Chipper 3PH chipper

[Ledgemere Farm]

The wife finally gave me the OK to buy a new 3PH chipper. I have a 23 PTO HP tractor. The John Deere dealer sells Bearcats, another sells PATU. Are there others I should consider? Which one should I buy? I have an orchard and a woodlot. I will be chipping stuff about 4". Thanks.

 

[dsinger]

There have been good reviews on this website on the Danuser 18P. I have just ordered one for my Kubota 7500. It should arrive on tues. You can order these direct from the factory. You may wish to check their website danuser.com

 

[GlennT]

I have a Valby chipper which I use with my JD 670 (18.5 HP). The Valby is suitable for commercial use--very heavy construction. For example, the chipping rotor has a diameter of over 26 inches, weights 220 lbs. and turns on large industrial roller bearings. The blades are 8 3/4" x 3 7/8". You can check out the Valby at www.valbysales.com or call Rainer Langstedt at 607/589-6160. My Valby will be working long after I'm not.

 

[bobnewjersey]

I'm told both the Bear Cat and the Patu are very good. (Bear Cat is made in the Dakota's and Patu in Sweden or Norway) I own the the Bear Cat model 72854 8" hydraulic feed. (I chose the Cat because my dealer carries them, so parts and repairs will be local for me) This thing will eat anything. I strongly recommend the hydraulic feed on any chipper you buy. This allows you to set the feed rate based on the size of the wood and go work on the next piece. Mine has been great. I'd suggest going for a demo with anybody who will take the time to give you one. It's a great learning experience.
Mine allows me to reverse the feed to backout anything that gets stuck or doesn't fit (too big). The hydraulic's can be set up either on the tractor as a remote or self-contained on the chipper.
One last thpught, with 23 HP PTO, a variable speed hyraulic feed will allow you to handle slightly larger logs. (Once the flywheel gets up to speed the feed rate controls how fast or slow the flywheel spins as it chips the log.) Good luck!!

 

[Hans]

We have a Goossen PTO CS1000. The brochure on it says shipping weight is 600 pounds. Bought it from my father in law who said it is no fun chipping without hydraulic feed. It has a top hopper for stuff smaller than 1 1/4 inches and a separate intake for up to 5" limbs. Came with the optional blower chute and 6" vaccum attachment. I was very impressed watching it devour some brush piles last year. I think it was about $4000 new with the two attachments. I have an 8 foot pile I am wanting to mulch but my tractor won't be delivered until this weekend.

http://www.goossen.com/index.html

 

[DavidInNH]

I have a Salsco 826 with hydraulic feed that I /w3tcompact/icons/love.gif. They just came out with a smaller model, the 824 that sounds like a better match for your needs. It seems that everybody on this site that has a chipper is generally happy with their choice, unless they are looking for something bigger or with a feed.

If you are going to use it very much, I strongly recommend a reversible power feed.

-david

 

[treeboone]

I have a comment or two on the subject. Ive had experience with 4 units so far, maybe my mistakes will help you. I have a Kubota L4610 (39 HP at the PTO)
First chipper- BCS BIO100 chipper/shredder, 8HP Briggs cost about 1000 bucks. It lasted about 8 hours before the vibration started cracking shrouds and the Polish main bearings fell apart. BCS wanted 85 bucks for the bearings, a local bearing supply charged 24.00. I sold this turkey as soon as I got the bearings in it.
2nd Chipper- A clean used Crary Bearcat, 8inch, 25 HP Kohler. It was a trailor mount with a rotating lazy susan (a very cool and work saving feature) This was an excellent machine, purchased used for 3400. I was not happy because I could not pull it over rough ground (low ground clearance) and the chute angle was quite high. It worked well and could easily service 2 people feeding it. I mentioned I wanted to sell it and it was sold just that fast. I regret selling it.
3rd chipper- Valby 140-(3300.00 delivered), dealer dropped it off for me to try. I ran it for an hour. Very well built, but the slow speed 540 RPM disk can beat you to death. This would be a serious contender with self feed, at much higher cost. I also was not thrilled with the idea of plumbing the remote hydraulic and sharing my Super UDT fluid with another implement. I took it back, but was impressed with its construction. Also the Valby does not make "mulch", but cuts large chips, about 1/4 inch thick
4th Chipper- Befco Bushmaster 6 inch, mechanical feed, 900 pounds, 4200.00 delivered. I thought I had found the one! Nobody was able to tell me much about it, except it was heavy duty and nobody seemed to have any trouble with it. I ordered on the caveat that if it didnt work I would return it. It arrived well crated and 99% assembled. It ran smooth and very quiet (no howl) I ran it for 10 minutes and then loaded it in my pickup and hauled it halfway across the US to dump it off at the sellers place of business. I got a refund. This is a real piece of Cra-. It would rank with Italian Bio 100 for reliability. Chinese bearings, Korean belts, hundreds of nuts, bolts, pulleys, etc. The mechanical feed is a joke. This would be a mechanical night mare if you tried to use it for more than occasional branches on a small home lot. There are better choices.

 

[hayden]

Excellent feedback - thanks