chipper: heavier, 1000rpm flywheel better for smaller tractor? WC68, WM-8h, WC88

[ericm979]

The 8H flywheel turns at 1150 rpm when the PTO is 540. A little over 2:1

Having owned and used manual "chuck and duck" and hydraulic feed chippers, I would not go back to the manual. The hydraulic feed is safer. Less futzing around to get the material to feed, and when it does it feeds at a controlled rate rather than being sucked in at high speed.

Most manual feed chippers have the chute at a downward angle which means you have to cut limbs short and lift them up and hold them to get them to go down. My 8H's chute is level so I only need to lift the material up to get it in and then lift the other end to get it under the upper roller. Once the rollers grab it I can let go and go get another one.

My manual feed chipper will eject unchipped stubs out the chute hard enough to cause injury. You have to know not to be putting something in before it was completely finished with that branch. With the 8H I can feed in as much as it will take and nothing gets shot back out at me.

My 8H came with a hydraulic speed controller made for a 20 gpm system but the unit is 3 gpm. It had two speeds: fast and slow. It's a known problem with flow control valves that are sized too large. I put a smaller one on and it's now adjustable to any speed as you'd expect. Last I looked the smallest flow control valves of that type readily available in China were 20 gpm. Which is why it was on the unit.

 

[orangetree]

Thanks all for your input.

For me it came down to VC68 vs WC88 - the reason is the WC88 seems very similar to the WM8h (missing dual rollers & lift bar, but has the faster flywheel). Obviously i'm power-limited on spinning up the flywheel, but as above it would SEEM to me that faster speed would still be a huge advantage

Spoke with WoodlandMills, however, and they were adamant that it does not. They said the WMs' owners have ~30 pto HP on their personal tractors, and they specifically said that the wc68, on a small-horsepower tractor, would chip LARGER diameter pieces than the wc68 (on that same small-HP tractor).

I'm not optimizing for tree-size of course, but i suppose I should take this as a reasonable heuristic stating there would being very little, if not negative, functionality improvement bumping up to the wc88 ...

ordered the wc68

Now ... wait ... and wait .... a lovely couple of years we've all had in that respect, huh.

 

[ponytug]

I have the Woodmaxx WM-8H, which I converted from PTO to hydraulic drive. Like @ericm979, I would never go back to manual feed. I find myself setting the infeed speed, putting through like sized branches, and then turning it up or down as the sizes shift. The stubs rattle around between the infeed roller and the chipping wheel and never come back out.

I have about 30HP at the drive, and definitely wish I had twice that, but this gets through all my small stuff for fire reduction, which is what I need. I don't need to send 6" logs through.

I have run through enough brush to sharpen the blades a few times, and the blade switch (flip) process is quick and easy, and Woodmaxx has designed in a rotor lock to make it even easier.

My only complaint is the hydraulic feed tank needs to be really full and level for it to prime. Not a show stopper at all, just an idiosyncrasy. I would buy it again in a heartbeat.

Faster isn't better; as the rotor moves faster, it has more aerodynamic drag, which wastes precious horsepower. Trust the designers to have twiddled the knobs on the various trade offs. I can tell you for certain that high speed on the rotor does not stop stalls on difficult pieces.

All the best,

Peter

 

[RalphVa]

Like I said, think I may have had one (1) stall running the 3 1/2 inch chipper full with the 18.5 engine hp JD 4010 in 9 years on it. This unit did not have much of a flywheel. Could have been instrumental in causing the destruction of the driveshaft Ujoint at 660 hours and 9 years.

Maybe the hydraulic feed takes quite a bit of hp. However the JD 2025R with 24.5 engine hp just loafed along with it running at 450 PTO speed (because don't need that 24.5 hp) with mid setting on the hydraulic feed on the WC46. Never ever had a feeling it was loaded down with a full 4 inch tree being drawn into it.

 

[Whitbread]

I have a Wm8m that I've put about 50 hours on with various power levels. So I have some impressions that might be useful.

Stock 1620 with 22hp at pto, the chipper had no noticeable rpm drop doing 2-"3" oak branches 3-4" green pine. Anything over that and it was working hard and clearly getting near the hp limit.

1620 with turbo added and fuel turned up to somewhere around 25-28 pto hp, much better performance with 3-4" hardwood limbs and 5-6" pine. Can still bog it and stall it if I don't stop the infeed momentarily to let it catch up on big stuff here and there.

On my friends 36pto hp tym 474, took 5" hardwood and 6" pine and barely dropped rpms at all.



My overall bang/buck recommendation would be to get the wm8h and swap out the hydraulic flow valve for a proper gpm rated one. It's always nicer to have the bigger throat dimensions so you trim less branches. As long the knives are kept sharp, on the slowest feed speed you should have no problem doing 4-5" material when necessary. I also very much like the flat chute angle of the woodmaxx units vs the angled wooland mills units.

 

[Erik M]

I have a 60 hp PTO and run the WC88 and think the Woodland Mills are a well engineered unit. The hydraulic infeed can be set to the speed needed by the work. The hinged flywheel cover means it is easy to access the flywheel, and I can drive the tractor into the garage without removing the chute by hinging it open (low door). I have the hitch adapter for mine and pull a trailer for the chips behind the tractor which is very handy. I think you will enjoy your WC68 and find the unit easy to maintain and operate.

 

[oosik]

I think you will do the very best if you simply stay within the recommended limits of the chipper and your tractor. 4" or smaller conifer should be handled well. You will find that a 4" pine - allowed to dry for a year - a harder task.

I run my Wallenstein BX62S with my M6040. I chip only green pines - 6" or less. Works like a dream. I chipped my old, weather hardened apple trees. Now that required a lot more from both the chipper and the tractor.

Flywheel inertia will only last for a brief time. Then it will require brute power from the tractor. My test - chip a 6", green pine that is 30 feet long and 6" on the butt. By the time the chipper is four feet or so up the trunk - is it still chipping at the same speed. If it is slowing down - you are at or near the limit of what the "system" will handle.

I thin my young pine stands almost every spring. 900 to 1200 pines - 6" or less on the butt. Why 6" or less, you ask. You go out and cut a 25' to 30' tall green pine, 6" on the butt and try to man-handle it.

Then imagine this. I go into a stand and fall 40, 60 even 80 young pines. It looks like a giants game of Pick-Up-Sticks. Falling down has become an art form for me. And I'll be 80 years young in a month.

 

[sea2summit]

I think you will do the very best if you simply stay within the recommended limits of the chipper and your tractor. 4" or smaller conifer should be handled well. You will find that a 4" pine - allowed to dry for a year - a harder task.

I run my Wallenstein BX62S with my M6040. I chip only green pines - 6" or less. Works like a dream. I chipped my old, weather hardened apple trees. Now that required a lot more from both the chipper and the tractor.

Flywheel inertia will only last for a brief time. Then it will require brute power from the tractor. My test - chip a 6", green pine that is 30 feet long and 6" on the butt. By the time the chipper is four feet or so up the trunk - is it still chipping at the same speed. If it is slowing down - you are at or near the limit of what the "system" will handle.

I thin my young pine stands almost every spring. 900 to 1200 pines - 6" or less on the butt. Why 6" or less, you ask. You go out and cut a 25' to 30' tall green pine, 6" on the butt and try to man-handle it.

Then imagine this. I go into a stand and fall 40, 60 even 80 young pines. It looks like a giants game of Pick-Up-Sticks. Falling down has become an art form for me. And I'll be 80 years young in a month.

Hope I'm able to thin that many pines when I'm your age!

 

[oosik]

Give you a hint - sea2summit. My chainsaws have gotten smaller. Not much required to cut a 6" green pine. AND this year my son and his friend will help.

This project - thinning the stands - breaks down into three distinct tasks. Identify and fell, drag to a pile, chip. BY FAR - drag to a pile is the most difficult. You try to be smart about the dragging bit but very soon you have a 6" pine and you are climbing over a world of small fallen pines. The old phrase - "bark your shins" has a very real origin.

The act - "falling with grace" - plays into this project also.

 

[Apgamer]

I have a CK2610H and a WM-8H. I used it a large amount this winter and couldn't be happier. I think the CK2610 is more than capable of using the chipper in a reasonable way. I chip 3-4" hardwood and 5-6" pine without any problems. Yes, the feed speed needs to be turned down substantially, but I think the tractor handles it fine. I think the larger displacement motor (1.65 liters) may have something to do with it. Plus, you are not going to be chipping firewood logs.

I think the 1160RPM flywheel is a huge benefit to maintain momentum and store energy. Compared to smaller, non hydraulic feed PTO chippers, these types have a 200+ pound flywheel spinning at twice the RPM. How could that ever be considered a downside? The tractor PTO/clutch has no issue getting it spinning.

My property is covered with piles of chips as a testament to how well the chipper works