A Couple of Chipper/Shredder Questions

[Riddler]

Half of my 50 acre place is a mixed oak/conifer woodland. Little maintanence has been performed in the woodland for 20 years. I also have a few acres of clearing to do soon.

There are dead, dying or soon to be cleared trees of every size (up to 24" or more), with branches that can often exceed a few inches in diameter. For true brush and vines, my rotary cutter does a decent job of reducing their volume in place, or after I have pulled or cut them at ground level. Finally, tree or shrub "prunings," as such, don't accumulate much around my place

So far, over the four years I have owned my place, I have dragged all the non-firewood debris to various burn piles. For lots of reasons, I would love to convert the debris into mulch in place, or material suitable for a compost pile.

If have TC45DA and, very soon, a TC18. In an ideal world, I would prefer to run an attachment with the smaller tractor, leaving the BH and loader on the larger tractor free to do other things. If I do that though, I will need to find a way to process the 4"-6" diameter material separately (e.g., leave it in place to rot, get used to collecting smaller diameter firewood, maintain a burn pile dedicated to the in-between diameter stuff, etc.).

My first question has to do with the chipper v. chipper/shredder issue. If most of what I am going to feed in the machine are green tree branches limbed from large trees, as well as small diameter tree and shrub trunks with their branches intact, will I a find a PTO driven chipper only (i.e., no shredder) lacking at all? Is there a "clogging" issue with a chipper that is fed a large dose of green material along with the trunks and branches? A shredder sounds nice, but if the chipper will dispose of the leaves and twigs along with the trunks and more substantial branches, then I'm fine with that.

My second question has to do with feeders. It is important that I be able to place debris in the hopper and leave it. I see references in the posts to non-feeder machines that nevertheless "pull" material in. If I dispense with a feeder of any type, can I expect to be occupied at the machine most of the time monitoring the progress of most of what I feed? When it comes to feeders, what are main advantages of a hydraulic v. mechanical feed mechanism.

Finally, for those of you who operate a 4" chipper, but have to deal with 4"-6" material some of the time, what's your solution? Do you long for the day when the 4" chipper becomes a 6" unit, or are you happy sorting things out as you fell, limb and buck trees, so that the 4" chipper keeps humming without undue delays?

 

[asylum575]

Riddler,
Well, I can't give much insight to the PTO driven chippers, as I have a Mighty Bandit 6" chipper that's powered by a 20HP Onan Performer engine. I can tell you this. Get as big a chipper as you can swing. I use the 75% rule with chippers. They will only handle 75% of what they are rated for with ease. A 4" chipper will handle 3" fine, but may bog down when you go a little bigger. My 6" Bandit handles 4" fine, but when I get over 5" I really have to rev it up. You may want to look at the Jinma chipper thread. Jinma has a 6" chipper that can be had for around $1500. From what I have read, users are happy with them. You have a considerable piece of property to maintain and would hate to see you go too small.

Ed

 

[Inspector507]

The TC18 gear tractor is only 15 HP at the PTO. There are a couple of chippers out there that will work on that tractor, but I doubt if they'd have a very big capacity. I have a TC18 HST and would love to have one, but the money to get a good one that will work and the 3" or so capacity keeps holding my back.

 

[RalphVa]

If the 15 hp PTO is correct, you'll only be able to run either the MacKissic TPH-122 (3") or DR chipper (think it's 4"). Think you need around 23-25 hp for 6". A friend of mine ran his Jinma off his smallest (approx. 25 hp) JD. You have to also consider weight. The Jinma is up around 800-900#. The Mac is only 160#. Think the DR is a bit heavier but well within the capabilities of the TC18. The Mac is manual feed. Think the DR is too.

I run my Mac on a 4010 that has about 14ish PTO hp. I've NEVER bogged it.

Used to bog my old TroyBilt (8 hp and about 2") and a non-chipper Mac on a 12 hp Gravely.

Ralph

 

[pax_tractor]

I wanted a PTO chipper for my Kubota L2800 (22hp at PTO) but decided it did not have have enough power for the job.

What I've done is rent tow behind chippers; both 6" and 10" made by Vermeer. I can tell you from first hand experience the 6" was too small. The 10" was awesome! Either of these chippers make excellent mulch and will the 10" will suck down limbs with amazing ease. If I had 50ac I'd look for a used chipper such as these. Of course, they are not cheap.

Probably not the answer you wanted to hear but that's my .02.

DP

 

[chuckhole]

We have the 10HP TroyBilt that is rated for 3" and works best at 2" or less. It sucks down the smaller stuff but you have to push the larger stuff. I would suppose that any of them are that way unless you get an automatic feed. Since my wife hates burn piles, we should have bought a bigger one. I would have rather bought the DR at the very least.

 

[shvl73]

We have the 10HP TroyBilt that is rated for 3" and works best at 2" or less. It sucks down the smaller stuff but you have to push the larger stuff. I would suppose that any of them are that way unless you get an automatic feed. Since my wife hates burn piles, we should have bought a bigger one. I would have rather bought the DR at the very least.

I've got the 10hp MTD version. It works well for what it is. I sharpened the blades and found it will draw the branches in quite well, even the larger stuff. If you get anywhere near 3" hardwood, you're working it. The cure for that is a woodstove!
Still, an opportunity to upgrade has come up and I'm going for it.

 

[ToddW]

I wanted a PTO chipper for my Kubota L2800 (22hp at PTO) but decided it did not have have enough power for the job.
DP

I run a 6" Jinma behind my L2800 HST and it is a beast. There is plenty of power available for it.

For the OP's question about greenery, I have palmetto lining my driveway that needs to be trimmed back a couple times a year and I now feed that to the chipper as well. The result looks like grass clippings. It may not be a shredder, but it does a good job at it.

/Todd

 

[Gittyup]

Data point: I have a Bush Hog CS-100P (rebadged Goossen) chipper/shredder. I run it on a 21 PTO HP tractor. Works great. Chips up to 5" logs. Has no feed, but does self feed if the blades are kept sharp. Shredder is a real time saver if you have real brush (not just limbings); takes up to 1.25" limbs. Shredder is much faster than the chipper. Weighs about 450 - 500 lbs without blower.

I think mine chipper/shredder is probably a bit too big for a TC18. If you really need to do 6" stuff, you'll need more tractor than the TC18, or a good self-powered chipper.

 

[weldingisfun]

I had a DR chipper. It is very well built, but too small for my need. Sent it back and bought the Jinma chipper with the money from the return. Had change to spare.
My place is eastern cedar, juniper and oak. The chipper takes it all. No major problems to speak of but have experienced most of the minor problems covered in the various Jinma chipper postings.
If your budget is in the $1500 to $1800 range. You can't go wrong with the Jinma chipper. If your budget allows you to go for more, do it. 50 acres is a lot of work.

 

[yankeerider]

Riddler-

I have a DR Chipper on the back of my JD 755 (15 PTO hp, I think.) I'm very pleased with it for my needs. I have only 5 acres, and primary use is to clean up the tops of trees I fell as I increase the size of my orchard. It seems to self-feed the bigger stuff better than the smaller, I think because the feeding action is a combination of the knife pulling as it cuts and gravity pulling the branches down into the hopper. (You'll note the feed hopper points upward more than the hydraulic feeder units do.) I haven't had a proble with leaves or conifer needles yet- they seem to go right through largely unscathed unless you allow the discharge to become obstructed, in which case you get to clear the jam.

For me, 4" material is kindling I don't need to split, so i chip only up to that size.

Based on research here, i considered a Jimna, but decided I'd rather have my money help feed a family in the US than go overseas, even if it meant getting a little less metal for my money. My DR was built in the MacKissic factory in PA.

 

[Riddler]

Asylum, the 75% rule makes a lot of sense. That reminder, along with the other comments, confirms that I ought to size the chipper for my 45HP tractor. My BH has a "thumb", which comes in handy when I am doing clearing work, but I guess I will just have to organize my work so that I finish using my loader and BH before I get to chipping.

Todd, I appreciate your sharing your experience with chipping "green material." I am becoming more comfortable with idea of a chipper only unit.

I have followed the threads on the Jinma as much as I can. Sounds like most folks are happy with the utility/value ratio of the machine. I am, however, willing to pay more for a unit that requires less attention, is more durable, and/or is marginally more user friendly. I have not done a systematic inventory of all of the dead, dying or overgrown tree growth in the 25 acres of forest, but if I get serious about cleaning it up over the next several years, I have hunch that the chipper will get considerable use. My outdoor time tends to be limited right now (unfortunately), so there is value for me in a chipper that rates high in productivity and reliability.

Pax, I too have rented the self-powered Vermeers, both the BC625 and the BC1000. Either would be ideal. At $10K+ though, I can't quite justify it. Also, in my area, they are rather expensive to rent (over $300 a day and $1,200 a week), so that's not a solution. An effective, reliable PTO chipper at under $5K feels like the right investment for the task at hand.

I like what I see in the Wallenstein BX62. I saw a previous thread where the poster thought he needed the hydraulic roller feed option, but the dealer suggested he try out the self-feed hopper first. He was so satisfied with self-feed hopper that he skipped the hydraulic roller option.

I have rear remotes and enough capacity to run a hydraulic feed. If most of what I will be doing is feeding long branches and small diameter trunks with lots of green material on them into the chipper, will I experience a significant increase in production with the hydraulic feed? I am guessing that the self-feed (i.e., gravity feed) hopper works pretty well with limbs or trunks that are bare or don't have dense leaves and shoots extending from them. On the other hand, for limbs and trunks that fill as much or more space than the opening of the chute mouth or throat, I am thinking that you have to tend to them at the chipper, unless there is a roller feed mechanism to pull them in.

If folks have thoughts about the feed mechanism for my purposes, or recommendations for a 40HP PT0 chipper in addition to the Wallenstein BX62, I would love to hear them.

 

[hazmat]

I have a bearcat 73554 - I ran it a few times on my TC18 before I traded up to my Kubota B3030. I believe the bearcat 73554 to be the best PTO chipper/shredder on the market.

It is an awesome machine, but pricey ~$4K. The TC18 would slow down if fed 4" of dry hardwood, but would swallow most anything green.

The shredder is great if you have lots of twigs & leaves that you are cleaning up. I think it is more applicable for suburban/lawn applications than forestry management. If I were working woods, I'd spend the money on a chipper w/ hydraulic feed. I don't think anyone makes a hydraulic chipper with shredder. Gravity feed works, but hydraulic feed works faster. You may run into a flow (gpm) problem on the TC18. The wallenstein BX42 might work.


Review here chipzilla

Bear Cat,wood chipper,chipper shredder blower,pto chipper,string trimmer,stump grinder,truck loader,rental,commercial

 

[Farmerford]

Riddler:

I have a Vermeer 6" PTO chipper with a variable speed hydraulic feed. It is heavy and expensive, but very well made with a gear drive (rather than V-belt) and a complete hydraulic system (pump, reservoir, etc). I first used it on a 26 pto hp Kubota, and the tractor was barely adequate to lift or power it. Green pine over 5" and hardwood over 3" required a very slow feed rate, but the hydraulic roller made that easy to accomplish. It is now pulled by a 39 pto hp Kubota which is plenty of power to pull it faster than three people can bring limbs to it (you probably had the same experience with the rented one).

I have never used a manual (gravity) feed chipper, but I suspect they require quite a lot of hand feeding, particularly for long limbs, limbs with branches or heavy brush. With only one person feeding, the hydraulic feed allows you to walk away for the next limb while it is chipping the first one. I routinely stick the butt end of a 20-30' long pine sapling into the Vermeer and walk away with confidence it will be chipped up when I return. A gravity feed chipper would require that I cut it into several pieces.

I think the Vermeer was overkill in both quality and weight (and price: $10,000+), but at the time the Jinma's were hardly known, and the local Vermeer dealer was very good to deal with. The other commercial units (Bearcat, BEFCO, Bandit, etc. were only a little cheaper and there were no local dealers). From reading posts on here if I were to do it again I would probably get a Wallenstein with double feed rollers and hydraulic feed.

 

[JRobyn]

Hi Riddler,

I run an old Morbark (Eager Beaver) model 125 PTO powered 6" hydraulic feed. I run it on a Kubota L4330 (about 38 pto HP). The hydraulics are all self contained, belt driven pump off the main input shaft. I bought this used, but extremely well cared for; paid about $3500. It is wicked heavy, about 1000-1100#. If you watch e-bay for a while they occasionally come up, even a few Vermeers. I'd be wary of a used unit that was a rental, but PTO-powered ones are very rare in the rental world! From my old research, I think that the big Wallenstein 6" hydraulic feed was the closest match in something new. The latest Jinmas that have the few kinks worked out also seem to be pretty similar in capability.

We have used it for a few dozen hours now with only one blade change for maintenance. I bought one spare set of blades for about $45. Spending what's req'd for a big hydraulic feed may be mitigated some if you have other kin/relations that have similar needs;-). My BIL used it to digest all of the debris from cutting his powerline and road to his house!

It will happily digest full green cedar branches up to about 4" main branch diameter with no problem. Sometimes if the branches have 90 deg side branches of substantial thickness and strength, one has to manually "fold" (or cut) the side branches into the hopper or push down on the feed roller handle to get the extra grip needed to force the side branches through the hopper. With anything but cedar, this is usually not needed. 95% of the time, one shove into the hopper to get it started is sufficient and you can ignore it while going for the next load. The only time I stalled it was with a part-rotted, soft, soggy 6"+ diameter pine log; it cut so fast, and the soggy chips were so heavy, that the fan/blower blades couldn't get the chips up and out of the discharge chute fast enough, and it bogged down and then stalled the tractor. In summary, chipper only suits my needs fine, and I think your needs are very similar.

The major disadvantage I see to most non-powered feed chippers is that the user has to lift the material much higher to start it into the hopper. If one is chipping a few dozen branches or the remains of a medium sized tree, no problem. But with the volumes I am dealing with (and probably you too) the lifting to a manual feed would wear me out fast.

- Jay

 

[Riddler]

That's great looking chipper (and tractor). You're lucky to find a unit like that at that price.

You're right that having a relatively low chute angle will make a significant positive impact on the work I plan to do. The self-powered units I have rented have been like that, and now I can understand why. Hydraulic feed is pricey for sure, but with the many years and many acres of material that I have to chew up, the investment is looking increasingly worthwhile.

 

[Waltert]

Hi,
I had a Wallenstien BX40 chipper which I sold as the lack of power feed made it a total PIA, it chipped straight clean limbs well, small branches had to trimmed,,,, the chipper was very well built, but my advice is go with power feed, the newer BX 42 is convertable to power feed but the BX 40 was not, I would get a 6" model as anything real bushy with branches ect will feed alot easier, I am going to get the 6" Jinma as it seems to work well with minor mods and the price is right for me.
Walter t

 

[Riddler]

Can anyone comment on the price difference between the Bearcat 72854 and the Wallenstein BX62 with hydro feed?

 

[hazmat]

Can anyone comment on the price difference between the Bearcat 72854 and the Wallenstein BX62 with hydro feed?

72894 $8,900

BX62 w/ hydraulic feed ~$6,500

 

[Riddler]

Thanks Hazmat. I figured that the Bearcat would cost more. Also, at these numbers, I supposed I should make double sure that I can't make do with a Jinma 6.