Bought a Wallenstein chipper

[sixdogs]

I stumbled into a used Wallenstein BX-60 chipper in nearly new condition for a good price and bought it. Good chipper?

 

[texas42]

Wallenstein are great chippers. I've had a BX-42 for 7 - 8 years. Never a problem, easy to maintain.

 

[Ortimber]

Wallenstein makes very nice equipment. I think you'll be happy with that chipper. Be warned, they (and every other brand of self feed chipper) will work you into the ground!

 

[s219]

They are great, I have a BX-42.

 

[sixdogs]

Great comments and thank you for the testimonial. This Wallenstein is huge and at 6" capacity should easily do my misc limbs. Wallenstein sure does seem to be the best of the bunch and is built like a tank. Glad I bought it.

 

[oosik]

I've had two Wally chippers - BX42S and now BX62S. Both were/are fantastic. The 6" capacity of the 62S works my fat azz to the bone. I maintain my pine forrest out here. That means thinning & chipping the stands of young pines. Every spring - identify, fell, drag & chip upwards of 900 small( 6" or less, on the butt ) pines. This will usually take me a month. Green pines chip easily. Dragging a 6" x 30' pine - not so easy or fun. Slowly but surely I'm turning my 80 into fields of pine chips.

What will you be running it on - M7040? If so - you will never be able to keep up with the speed of that 60s. It will work you til you drop.

I upgraded to the BX60s when I bought my new Kubota M6040 in 2009. After nine years and chipping all those young pines - I still haven't had to sharpen or reverse the cutting blades. Maintenance - grease the two zerks every ten hours or so - clean out the cutting chamber when you are done chipping - coat the four chipper blades with some heavy grease when it's put up for the season.

My best suggestion - keep it clean. Try hard not to drag whatever you're going to chip thru the dirt and mud. It doesn't do your hunting knife any good to try to cut a rock - it won't do your chipper blades any good to cut dirt & mud.

 

[sixdogs]

Good advice oosik.
I know the drill on keeping things clean and no dirt will be on any wood. I've chipped before. I'm thinking to run on an M7040 or maybe MX5100. Either would be fine and I'm only chipping branches that will max out at maybe 3" on the butt. Maybe some bigger ones mixed in.

The chipper will allow me to work at my leisure as well as over the summer rather than trying to fit everything into a four week window. I had been burning huge piles but on flat ground with corn and soybeans so the risk of a field fire is too great. Plus it's too much handling of the wood from cutting and loading to unloading and burning plus tending the inferno. Chips are much easier to handle. I can't cut and burn on one place but have to haul to a burn pile. Every square inch here is farmed.

The Wallenstein chipper name is new to me but is really highly regarded and I can't find a single negative complaint. It must be one heck of a chipper. I paid $1500 for this one and it's is 99% condition with very little use. I think I did OK?

 

[oosik]

Well, I think you better make yourself scarce. They will find you - - you STOLE it. I just check my Owner Manual that has the sales receipt.

Purchased brand new one year AFTER the M6040. 2010 and for $4500.

 

[sixdogs]

I do have a dumb question on this. When operating the BX60, do I set the chipper on the ground when using it or do I leave it off the ground maybe a foot and supported by the 3pt arms? I Suppose I could also set it on a pallet when chipping.

Held off the ground keeps the PTO shaft straighter while sitting the unit on the ground angles it more. What's the correct way to chip?

 

[jonsstihl]

I think the base is adjustable. You don't really want the pto shaft straight. a little angled is good but not too much

 

[oosik]

The base on the BX62S is NOT adjustable. I position my chipper so that the pto shaft is a straight as possible. Why induce added stress into the U-joints?? If that means off the ground to be straight - then that's the way it will be.

 

[s219]

I always try to put mine down on the ground -- I think it really helps to have the ground supporting it and helping it stay put, otherwise it will rock around on the arms when in use.

 

[sixdogs]

Here's a pic.



I hooked it up to my M7040 yesterday and it ran really smooth with near zero vibration. The last small chipper I had vibrated and rumbled. I didn't chip anything because I want to look inside first but I did run it to eject any water that may have gone in when I rinsed it off. I can understand why this chipper is so highly regarded. I don't have a lot of experience with chippers but I've been around a while and would say this is the best chipper I have ever seen and by wide margin. No wonder you never see them for sale.

 

[s219]

You did get that for a steal. Around me, used ones hold their value exceptionally well and cost almost as much as new.

 

[oosik]

Sixdogs - - smooth isn't it. Kind of like 2 oz of JD over chipped ice on a hot, humid summer day. When U quit chipping for the day. It's so well balanced - you will know, right off, if there is a twig or chunk still caught up in one of the blades. It may vibrate slightly.

When I unbolt, tip the chute and open the chipping chamber - I always wear a pair of gloves. Those blades are MIGHTY sharp.

 

[Captain Dirty]

I agree with oosik; the straighter (or more level) the shaft. the less strain on the U-joints. I also agree with s219 that "on the ground" is more stable and puts less strain on the 3 point hitch. When I used a borrowed Wally BX42 that had a low input shaft height so that the angle from my PTO was excessive, I used steel strapping to band a couple of short timbers (6x8's I think) to the skids. That worked fine except that everything I put in the hopper had to be lifted the extra height. The Salsco 6" chipper I ended up buying had a much larger flywheel that gave a better PTO shaft angle. The Salsco also had a lower hopper bottom lip height than the comparable Wally. I suppose the trade-off is how well gravity feeds on the different slopes of the chutes, but I find a 5/16" gap and sharp blades feed as aggressively as I want.

The price you reported should go a long way to quiet any small dissatisfactions you have with your Wally.

 

[sixdogs]

I agree with oosik; the straighter (or more level) the shaft. the less strain on the U-joints. I also agree with s219 that "on the ground" is more stable and puts less strain on the 3 point hitch. When I used a borrowed Wally BX42 that had a low input shaft height so that the angle from my PTO was excessive, I used steel strapping to band a couple of short timbers (6x8's I think) to the skids. That worked fine except that everything I put in the hopper had to be lifted the extra height. The Salsco 6" chipper I ended up buying had a much larger flywheel that gave a better PTO shaft angle. The Salsco also had a lower hopper bottom lip height than the comparable Wally. I suppose the trade-off is how well gravity feeds on the different slopes of the chutes, but I find a 5/16" gap and sharp blades feed as aggressively as I want.

The price you reported should go a long way to quiet any small dissatisfactions you have with your Wally.

I think the PTO shaft will be pretty level with the unit flat on the ground. If not, I could set it on a pallet and it would for sure be level that way.

No dissatisfaction with the Wally and just running this on the back of the tractor and not chipping anything reveals the quality that it is. It just hums along. The knives are comparatively huge and the overall build quality is outstanding. It's built like a tank. I'm thrilled that I bought and feel it will be a real asset to the chipping I need to do.

 

[Paystar]

I put mine on the ground while chipping. But I also bolted some feet to it that I made from wooden blocks. This was mostly because without them it sat too low for my neighbors BX to be able to back under it with the quick hitch. You had to lift up on and tilt the chipper to get it hooked up. wasn't as bad with my B.

So I just raised it up a bit with the feet.

 

[sixdogs]

I put mine on the ground while chipping. But I also bolted some feet to it that I made from wooden blocks. This was mostly because without them it sat too low for my neighbors BX to be able to back under it with the quick hitch. You had to lift up on and tilt the chipper to get it hooked up. wasn't as bad with my B.

So I just raised it up a bit with the feet.

That is a great looking chipper and the feet are a great idea. What size or model is it and how does that tractor do with it?

 

[Paystar]

Thanks. It is the model BXM32 chipper/shredder. It is rated for 3 inch through the chipper and one inch in the shredder, but I have run bigger than that through it. I have all hardwood maple here and I run anything that will fit into the feed holes and it doesn't work my 26 horsepower tractor at all.

It seems to self feed good and I haven't done anything to it yet other than greasing.

I love the shredder for doing leaves. It turns them to dust and I just blow it back over the lawns.