I have had a Bearcat 70554
Chipper/Shredder and two-speed blower since fall of 2000. I am using it on my Kubota
B2400. I have been (slowly) clearing several acres of 12-year-old saplings as well as general clean up. Most of the 12 year saplings are tall and straight so they are well suited for a
chipper. I chose this unit since it offered both the capability to chip as well as shred. I wanted the shredder to shred compost and paper for mulch and compost as well as the
chipper to chip the saplings.
The 70554 can easily chip 4-inch trees. With taller trees (over 10 feet tall) or larger diameter trees (5 inch by 8 foot), the trees feed a bit too fast for the power available and stall the tractor. I have found that if I support some of the weight of these larger trees and slow down the feed rate or simply cut the trees in half or thirds before chipping it works fine. A unit with hydraulic feed would be an advantage, regulating the feed rate automatically.
I have not been happy with the blower.
The screen can not be cleaned if the blower is installed. The blower housing assembly covers the screen and must be removed to clean or change the screen. After removing the blower housing the screen comes out easily with two bolts through the bottom. The manual states that the blower should only be used with the
chipper (and dry leaves going through the vacuum and the shredder). From my experience, with the blower installed, any moist material in the shredder will clog up the blower and screen. I have also had problems with small twigs about 1/8 inch in diameter falling through the shredder hammers and clogging the screen and blower. These twigs are unavoidable when chipping saplings.
The blower assembly also covers the access port used to remove the knives for sharpening. It is necessary to remove the blower and screen to sharpen the
chipper blades.
The manual recommends sharpening the knives every 10 hours of chipping. The
chipper self feeds as the blades grab and pull the branch into the knife. The self-feed will become less reliable as the knives dull. When the knives are dull the 70554 will kick back and throw the last piece of wood back at the operator. (Don't stand directly behind the feed chute.) All this means after a day or two of use the blower must be pulled off to sharpen the knives.
The first year I had the blower installed most of the time. Since then I have not reinstalled the blower. It is just too inconvenient to use.
Little changes in the design could have made the blower far more convenient, but overall the blower on this unit is an afterthought. It is not well integrated. For example the drive pulley for the blower is installed on a keyed shaft which comes out the back of the
chipper with the drive pulley secured with setscrews. The drive pulley must be adjusted on the shaft to line up with the driven pulley on the blower housing. If the
chipper is used with blower removed, a guard must be placed on the drive shaft (otherwise there is an exposed shaft spinning at PTO speed). The guard fits over the shaft but not over the pulley. This requires that the drive pulley be removed and realigned when it is replaced. The drive pulley must be set in position to match the driven pulley on the blower frame. Removing the pulleys requires a gear puller. Installation requires a hammer (and gear puller) to align them on the shaft. For this tractor neophyte this is a time consuming process.
Since removal of the blower is required frequently (every 10 hours) and the blower can not be used for routine shredding Bearcat should have provided an easier technique. Two come to mind to get power to the blower: a guard which fits over the pulley and a quick release for the drive mechanism. The simplest is a guard which fits over this drive pulley when the blower is not in use (in fact this could have been the standard cover with a negligible increase in manufacturing cost). Even better the drive shaft could have used a quick attach technique like the one used on a PTO spline and quick release.
Either technique would speed up the blower remove/install cycle considerably. The connection of the blower housing should also have been through some quick release and not a series of bolts.
The vacuum hose attachment is much more specialized than was apparent from the Bearcat web site and glossy brochure. I purchased this attachment with the thought that the vacuum hose feeding the shredder would be an easy way to turn and process my compost pile. (I hate turning compost with a shovel.) The manual states that the vacuum can be used ONLY for dry leaves. My experience is if the material is being vacuumed is even slightly moist (e.g. the leaves are wet at the bottom of the pile) the blower will clog up and require disassembly. The hose is very heavy and awkward.
One part of the vacuum attachment is very useful. The vacuum includes a top cover for the shredder port with a round hose fitting. This cover is very useful when chipping in the woods. The cover (without the hose) provides a safety cover for the shredder when chipping.
Overall the blower option for the 70554 is a poorly designed afterthought to the well-designed
chipper/shredder. The self feed works well as long as you are not chipping more than the tractor power can handle. (My
B2400 provides 18 PTO HP more power would reduce the tendency to stall with the larger saplings.) At times hydraulic feed would be nice but is not necessary.
I have seen the 74554
chipper with integral blower at my dealer and it looks like Bearcat may have fixed these problems (in a higher cost unit). The 74554 has a hinged cover that provides easier access to the knives. The better access and therefore the faster knife change could be a factor if you use the
chipper a lot. It also has hydraulic feed, which will control feed rate, not require that you stand by and monitor the feed and eliminates the possibility of kickback. I think 73454 is the manual feed equivalent model to the 74554. I am not sure about the 73554.
