Best wood chipper for the price

[Ranch_Hand_Supp]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ranch_Hand_Supp
We are in our 6th year selling a 3 point, 6 inch China MFD Wood Chipper with self feed.

Ronald

Just know your way around with a wrench...odds are, you'll need it.

What does you quoting me have to do with... Best wood chipper for the price ???

Or are you saying you know someone that has purchased a chipper from Ranch Hand Supply that we have preped and serviced prior to sell and he works on it more than he uses it ???

Don't understand ??
Ronald

 

[grsthegreat]

Just know your way around with a wrench...odds are, you'll need it.

dont agree.....i love mine...and i dont sell them. i had one minor clog is all. easily fixed.

 

[o2batsea]

For 3 grand you aren't going to get much of a chipper. Most likely it will have small capacity and be the "chuck and duck" type. This type is OK for occasional use but won't be anything you'd want to use for any serious work. Not saying don't buy one, just be aware of it's limitation and plan accordingly.
You will find that if you do much tree killing, you will not want to be bothered with cutting up a lot of three inch-plus stuff into firewood. Gets old quick. Takes time and wear and tear on your chainsaw and body.
A big chipper with hydraulic feed that you can put a 12 inch tree in has much to be said for it. Nothing like watching a chipper eat a whole 30 foot tree in about five minutes. You can rent one many times over for 3 large.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Do you plan to use the wood chips or use them in a compost pile? I have a small Troy Built chipper shredder and it is a huge difference in product verses the larger chips from an actual chipper. Yesterday was actually the first full day that i operated my chipper non stop and after finding out how small the chips are, instead of using them in the horse pastures we just put the chips in the kids play ground. My chipper is much smaller than you would be needing but having the shredder will greatly reduce the size of the chips, good for composting but bad because they wont be near as effective on soft ground verses the conventional wood chips. Chippers will greatly reduce a pile of tree limbs. We ran about 2 farm truck loads through my little chipper and got 5 wheel barrow loads of chips. The shredder is excellent for smaller yard clippings, we ran a lot of leaves and such through my chipper today and they just disappear in the shredder.

 

[plaindave]

For 3 grand you aren't going to get much of a chipper. Most likely it will have small capacity and be the "chuck and duck" type. This type is OK for occasional use but won't be anything you'd want to use for any serious work. Not saying don't buy one, just be aware of it's limitation and plan accordingly.
You will find that if you do much tree killing, you will not want to be bothered with cutting up a lot of three inch-plus stuff into firewood. Gets old quick. Takes time and wear and tear on your chainsaw and body.
A big chipper with hydraulic feed that you can put a 12 inch tree in has much to be said for it. Nothing like watching a chipper eat a whole 30 foot tree in about five minutes. You can rent one many times over for 3 large.

Completely agree with renting a chipper. I can get a self-feeding chipper that will handle a 6" log for $30 an hour. And it is amazing how big a brush pile you can eat up in that amount of time. I usually cut and drag early in spring for 2-3 weeks and rent a chipper for 4 hours. And an hour of that is for pickup and return. Chippers and post hole diggers are two things to rent, not own.

 

[grsthegreat]

Completely agree with renting a chipper. I can get a self-feeding chipper that will handle a 6" log for $30 an hour. And it is amazing how big a brush pile you can eat up in that amount of time. I usually cut and drag early in spring for 2-3 weeks and rent a chipper for 4 hours. And an hour of that is for pickup and return. Chippers and post hole diggers are two things to rent, not own.

welllll. that depends. i used to rent a log splitter cause i felt the same way. but then i had to rush and rush and skip lunch to get the job done. burnt me out for a long time afterwords. now that i have my own, i can hook up, split for a few hours, and do the same thing the next day or weekend. The same with my woodchipper. i have 20 acres of my property in trees, and im not young enuf or determined enuf to want to pile up all the crap and do the job over a weekend. i usually spread the crap work out over the spring and summer months. i tried renting a chipper once, and it was very fast to chip, but again i got tired after 3-4 hours..found it hard to continue and was only partly done. now that i have one, i can take my time . i have groomed trail in my woods where i drive my horse team and walk the dogs. i use the wood chips to make the base. i really love the results.

 

[greg_g]

To be clear up front, I'm talking about a PTO-driven three point hitch model. I paid $1350 out the door for one of those Chinese 6" chippers. But it was sold as shipped, partially assembled in a palletized metal crate. Store loaded it onto my pickup with a fork lift, at home I used my tractor to ease it down a pair of ramps (>800#) onto a conventional pallet. Moved it to my workshop behind my tractor on a TPH carry-all. The crate disassembled easily. Found it to be already factory serviced; all grease points fresh, belts mounted and tensioned, et cetera. Chipper assembly itself was already done, I just had to bolt on the TPH brackets, assemble the base, add the feed ramp and discharge chute. I was chippin' away 90 minutes after it came off the truck.

Yes, it's rated to accept 6" stuff - and behind my 45hp tractor it's got the power to do it. But that would be a 6" fencepost or something. Branches aren't a problem, but limbs aren't straight like fence posts. Bends, crooks, and crotches can add represent more than the 6" width/height of the feed opening, so some chain saw work has to be done before arbitrarily shoving big stuff into the feed chute. Otherwise it can get hung up at the flywheel end, stop feeding, and waste time. In the long run, prepping the limb pile with a chain saw gets the chips piled up faster.

Anyway, I've logged quite a few hours on it already. Considering all the ice storm damage that still needs cleaning up, I figure it's one of the better investments I've made in recent years.

//greg//

 

[RalphVa]

DR sells a MacKissic-made chipper/shredder in this price range, which is a good fit for your tractor size. I've the smaller size, the TPH-122. I suspect the next size larger is near the same beast. Mine is very easy to maintain, as compared to a beastly-to-maintain TroyBilt that I had before.

I've NEVER had a stop-or-stall-and-take-apart moment with the TPH-122. Whereas, I was forever getting them with the TroyBilt.

 

[amigauser]

I'm looking to buy a wood chipper does not need to be a 3 point hitch tye just want the best chipper for my money I don't want to spend more then $3K. I would apprecate all feed back and product reviews.

I have owned two 5 inch manual feed and one 6 inch hydraulic feed (all Bear Cat brand). All three were self powered tow behind units and all were under $3,000 used off Craigslist Etc.

This is my two cents worth from what I have found.

If the need is just a handful of times per year I would build a pile or piles and rent one. Unless you need one for many days/weeks of the year it is much less costly to just rent one for part of a day once the piles are built. It is very surprising how fast the piles will be eaten up by a hydraulic feed rental unit. There is even a guy who adverties on the local CT Craigslist for $200 a day were he provides the chipper and does all of the chipping for you . Very hard to beat that deal.

If you have a need for a chipper more than just a few times per year I would look into used hydraulic feed tow behind unit. If you are chipping any quantity of brush, a hydraulic feed unit makes it go MUCH faster. Having used both types I would never go with a manual feed unit again.

They are fun tools / toys and I may own one again if the price is right.

Good luck.

 

[rocknrod]

Yep - I'm buying a Jinma this spring.
There are no "odds" to figure about it. Just personal thoughts on the subject.
Their stout. Ive seen em work. They do work.