I also have a CH160 with hydraulic feed and love it. Prior to that I had a CH150 with manual feed and really appreciate the automatic feed. The price was in the high $6K range for the 160. the 150 was about $4k and it is basically the same chipper. I pay about $17 each to sharpen knives locally, but the Valby distributor in NY will do them for $7.00 each the last time I checked if you send them there.