Chipper Advice on PTO Chipper

[RalphVa]

You'll want to be able to do this sometime.

 

[5030]

So you're saying the self contained units are more capable at a comparable but somewhat higher price? Or do you have to go way higher on price to get that better capability?

I am not familiar with self contained units other that the DR Chipper-Shredder (brand) types or the big units the tree guys use. I have assumed a pto unit would have significantly more capability than any DR Chipper type model and that the units the tree guys use would be crazy expensive.

I believe he means a hydraulic self contained infeed chipper not a powered one. You'd have to lay down quite a bit for one with an engine drive that had any capacity.

 

[RoyJackson]

So you're saying the self contained units are more capable at a comparable but somewhat higher price? Or do you have to go way higher on price to get that better capability?

I am not familiar with self contained units other that the DR Chipper-Shredder (brand) types or the big units the tree guys use. I have assumed a pto unit would have significantly more capability than any DR Chipper type model and that the units the tree guys use would be crazy expensive.

The Woodmaxx chippers, such as the WM-8H, have self-contained hydraulic feed and work really well

https://www.woodmaxx.com/product/woodmaxx-wm-8h/

I see they've gone quite up in price too...IIRC, I paid about $2800 for mine, 2 years ago

I have one and if your tractor has adequate PTO HP, it'll take 8" with no problem. Normally, I don't chip anything larger the 4-5 inches...

 

[sparker133]

I have had my woodmaxx wm-8 for over 7years works great..

 

[LD48750]

I have had my woodmaxx wm-8 for over 7years works great..

Been running my cheap ol' Chinese Jinma 8" chipper for 10 years now and will again as soon as the weather warms up.

 

[ning]

Someone mentioned chipdrop.com to me recently for a source of chips; I'm rural but there's a lot of professional chipping going on these days with storm cleanup and fire fuels reduction. Basically arborists use the site to find nearby locations to drop chips instead of wasting a lot of time going to the county transfer station and paying dump fees. I've gotten one drop from this, but there's also a spot on a road corner where they're obviously dumping for free (and people pick up for free) so it's limiting the usefulness of this site here.

I'm still on the fence about getting a PTO chipper; I suspect that my use would be somewhat short- to medium- term (regrowth trimming will be too small to really chip, and once I've cleared I don't expect to see trees needing chipping here any more), and the resale value of a PTO chipper is probably a lot lower (hard to sell) than a self-powered unit - then again, even the really little self-powered units are $8k for a 15-20 year old unit around here, $5k for an ancient chuck-n-duck. So far I've been keeping up with my clearing rate by burn-piling the small stuff (I cut 4+" for wood), but it's so dry that I'm expecting a super early burn ban this year.

 

[ericm979]

Yea I hope we get more rain this winter. I don't see many used PTO chippers for sale but the few I do see follow the trailer chipper pricing. You can probably sell a clean low hour unit for not that far off it's purchase price.

I agree that larger throat chipper is good even if you're only chipping smaller stuff. But the usefulness depends on what you are chipping. If it's pine/fir which grows straight and has branches that fold up nicely, the extra throat size may seem like a waste. If it's madrone or live oak which grows any way other than straight and is a lot stiffer, you'll be thankful for the larger chipper.

Larger chippers also have bigger flywheels and at least with the Woodmaxx and Woodland Mills, often faster rotor/knife speeds due to gearing or rotor diameter or both. That takes more power to turn but chips faster.

 

[5030]

Been running my cheap ol' Chinese Jinma 8" chipper for 10 years now and will again as soon as the weather warms up.

Cheap and hard to beat. Just a bit hard on your hands, feeding it.

 

[LD48750]

Cheap and hard to beat. Just a bit hard on your hands, feeding it.

Not that I notice.
It lives outside and seems to need more care & adjustments than it used to but, it still takes care of the leftovers from firewood & pasture trimming.

 

[Oz_Kioti]

plowhog, hope you don't mind a question. I am looking to buy a Wc-88 soon and would appreciate your opinion. I have a Kubota L4600, 44hp, 35 at pto. Would I be power limited?
Thanks

I've owned a WC88 for nearly three years now. Great machine. Our tractor then was a 47hp LG (now known as LS) and from memory it's PTO delivered around 38hp. We used it to chip prunings from olive trees. Average max diameter of pruned branches was around 100mm (4"), but the 8" capacity meant that it could accept main branches with smaller side branches no problems. The LG had no problems at all driving it for that application.

We occasionally over-fed it with just too much leafy material, too fast, and choked it, but we soon learnt it's "appetite". A mate with a WC68 commented that ours was much less prone to choking than his, so maybe the bigger capacity of the WC88 makes a difference there.

Our current tractor has significantly greater PTO hp, so now we can process not only the olive offcuts, but also bigger branches from fallen Eucalypts, scrub Wattle, etc.

With the ability to slow down the infeed roller to suit the stuff you're processing, I can't see you'd have any problems.

 

[Doughknob]

The Woodmaxx chippers, such as the WM-8H, have self-contained hydraulic feed and work really well

https://www.woodmaxx.com/product/woodmaxx-wm-8h/

I see they've gone quite up in price too...IIRC, I paid about $2800 for mine, 2 years ago

I have one and if your tractor has adequate PTO HP, it'll take 8" with no problem. Normally, I don't chip anything larger the 4-5 inches...

I have this one too! Only had it 1 year but love it.

 

[N80]

I've owned a WC88 for nearly three years now. Great machine. Our tractor then was a 47hp LG (now known as LS) and from memory it's PTO delivered around 38hp. We used it to chip prunings from olive trees. Average max diameter of pruned branches was around 100mm (4"), but the 8" capacity meant that it could accept main branches with smaller side branches no problems. The LG had no problems at all driving it for that application.

We occasionally over-fed it with just too much leafy material, too fast, and choked it, but we soon learnt it's "appetite". A mate with a WC68 commented that ours was much less prone to choking than his, so maybe the bigger capacity of the WC88 makes a difference there.

I have choked my WC68 once. It was with wet matted up red cedar branches full of green needles. It choked in the output chute. In other words, those wet green needles clogged the chute not the flywheel box or cutters.

I would assume that the WC88 has a larger output chute which would help. But I don’t know for sure if the output chute is larger.

 

[ericm979]

The WC88 has a larger rotor that's turning faster than the 68's. So it can chip more stuff faster and the fan is blowing the chips out with more air as well.

 

[3Ts]

I bought a used WC68 and have only used it a little so far. I run it on a 19 PTO Hp tractor which is way under what Woodland Mills specs for it. My original intent was to run it on my 50 Hp tractor, but it works well enough on my 19 that it'll probably stay there. So far I've only run stuff (both green and dead) that is under 4" and it does it nicely. I did plug the blower chute once with green pine needles, but that's easy to clear.

BTW: I expected to get lots of chips from a tree. First time I ran a tree thru it I wondered where all the chips went, couldn't possibly be just that small pile on the ground. You'll need lots of trees for a yard of chips.

 

[bigtiller]

BTW: I expected to get lots of chips from a tree. First time I ran a tree thru it I wondered where all the chips went, couldn't possibly be just that small pile on the ground. You'll need lots of trees for a yard of chips.

A long time ago the lions club partnered up with the park ranger. They hired me to chip their tree trimmings for mulch for a community project. 5 guys drug branches to me and the chipper. When we were done chipping they were all dirty, hot, sweaty, and some were bleeding but all were disappointed.

After all that work they had a little more than a wheelbarrow of chips. They were expecting a truck load.

 

[N80]

BTW: I expected to get lots of chips from a tree. First time I ran a tree thru it I wondered where all the chips went, couldn't possibly be just that small pile on the ground. You'll need lots of trees for a yard of chips.

I have heard other people say that too. And I’m sure it has a lot to do with expectations, what you are chipping, how fast you work, etc. But I have had just the opposite experience. It took no time to fill my daughter’s full sized pickup.

Ice pulled a cedar tree down and I chipped it up in no time and made beds in front and in back of the cabin.

Overall I have been pleasantly surprised at the volume I’m generating and how quickly. It can be hard work but I really like being able to make use of stuff that needs to be gotten rid of anyway. And I have almost unlimited stuff to feed it lately.

 

[AnotherBueller]

I'm guessing the question is about running the hydraulic feed off of the remotes instead of a dedicated in-chipper pump+tank, not the actual chipping unit.

I've asked this question as well; I've only seen one unit described as such ( Nova Tractor BX102) which has and optional hydraulic power pack that can be added.

My guess is that there were enough tractors being used without remotes that the manufacturers initially determined it wasn't worth the bother to make some with and some without hydraulics, and even if many more tractors are shipping with remotes now, nobody's seen fit to sell a more stripped down version to lower the price point....

I have a Nova Tractor BX-52 that I bought in '21. I'm very disappointed with it, but it might be just my expectations.

Plus’s”
1) Has a 143 lb rotor thats balanced for both 540 RPM and 1,000 RPM
2) Has a 5" by 10" cutting area
3) Its easy to get access to the rotor to change knives or to clean out clogs.
4) Works just fine with my little BX-2370, at least up to about 2" as aything over that is fire wood.
5) Included a PTO shaft that I didn’t need to cut to fit my BX.
6) Gravity feed works just fine, if there aren’t too many small branches sticking out that I forgot to trim.
7) Great price.
8) Great dealer service. It had some scraches in the paint and the extra knives that I ordered at the same time as the chipper were missing.

Minuses”
1) Anything under ~ 1/2" clogs the chute, really doesn’t like anything much under 1"
2) There is no way to measure / adjust the clearance of the knives,
3) The rotor has a wobble, which means that some chips are very thin and some are just over 1/4" thick.
4) The large 5" by 10" chipping area has lead to 2" diameter X 8" long chunks falling sideways and jamming the chipper. Probably due to my low H/P.
5) Doesn’t throw the chips very far. With the discharge chute set to horizontal the chips only pile up 3 - 4 feet away. Not the 4-6 meters they claim.

It looks like the lower housing is a larger diameter than the rotor leaving a gap at the bottom which cuts down on the air flow, which contributes to the clogging of the chute.
I' going to take it to a fabrication shop near me to see if he can fix my problems

 

[RalphVa]

I have choked my WC68 once. It was with wet matted up red cedar branches full of green needles. It choked in the output chute. In other words, those wet green needles clogged the chute not the flywheel box or cutters.

I would assume that the WC88 has a larger output chute which would help. But I don’t know for sure if the output chute is larger.

Have choked our WC46 several times with green red cedar tops. Did it once yesterday. Have also choked it with small, green vines in tops of otherwise dead trees.

 

[oosik]

Remember - like land engagement implements - - size and weight WILL make a difference.

Size dictates how big a limb/tree the chipper might handle.

Rotor weight dictates how fast you can feed the chipper.

PTO hp dictates what you should try to run with your tractor.

Generally speaking - what you want to chip will dictate how fast you can chip.

Green pine trees - my chipper will take them as fast as I can feed them. Rock hard, weather aged limbs off my apple trees - feed much slower or the chipper might stall.

 

[oosik]

I have Ponderosa pines ONLY on my 80 acres. I use my Wallenstein BX62S to chip the pines( 6" on the butt or less) I thin from my stands. Usually, 900 to 1200 every other year. This chipper with my M6040 handles the green pines easily.

I upgraded from a Wally BX42S when I got the new Kubota. I didn't get the BX92S when I upgraded. Reason being - a green pine that is 6" on the butt and 22' to 24' tall is all I'm able to manhandle. Something bigger than 6" on the butt is just too heavy for me to lift and drag around.