3pt Wood Chipper Recommendation

[fruitcakesa]

I have been waffling about getting a chipper. I am managing 50 acres of mostly white pine and hemlock with a some mixed hardwoods. When I log an area there is always 6 inch and under tops and limbs everywhere along with the variety of blowdowns, dead and dying trees of all sizes. I don’t intend to chip even a fraction of that mess but I do want the chips especially for filling my skid roads and trails in addition to all the landscaping and gardening use.
I also have a 6040 so I’ve been researching 8 inch units especially the WM and the MAXX. Glad to get real world feedback from forum users.

 

[oosik]

Hey fruitcakesa - When I bought the Wally BX62S - I also considered the next size larger. BX92S. It would handle 8 inch stuff. My Kubota M6040 would easily drive this 8 inch unit.

Then reality hit home - again. I went out and cut down a pine that was 8 inches on the butt - 28 or 30 feet tall. Not only did I have trouble lifting the damn butt end - no way in H#$% could I ever drag it. Then consider a giants game of Pick-Up-Sticks. That's what one of my stands looks like after thinning. It's ALL I CAN DO to drag 6 inch trees thru this game of Pick-Up-Sticks. If you read my post #6 you can see that this thinning operation is hard enough when interspersed with 6 inch trees. Adding 8 inch trees to this mix would make chipping almost impossible.

There is only one reason I would consider a larger unit. It SHOULD have a heavier flywheel and make chipping a tad smoother. At one time I was considering a Valby 260. It has a 560 pound fly wheel. The Kubota M6040 would have powered it. I could never find a dealer close enough nor the price.

I don't know the price difference between the 6 inch and 8 inch units you are considering. I do know the difference on a Wallenstein is significant. To the extent that any benefits a larger unit may bring - it certainly does not justify the added cost.

 

[CaptPat]

I have a Bearcat that works fine for stuff up to 5", it will feed itself once started. I went with Bearcat because it has a hopper to deal with brush. I wouldn't be looking forward to chipping whatever is cut from a 10-acre stand though, it's a lot of work to generate even a modest pile of chips.

 

[nisaacs]

I have a 7" from Nova Tractor. It has twin hydraulic infeed motors. I tried two different single powered rollers and it was just too much work for our gnarly limbs. I like it.

https://nova-tractor.com/products/bx72rsh-heavy-duty-professional-wood-chipper

 

[oosik]

Getting old can be a real PITA. Now I remember my chipping session with my weather hardened old apple trees. Six old semi-dwarfs. I sure could have used some form of hydraulic in feed. Instead - I cut all the limbs into three foot chunks. Things went smoothly but it did take extra time.

However - I do have one mighty pile of chipped apple wood. Good for the bar-b-que.

 

[aesanders]

I have been looking at the Splitfire myself. I know some people don’t like the vertical infeed system and lack of hydraulics, but from what I see it doesn’t need a hydraulic feed. It is rated for 4”, but has a very large infeed opening so it can handle larger material or crooked wood. It also looks very stout and simple to maintain, all leading to a long life machine. Made in Canada and not China to boot.

This YouTube video goes over it pretty well:

 

[BufordBoone]

We’re getting ready to start clearing 10 acres of land and are looking for recommendations on heavy duty chippers. We’ll be using the chips for compost and deep bedding for chickens, pigs, and goats.

Anything over 4” will be firewood but I do want a machine that can pull in crooked and forked stuff. If it doesn’t work well we likely wouldn’t end up using it because it’s much faster to burn.

I’ve looked at Woodmaxx, Split Fire, and Walenstine so far but figured I’d see what yall have owned and loved. ( or not loved).

I have a lightly used Wallenstein 62S (gravity fed) with an extra set of blades in the classifieds.

Don't know how far you are from Gainesville, Al but I can load it on a trailer for you.

 

[sixdogs]

I have a Wallenstein 5" or 6" chipper and it is wonderful. I chip endless amount of spruce limbs from windbreaks plus branches, etc from around the farm. I can chip a 5'x12' dump trailer full in short order and I'm older. I use an M7040 Kubota.
Most branches are maybe 12 or so feet long and 2" or 3". I've also easily chipped up to 5" of white cedar.

I've used other chippers over the years but for a lower-buck chipper, this is my best choice for carefree use and ease of operation.

 

[groundcover]

Bigger is better but there is always something bigger ! I have a 12" 140 horse Brush Bandit. Was helping a friend clean up a bunch of trees he dropped and we talked about a place his son bought that he wants to clear and chip. One thing leads to another and we start looking at tracked chippers !

2290 - TRACK - Bandit Industries, Inc. | Bandit Equipment

banditchippers.com

Like they say , If I hit the power ball there would be signs !

 

[lostcause]

I have a Wallenstein BX42 with hydraulic feed - bought it around 20 years ago. Originally had it on a JD770 and it did fine chipping any solid larger wood with any size to it. I did have problems trying to run leafy and small diameter items through. if you ran a 3" item through it, it would chew it fine until you got to the very top. when you have nothing but leaves and 1/8" twigs left it had issues. instead of taking small cuts it would end up letting the twigs get through the hole in the flywheel where the blade is, and they would end up getting cut to 4-6" length. those short twigs would then rattle around in the out feed chute and make a rats nest at the plate where the chute can be rotated. the next items through would then pile up against the rats nest and it would bring everything to a stall if you didn't disengage the PTO quickly. Leaves would do the same thing - not enough mass to be pushed out quickly and they would flutter around and eventually nest up in the same spot.

I attribute a lot of this to the chipper not creating enough vacuum to push the light items through. my solution was to not let it get to just a top with twigs & leaves. when i got close to that happening I would make sure i stuffed another 2-3" minimum stick in, so it was creating good sized chips that would fly through and bring the twigs & leafy stuff with it. that helped a lot, but not a guaranteed way to avoid all plugs.

I upgraded to a JD 3039R 4+ years ago, and I haven't even converted it over. i have not had any need to chip since then - well, I do, but I have not had the free time to chip anyways. Maybe this tractor with power to spare will generate a more constant speed and airflow, but I doubt it. Maybe I can adjust the knives to help, but again unsure when it comes to leaves. The one idea I had, but never tried was to bolt on some rubber flaps to the fins on the flywheel to maybe make more airflow?

Again, if i were chipping slabs or straight pieces of round wood, it'll eat that all day long with no issue.

One more thing I will add If you have not compared the feed vs. no feed side by side: no feed options will have the in-feed chute angled more vertically so gravity helps you. Hydraulic feed has the in-feed more parallel with the ground. this means you can take a 20 foot piece and drag it in and walk away. with a gravity feed hopper you'll likely need to chunk up your pieces into shorter lengths to drop them in.