Chipper Chipper/shredder questions, exploring what I can do with them

[ericm979]

When I want to use the chips somewhere I've chipped into the back of my UTV, using a tarp over the roll cage as a backstop and to keep most of the chips out of the cab.
I got an ATV/UTV dump trailer from Woodland Mills which is what I chip into now. It does mean two trips or two people.

A few chippers have hitch receivers. Or if you can weld you can add one.

I use the chips on my dirt roads and in the chicken pen. Sometimes they go into the compost bins but we're usually ok there from other sources. Mostly I spray them out on the ground where I'm chipping to enrich the soil.

I leave the old rotting wood in the woods. If it's in the way I move it with the grapple otherwise it stays where it is. If it's rotting then it's on its way to becoming soil, and they're habitat for critters. From a fire safety standpoint rotting wood on the ground is not much of a risk.

Between air quality regs, lack of safe places to do it and a summer dry season that lasts 7 months it's not practical for me to burn. If you can safely and legally burn piles you might consider that. There's some stuff that I won't chip- old rotting wood and poison oak- which go on piles to rot. Obviously you would not want to burn things like poison oak.
Around here rental chippers cost a lot and it's an hour + to town and back when I pick up a rental. If you're renting you have time pressure to get your money's worth. With my own chipper I can do a hour's worth or whatever I need and then go back to cutting. OTOH rental trailer chippers can have more capacity. I've been able to chip material close to the chipper's 8" capacity but I have to throttle the feed way down and turn the feed on and off. With 50-something hp instead of my tractor's 37 you'll have less of an issue with that. Most people use material that large for firewood. Now that I have a decent stove I'm chipping less large stuff.

 

[ruffdog]

Or just hire it done and have it finished in a few days.

 

[oosik]

Many good points. The Wallenstein has a clam shell type enclosure - easy access to the enclosure to unplug stuff & access to the knife blades. The enclosure splits in half - hinge on one side - containment bolt on the other side. Undo the containment bolt - lift the top half of the enclosure and tip to the hinge side.

Punky/rotten wood will "chip". Don't expect nice clean chips from this wood. Lots of wood dust and shattered chips.

Hardwood, softwood, green wood, wet wood - all will chip just fine.

Really "sappy" wood - freshly cut pine - can tend to plug the chute. I had quite a bit of problem with this and my green pine trees and the Wally BX42S. Solution - identify, fell, drag to pile, wait a year to chip. So - every year I was chipping last years trees. Then - ID, fell, drag to pile for next year.

I do not have this problem with the BX62S. Higher air flow, larger chute diameter.

 

[RalphVa]

Bull, most chippers you can adjust the bed plate/knife clearance to chip any size. I have mine set fine because I sell the chips and most people want small stuff. Nova Tractor sells the chipper. It seems to be a good one. I had a small Troy-bilt chipper/shredder, Jinima chipper and a Wood Max wm8m, they were all too much work and high maintenance. This one will chip circles around them. Most of the trees around here are Juniper, they have a loose shaggy bark that collects dirt when the wind blows, very hard on chainsaw chain and chipper knives. I use to burn my trimmings but that is such a waste, I chip everything now that wont make firewood.

Do your research on chippers, they are not all created equal. Just for your info, here is a roller bearing/roller frame comparison, note light duty v/s heavy duty. Also be sure and get the clam shell type flywheel housing, way easier to change knives then going through an inspection cover.

When I do a large chipping session I use my dump trailer and with a small area with a lot of moving I chip into my Bobcat loader bucket.

Thanks for this post. I copied and saved and then looked up the BX52: only $1500. Really good buy and good to hear about ease of maintenance. Could be a good replacement for the ole Mac.

Ralph

 

[mikester]

Or just hire it done and have it finished in a few days.

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Out of curiosity what do they charge in your area? I'm looking at clearing some fence lines and burning has its own headaches.

 

[ruffdog]

Out of curiosity what do they charge in your area? I'm looking at clearing some fence lines and burning has its own headaches.

I had a couple thousand trees removed over 4 areas separated by rows of good trees. The rows and spacing was a grid, a tree every 7 feet. The trees were about 10" on average and 30' tall. About 3 days work for $23k. Many times the feller-buncher would cut and grab 3 trees before laying them down. The cut/grab only took 1-2 seconds. The hydro-ax ground up anything sticking out of the ground like Buckthorn.

 

[Woodpeckerlips]

I have 1 acre of dead. trees I wish I would have called someone with a mulcher and had them clean it out I must have cut down 100 dead ash trees and burned them I am still gonna rake the limbs and pieces of wood and burn I am almost done at least it was good exercise.

 

[newbury]

I have a half acre and house in Northern Virginia that I rented out and it grew up in mixed hardwood saplings, brambles and bamboo over about a 25 year period.

Couldn't walk through it.

Finally in 2012 I moved the renter out and my son and his family in.

My choices for clearing [NO BURNING ALLOWED] were pay -estimates were in the thousands, mostly labor -, cut and haul - a fee of about $15/pickup load and a 40 mile drive, cut and have them haul, county hauls - $100/load, rent a chipper for about $800 a week.
Plus I've several hundred acres in Mississippi I'm building trails on.

Renting is often a non-starter - rainy periods, schedules etc. are a pain

So I bought a Jinma 8" chipper for about $1600 (w/ spare belts and blades) and my son and I cleared and chipped it over the course of a spring and summer.
Then I hauled it down to Mississippi.

It was well worth it to me. I've only used it a few time since but it's there.


But it ages well in my shop.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

I have 1 acre of dead. trees I wish I would have called someone with a mulcher and had them clean it out I must have cut down 100 dead ash trees and burned them I am still gonna rake the limbs and pieces of wood and burn I am almost done at least it was good exercise.

I have a lot of ash, and it's probably a question of when, and not if, the emerald ash borer infestation in New England gets them. That will be a sad day, hope I don't live to see it but it looks grim. Is that the source of your dead ash?

 

[Woodpeckerlips]

Yes sir it was real nice back there but the ash bore killed all of them the farm behind me has thousands of dead ash trees I still have cedars back there.i am fortunate to live in a beautiful area.but these same ash bores will probably travel up to your area unfortunately.