryinMN]

I picked up an commercial size 16" chipper for $800. Powered by a Ford V8. It's a drum type chuck & duck so it eats fast. Lift the tree trunk in and the drum eats all; breaking or bending the branches as it goes in.

Made quick work of cleaning up the farm.

The most dangerous machine in the barn and also the most impressive in making brush piles disappear.

 

[Riddler]

Chris, like you, I am happy to pay more to avoid tinkering with my implements (or tractor) to keep them working. When I am frittering the day away getting a tool to work, I climb the walls thinking about the fun I could be having getting something done.

Depending on local availability, I plan to look into a Salsco as well. Brands aside though, I need to think hard about the cost/benefit of hydraulic feed. It nearly doubles the cost of the chipper. If I am going to realize only a 10% or 20% savings of time (and energy) over the basic self-feed hopper, then maybe I skip it. With the Wallenstein, if I end up really regretting my decision (and I win the lottery), I can always swap the self-feed hopper for the hydraulic feed hopper for a cost of around $3,700 ($3,200 for the new hopper plus a waste of $500 for the old hopper).

The suggestion that I consider a 4" chipper is a good one, but I have a tractor that can comfortably move and run a 6" chipper. Also, I am a bit spoiled when it comes to firewood. I always have access to more large dimension firewood than I know what to do with. For that reason, I am always thinking twice about limbing, bucking, handling, storing and burning stuff in the 4" (or smaller) range. I get the sense that a 6" chipper will give me the flexibility to eliminate the marginal stuff (at least for me) on the spot, if that happens to be my inclination that day.

BTW, is there anything I should know about the knives? Will a chipper with fewer (but larger) knives become duller faster than a chipper with more (but smaller) knives? Assuming I don't feed the machine dirt and metal, how often should I expect to have the knives sharpened and/or replaced, if I am chipping an equal amount of hard and soft woods? Is sharpening a DIY exercise, or should I plan to break bread with the owner of my local sharpening shop??

 

[JRobyn]

Re; knives

Mine are reversible (two edges). When I bought the chipper, it had the originals, and had never even been reversed! I don't really know how many hours it had been run. They were quite chipped up. I think the original owner ran some old lumber through it with nails. So far the new set I bought still look almost new. Given the obvious hardness/toughness of the steel, I figure it will be worth it to have them professionally sharpened. With the two sets, I can now take my time at having the dull set re-sharpened. I think my local chipper service shop quoted about $20-$25 for sharpening both edges of the two blades. The local shop also convinced me that it was a good idea to also buy new bolts/stop nuts when replacing the blades. That ran about $12 (8 bolts + nuts).

- Jay