wood chipper

[athomp]

I've been looking for a 3PH wood chipper and all I've found so far is a used one for $2200. It seemed a bit flimsy for the price and I'm short on cash so I thought about making one. My thoughts were either to make one from an old snow blower or from a baler. The snowblower would already have the impeller and the chute. I thought I'd just have to make a disk for the blades, a feed chute and intake feed mechanism. If I used a baler then it'd have the advantage of a large flywheel but I'd have to build the intake and exhaust chutes, the blades, as well as some type of blower. I have a Montana 5740 to run it with.
Has anyone built their own chipper or have any thoughts?

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I have one of the Jinma chippers. You can get them for around $1600 depending on your local dealer situation. For straight branches the thing is a beast, I've run 5" hardwood tree trunks straight into it. Stuff like vines and bramble is more work as the feed mechanism is pretty simple and you have to coax the gnarly stuff through.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

You really would need some good welding skills and materials to build one that is safe and effective. Not doubting your skills at all. It is just that if that thing comes apart it could be pretty dangerous. The cutting knives on my vermeer when sharp can shave hair off an arm. They weigh about 5 lbs each. Having one of those take flight would not be good.
So if you can find one that needs some TLC might be a better way to start..

 

[stuartshomepc]

I struggled with buying a rear mounted wood chipper, or a towable one.

I ended up talking to a guy at a rental yard that just re powered a older chipper with a new 24hp Kohler engine and new blades and an 10" capacity. He was on the verge of wanting to update to newer chippers but couldn't work the finances and keep the old machine around. For $1800 he sold me the old one. It works great.

I like the fact that I can tow the chipper were I want it and drop it, and pull brush to it with my tractor via a lashing strap. It's a bonus for me as it lets me keep one chip pile. Plus the chipper runs a long time between feeding in the brush and my tractor is not humming away all the time at 540 PTO rpm.

 

[o2batsea]

You'll need at least a 65 HP tractor to drive a chipper that's worth a darn. In addition, you are tying up the tractor to drive an implement when you need the tractor to do your log skidding. Search for a good used Vermeer or Brush Bandit, at least 9 inch capacity and forget the three point chippers. When you are finished with it, you can pretty much sell it for what you paid or even a little more if you clean it up.

 

[amigauser]

I struggled with buying a rear mounted wood chipper, or a towable one.

I like the fact that I can tow the chipper were I want it and drop it, and pull brush to it with my tractor via a lashing strap. It's a bonus for me as it lets me keep one chip pile. Plus the chipper runs a long time between feeding in the brush and my tractor is not humming away all the time at 540 PTO rpm.

I feel the same way. I have owned two different towable BearCat chippers and that is the way to go. It keeps hours off the tractor and allows you to use the tractor to bring material to the chipper. Once the chipper is at the location you can also unhook it and use it at your convenience without the tractor being required. The only downside is if the area were you are chipping is to rough to get a trailer into, then a PTO chipper would make sense.

 

[Kays Supply]

I had the same struggle and since I only use mine a couple times a year, but pretty hard when I do, I went with the Jinma. It took a lot of "tuning" to get it dependable, but now it is quite a work horse. I just went through it again this winter. I decided to sharpen the feed roller teeth. That has made a big difference in how it feeds. Dollar for dollar, I am very satisfided with it. I feel it would take more than double the cost to get one that would do the same work.

 

[easygo]

You'll need at least a 65 HP tractor to drive a chipper that's worth a darn. In addition, you are tying up the tractor to drive an implement when you need the tractor to do your log skidding. Search for a good used Vermeer or Brush Bandit, at least 9 inch capacity and forget the three point chippers. When you are finished with it, you can pretty much sell it for what you paid or even a little more if you clean it up.

Why would you give that advice when you don't even know what he wants to chip? Besides the Vermier you are talking about costs a big pile of dimes and the OP wants to spend less then $2200.

So. Athomp! What are the plans for the chipper? Scale of operation? It sounds like your tractor would have the HP to handle a good size unit.

Most people use the chippers to do away with brush piles and not feed whole USEFUL logs into them. I for one don't put anything into the chipper that is larger then 4" diameter, because there is use for that kind of stuff around the house. If it comes to hardwood I burn anything that is larger then 2" for firewood.

 

[brandoro]

I also don't need/want a chipper for anything bigger than 4" as I make firewood out of anything that doesn't fit, even some that would fit. My B3030 runs the chipper easily, the B7610 I had before only worked hard if the chipper had a 4" piece in it, which was seldom.

 

[robb01]

I have one of the Jinma chippers. You can get them for around $1600 depending on your local dealer situation. For straight branches the thing is a beast, I've run 5" hardwood tree trunks straight into it. Stuff like vines and bramble is more work as the feed mechanism is pretty simple and you have to coax the gnarly stuff through.

Weve got one of those and I highly recomend it