Recommendations for wood chipper for small material

[beowulf]

Our situation: We have a lot of wood of all sizes from trees that fall or ones we take down. A lot. We have been harvesting the wood if over 3-4" and sometimes even keep the some of smaller stuff - all for firewood. But in the process we generate piles of the brushy/small limbed/twiggy stuff. We have been pulling burn permits and burning it but we think we would like to get a chipper for that stuff. I don't think that we would not be using it much for the thicker stuff - but maybe we would as we have way too much wood. I don't know if there would be units more suitable for the smaller stuff, or whether a robust 4" plus unit would be better at the small stuff as well. I know you are not supposed to try to shed vines and such, but it would be great if we could shred the brushy stuff. I am looking at the gas powered units and also at PTO models. Any recommendations as to types or brands? We would want one we could pull to different areas on the property (90) acres.

Note: we have an ATV to pull a unit around as well as a tractor.

 

[ericm979]

I've chipped a lot of brush with my Woodmaxx 8H. It does fine even on stuff that's under 1/2". It's only when the stem is down to 1/8" that the rollers may not grab. Having an 8" throat means less trimming is needed to get the brush to feed.

 

[1Mech]

I have an older Yardmaster 3 way chipper/shredder 6.5 hp that has done a wonderful job over the years. The hopper will lay down at ground level, if you want to rake in leaves or other small debris, or you can tilt it up and drop small branches in. It will handle up to 3" branches on the chipper end. Makes a little pile out of a big pile! I am debating fixing it or replacing it now, something ended up in the combustion chamber which didn't belong, a small pin, no idea where it came from.

This is what mine looks like, the large hopper folds down to ground level for leaves and other small yard debris, the wood goes in the smaller chute on the front.

 

[Hughman]

We are in the California foothills too, so probably doing the same type of material. I'm happy with the woodland mills wc68 I bought last year. Cost around $3k if I remember correctly. Works great behind my little tractor. Took them less than a week to ship it to me.

We got fed up with burning because of all the wildfire smoke we've been putting up with the last few years. Oak chips make great mulch in the garden.

 

[bigtiller]

We are in the California foothills too, so probably doing the same type of material. I'm happy with the woodland mills wc68 I bought last year. Cost around $3k if I remember correctly. Works great behind my little tractor. Took them less than a week to ship it to me.

We got fed up with burning because of all the wildfire smoke we've been putting up with the last few years. Oak chips make great mulch in the garden.

The same here. 6" x 8" hydraulic feed rollers and priced now at 2999 with free shipping. I even opted for the trailer hitch on the back and chainsaw carrier.

 

[oldballs]

My experience started 15 years ago when I bought my first machine.....a MacKissic Mighty Mac SC1650HTE. It is a gas powered chipper/shredder that I tow around with my garden tractor. It has served me well for the small stuff.....generally shrub/brush trimmings...garden residue...windstorm tree limbs/stix trash dropping.

Then, several years ago I got into greater volumes of tree trimming and larger stuff. So I bought the Woodland Mills WC68 chipper. It will take the small stuff, but I generally don't hook it up for small stuff.

Between the two machines, I get away from burning..........except for some really big tree work.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[34Willys]

Just ordered a WC68 yesterday.
Enjoy the burn piles, but, messy drops from the grapple and muckin' up the property with R1 tires, back and forth to the piles? Enough.
Patrick

 

[ponytug]

I've chipped a lot of brush with my Woodmaxx 8H. It does fine even on stuff that's under 1/2". It's only when the stem is down to 1/8" that the rollers may not grab. Having an 8" throat means less trimming is needed to get the brush to feed.

I have the same chipper. It really transformed tree maintenance for me. Previously, I was renting chippers, which was pricey, and after the tractor, the heavy chipper and I slid down a hillside for a bit, I resized my chipper and bought the 8H.

I think that works great, except for the small flexible whippy twigs down around 1/8" as @ericm979 says. I played with the tension and the clearance on the hydraulic feed so that it feeds the small stuff readily now. I think it is just that some twigs end up more parallel to the knives and don't get chopped as much. For me it only really happens with bay branches.

The rental chippers would chip 8" logs. I find the 8H maxes out at around 4-5" for me, but I am definitely at the low end of power with a PTO of 25HP or so. I have seen a similar unit with 70HP PTO have no issues.

All the best,

Peter

 

[oosik]

I thin my pine stands and chip the felled trees. It's 100% pine - 1" to 6" on the butt. I power my Wallenstein BX62S with my Kubota M6040. I do this thinning project ever two or there years. It takes two months to complete this project. A thinned stand looks like a giants game of Pick-Up-Sticks. Dragging all these felled trees to piles is the most difficult part. I slip, stumble, fall, bleed, curse - but in the end they are all in several piles. Chipping is the fun part.

600 to 800 small trees go into the chipper. Butt first - no need to trim any limbs. Also - no need for any type of hydraulic in-feed system. The limbs are folded in and chipped along with the main trunk.

 

[34Willys]

For me it only really happens with bay branches.

Good for the Sinuses!
A while back, I had a client bring by some roasted Pepperwood/Bay Laurel nuts. A common tree in the riparian/Northern shaded areas.
Wow!!!! Super complex flavors of the nuts, coffee, chocolate, and more.

ROASTED BAY NUTS | Edible East Bay

edibleeastbay.com

 

[Runner]

I have a Wallenstein BX42 and have been very happy with it. It is rugged and simple, not much to break or maintain. It does not have power feed, but self-feeds pretty well if you keep the knives and anvil sharp and properly adjusted. The way the hopper is designed, it is easy to load any sized branches, including bundles of the small stuff. It has a "twig-breaker" in the rotor housing that theoretically breaks up smaller diameter things that get through the cutters, but sometimes it still throws out foot-long twigs. Will take up to 4" branches.

Wallenstein doesn't make this model anymore, and even if they did, I probably wouldn't buy one because they have a VERY sparse dealer network and you can't order online from them.

However, Titan Attachments sells a clone of the BX42, I mean it is identical except for the stickers, and you can order online from them. They are also relatively cheap ($2200 ish). So I would probably get the BX42 clone from Titan if I were buying again.

https://www.palletforks.com/tractors/3-point/forestry-equipment/3-point-wood-chipper-attachments/WCBX-GROUP.html

That being said, if I wanted a power feed model, I would be looking closely at the Woodland Mills units. I like the fact that their hydraulic feed system is self-contained, i.e., don't need to tie into the tractor system. Maybe others are like that too, haven't done much research. I have a Woodland Mills stump grinder and their products seem to be good quality and ordering/shipping was easy, so presume their chippers are decent too.

 

[beowulf]

Thanks guys for taking the time to help out. It is very much appreciated. I will check out all of the units you mention. One change in my search though - the rest of the family (SIL, daughter, wife) told me today that they much prefer a gas unit and not a PTO unit as they may use it when I am not always available and they don't want to learn - or hassle with - the PTO part of it, and there may times that a tractor will not be ideal due to terrain and forest and the tractor may be needed to bring material to the chipper as it is being used. They prefer something they can pull with the ATV. Again - thanks.

 

[mikester]

Rent a forestry mulcher

 

[Quickster2]

I just bought a WoodMaxx MX-8600. Have 8.1 hours on it now. Great machine very pleased with the purchase. They make some stand alone models as well. The quality and build integrity of the machine stands out IMO vs some others. They also offer a Veteran discount.

I had an 8HP Simplicity prior. It was simply too small and required too much effort for the yield. It worked well but without a feed system you had to stand there most of the time. I looked at Woodland Mills as well (all Chinese made). I wanted a US made unit (WoodMaxx also sells foreign made units) and with the MX Series hydrostatic feed sytem it is a bit of a game changer. Good luck in your decision.

 

[Gem99ultra]

We are in the California foothills too, so probably doing the same type of material. I'm happy with the woodland mills wc68 I bought last year. Cost around $3k if I remember correctly. Works great behind my little tractor. Took them less than a week to ship it to me.

We got fed up with burning because of all the wildfire smoke we've been putting up with the last few years. Oak chips make great mulch in the garden.

We also bought a Woodland Mills WC68, for the exact same purpose as beowolf. We shred tons of Wisteria vines routinely. The WC68 handles small trees up to around 5"-6" fine with our little 29hp Kubota. There's no way I'm willing to chance burning here in the middle of a million pine trees.

A small chipper like we have is money well spent.

 

[oldballs]

Maybe KacKissic has a model that fits your needs.......This company has been making their products (USA) for many years with good quality and service.......here is mine........

 

[Captain Dirty]

Chipping and shredding are two different operations, although many manufacturers/marketeers combine them in an attempt to be all things to all people. Shredding us usually done by a drum with either fixed or swinging teeth that macerates material until it is forced out through a screen, typically with 3/4" holes. Chipping is usually done by blades on a disc (that may be one end of the shredding drum) that chip against an anvil. The combination machines are typically gas powered (<10hp) with a max chipping capacity of 3"and a shredding capacity of 1/2", however the machines invite abuse, and operators often exceed intended capacities.
Power and the momentum of rotating parts are helpful.

There is space around the moving parts, and often larger than expected pieces are produced. When shredding with my rebuilt Kemp, 6" - 8" stalks that are fortuitously presented end-on to the 3/4" holes pass through. Vines tend to get wrapped around the axle. Although the blade to anvil distance on my 6" Salsco chipper is set to 5/16" it will often eject 1/2" x 2" x 6" chips, and as mentioned above, pliant twigs of 1/8" diameter are thrown out as "birds' nests".

My suggestion is to start with a well-regarded gas powered chipper-shredder such as oldballs' MacKissic. There is less capital outlay, more versatility, and you will keep the other potential operators happy.

 

[Captain Dirty]

A funny thing happened on the way to the woodpile.

My first chipper-shredder was a 3" capacity chipper, and I rationalized that any thing over 3" was firewood. I further discoverd that the narrow in-feed chute would not accept knotty, gnarly, or bowed branches, so many of those were considered firewood. The first PTO powered chipper I used was a 4" Wally with a 4" x 10" opening that would accept those knotty, gnarly, or bowed branches. As I looked at a 3-4" limb I realized I could take the time to buck it into a couple of 4" logs, a dozen or more 2-3" logs and feed the dozen or more remaining branches into the chipper, pick up the 12 to 20 logs, place them in the cart, haul them, remove them from the cart, and stack them in the woodpile to be later moved to the woodbox and then to the fire, OR I could just put the one limb through the chipper.

 

[ponytug]

Thanks guys for taking the time to help out. It is very much appreciated. I will check out all of the units you mention. One change in my search though - the rest of the family (SIL, daughter, wife) told me today that they much prefer a gas unit and not a PTO unit as they may use it when I am not always available and they don't want to learn - or hassle with - the PTO part of it, and there may times that a tractor will not be ideal due to terrain and forest and the tractor may be needed to bring material to the chipper as it is being used. They prefer something they can pull with the ATV. Again - thanks.

I understand the rest of your family's desire for a nonPTO unit. While there are self powered chippers, in my experience, it is all too easy to find underpowered models.

FWIW: many of the pull behind shredders don't have a lot of power and that translates into slow processing. If the plan is to do vines, leaves and some small twigs, they are great and will produce a finely shredded material.

I would try renting one first to see how it does with what you want to use it for.

All the best,

Peter

 

[2manyrocks]

I had a residential style chipper a long time ago. Maybe 5-8 hp, don't recall. Ended up selling it because of the time it took to feed material through it.

The ease with which you can transport it to where you need to chip is also very important.