Chipper Which wood chipper to buy?

[econometrics]

Forgot... one thing I like about the Wallensteins are the lower height of the feeder. The Bearcats (at least the ones I have seen) have a much higher feeder height, which (to me) would seem a little harder to deal with since branches are now being fed in closer to the height of your face, and take more energy to get them up into the chute over the lip of the feeder.

:2cents:

 

[TerryR]

I am looking at a used Bear Cat 73454 and a Wally BX42. Wally is about $700 more and will require several hours travel to see. Any opinions? Especially interested in hearing what folks have heard or experienced with the Bear Cat....I already see there is a large fan base on TBN for the Wally's.

I've had a Bear Cat 73454 for a number of years and really like it. It's worked perfectly for me, chips everything I throw at it (anything not fit for firewood, including pine up to around 5"), self-feeds well when the blades are sharp, and the blades are easy to access and sharpen. The chute was too tall to fit in my barn so I had about 6" taken out of it at a local welding shop.

Only issue I've had is the grease zerk on the bearing at the back of the PTO shaft isn't accessible through the opening provided with any grease gun nozzle I've found, so I had to turn it so I can access it from underneath. Not a problem when it's lightly used, but a better solution would be needed for heavy use. Bear Cat wasn't familiar with the issue, so either it's an issue particular to my unit or nobody else greases theirs.

Terry

 

[pinetree10]

I almost bought a Bearcat chipper. I researched them to death and ended up talking my father into buying the 5540 chipper/shredder for his place. He likes it but I ended up realizing that I wanted a bigger intake chute for the chipper. I liked the one you have but I ended up going with the Wallenstein because I saw it at the New York State Empire Farm Days show and liked its design. I've used my Dad's chipper/shredder and it seems like a quality piece of equipment. I believe Bearcat makes Woods or the vice versa. I think you can't go wrong with either brand, but I did like the fact that Wallenstein painted mine to match the tractor.

 

[econometrics]

I almost bought a Bearcat chipper. I researched them to death and ended up talking my father into buying the 5540 chipper/shredder for his place. He likes it but I ended up realizing that I wanted a bigger intake chute for the chipper. I liked the one you have but I ended up going with the Wallenstein because I saw it at the New York State Empire Farm Days show and liked its design. I've used my Dad's chipper/shredder and it seems like a quality piece of equipment. I believe Bearcat makes Woods or the vice versa. I think you can't go wrong with either brand, but I did like the fact that Wallenstein painted mine to match the tractor. <img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=354231"/>

Did you attach those 4x4s to the bottom of your Wallenstein?

A few of us on here have talked about doing that, as the angle of the PTO shaft when the Wallenstein is on the ground is a little too steep for our liking.

 

[pinetree10]

I did. I ripped our old wooden deck out last summer and I had sealed it a few times over the years, so when the posts came out they were already sort of weatherproofed. I cut a couple to length and used lag screws to keep them attached to the chipper. It gets it off the ground just enough because of what you mentioned. I wondered why they didn't make the bottom platform just a little higher for that reason.

 

[econometrics]

I did. I ripped our old wooden deck out last summer and I had sealed it a few times over the years, so when the posts came out they were already sort of weatherproofed. I cut a couple to length and used lag screws to keep them attached to the chipper. It gets it off the ground just enough because of what you mentioned. I wondered why they didn't make the bottom platform just a little higher for that reason.

That is great! Nice to see someone who went ahead and did it.

You're right... really odd that they didn't make it lift up a little more.