mk62 Different strokes for different folks. For me, rental is a minimum 50 mile round trip subject to availability with constraints of having to plan ahead and out guess the weather (this is Oklahoma, even the best weather folks in the world located only 35-40 miles from me can't get the weather very good.) It isn't a religious thing with me, I do rent once in a while. Last time was last year, a large ride-on diesel ditch witch. I have 160 acres, not heavily wooded but with trees scattered all over in various densities. Left alone the oak and juniper (most locals erroneously call 'em cedar) will take over the pastures. At least every other year we get a limb breaking ice storm. AND this place had been let go pretty much for quite a while. I have a backlog that would have made rental of a large unit like you got a reasonable option but I still need something for the random time when I have a little spunk left, the fields are dry enough to drive on, I can con my wife into helping etc.
For example: We went out and worked with the
chipper and chainsaw for an hour and a half after supper this evening under one pear tree that I had pruned pretty good last winter. Made two heaping FEL buckets (Hi cap 72 in) of chips that I dumped next to the dozen roses I planted for my mom. Would have finished sooner but half way through the job we discovered a nest with 4 eggs in the brush pile we were destroying. So we set the nest to the side while we worked, left some brush, and replaced the nest so hopefully the birds will accept the situation and continue sitting on the eggs.
Anyway the point is, for a large batch job, rental is reasonable. For the odd moment when the spirit moves you, weather is good, field conditions are good, etc. like after supper at 6:45 PM it is a bit late to think about rental from an outfit 25 miles away that closes at 5 or 5:30 PM. Still, I need everything the 18HP can give me part of the time and wish for more. As I have little interest in heating with wood (so far) I would rather chip the larger pieces but can't. This is a fairly small percent of my limbs. Once I get the big stuff cut off and disposed of that partially obscures the view of the 3 ponds visible from the house and some other "big stuff" , then for the most part I will be dealing only with stuff the 18 HP will handle well.
So you can see, for my situation, economics aside, owning is far more desireable and practical. If I were on a lot tighter budget then I would have to trade off convenience for cash. I spent the money but it buys me a lot of time and convenience. I had folks ask why I bought a tractor. Couldn't I just rent one cheaper? Even less practical that renting a
chipper, I think.
I like to tinker. One of my tinker projects on hold for nearly 5 years, requires a
chipper. I want to try to build or modify a thermostatically controlled auger (think pellet stove) to feed wood chips from a
chipper. That would make wood heat thermostatically controlled with pilotless electric ignition and real practical as I would never run out of stuff to chip because I can plant a few acres of fast growing brush and harvest in rotation so I would have a perpetual supply. The house I will start later this year will have in-floor hydronic heat. That system doesn't care how you heat the water only that you do heat the water so I can have a conventional propane fired boiler but with a few valves can accept hot water from any prototype I may want to try. It would be possible to rent a
chipper for that situation but I want to own the means of production.
Patrick
