Chipper finally joined the Wallenstein crowd yesterday

[tree farmer]

Well, after a couple of years looking at mostly Chinese 3 pt. chippers, (yeah, my wallet was squeaking:laughing I came home yesterday with a Wallenstein BX42R, which was the one I had hoped to get 2 years ago until I found out the price. I really felt I needed a power feed of some sort due to the forked branches on the Spruce, Fir, Cedar, and Alder on my tree farm. So far I'm glad I went with the BX42. Kind of hard to justify $2100.00 extra for the hydraulic feed, but at 65 years old, I gotta have all the help I can get and both the tractors have remotes, so why not? My dealer had this on his lot for a couple of years, but I guess no one around here wanted to spend 5 grand plus on something they would rarely use. I finally got it for $4200.00, so I'm happy. A little paint fade and a few scratches, but still unused. I went through it and checked all the bolts, greased the bearings, and set the bed knife (it was WAY out) last night. Started out this morning on several acres of spruce and fir prunings, only to find it doesn't like small green limbs and twigs. The chipper worked fine and didn't seem to slow down much at all, but the discharge pipe would plug no matter what speed the infeed was set at.:confused2: There is a lot of sap (think sticky pitch) in fir and spruce this time of year, so that might be an issue also. Worked like a champ on the stuff that had been on the ground awhile and also was great on fresh cut alder and cascara. Guess I'll have to wait awhile on the other stuff. I was running the 2740 Montana at about 2200rpm, so that was about 450 or so on the pto. The hydraulic feed on this thing is incredible. I fed it lots of 2"-3" alder and cascara saplings that were probably 15-20' long. Stuff the butt end in the feed rolls, and it would fold the limbs in and chip the whole thing without hesitation. Seems very well designed and built with quality materials, easy to service, parts are readily available, bolts are all SAE., and I feel much better about working around potentially hazardous equipment if it isn't made in China. Best part about this purchase was the wife was all in favor of it since it was made in Canada and it matched the tractor......Dan

 

[Zebrafive]

I have a BX62 and the shear bolt in the PTO shaft is metric, might want to check yours.

 

[tree farmer]

I have a BX62 and the shear bolt in the PTO shaft is metric, might want to check yours.

Thanks, that's one bolt I did not check. Gonna do that before I need one....Dan.

 

[texas42]

I have a BX 42 (non hydraulic) that works great for me.
I have found that leafy stuff I just let lay for a week or ten days and then chip it.
By that time it has dried enough that plugging of the chute is a non issue.

 

[ENG18LT]

I have a BX62 and the shear bolt in the PTO shaft is metric, might want to check yours.

Zebra I am contemplating a BX62 for my machine. I have 45 @ pto what are you running it with?

 

[jeff9366]

I have a Wally BX42S PTO chipper, the model without hydraulic feed, powered by 25 PTO horsepower. A good match, chipper rotor never slows down under load. I concur with "texas42" that letting brush dry until leaves are crisp/dehydrated rather than green reduces exhaust chute plugs, which are infrequent events; however plugs do happen.

I keep a 28-volt battery powered Milwaukee Sawzall with me in the woods, usually with a nine inch reciprocating blade. This tool is the berries for removing plugs. The blade slips right in the mess, hit the trigger, and the plug drops out in chunks.

I use my tractor's bucket and a clamp-on Bucket Solutions Bucket Spade to remove brush and weed saplings BY THE ROOTS. I then use the Sawzall to amputate the roots and larger side branches before chipping. By removing roots and concomitant dirt chipper blades stay sharp longer. Side branches go through the chipper, roots go to the burn pile.

Tractor Forks, Bucket Forks, Loader Forks

 

[Kyle241]

Nice chipper! If you can afford it, the Wallenstein's are great machines. I want to get a BX62 but the price is a tad prohibitive!!!

 

[Zebrafive]

Zebra I am contemplating a BX62 for my machine. I have 45 @ pto what are you running it with?

I run it on the John Deere 2030, 60 PTO HP.

 

[Zebrafive]

Very first thing I chipped was the brush/leaves from a storm downed cherry tree. Plugged the chute. Now I wait until the leaves fall off. Also if doing a lot of small stuff ever so often send someting bigger thru :thumbsup:

 

[tractchores]

I chip a lot of brushy and leafy stuff and a bunch of very small twigs (prunings). I've found that if I put a larger woodier branch through regularly while I'm doing that, that I don't get any clogs. I think the extra wood going through pushes out any of the leaves etc. Its a great machine, I think you'll find you use it a lot (I know I do!)

 

[RoyJackson]

I think your chipper will work better at the rated 540 RPM rather then

I was running the 2740 Montana at about 2200rpm, so that was about 450 or so on the pto.

Running at 540 might even reduce that chute blockage.

Few dedicated chippers digest twigs and small leafy stuff, but tractchores' suggestion:

I chip a lot of brushy and leafy stuff and a bunch of very small twigs (prunings). I've found that if I put a larger woodier branch through regularly while I'm doing that, that I don't get any clogs. I think the extra wood going through pushes out any of the leaves etc. Its a great machine, I think you'll find you use it a lot (I know I do!)

is a good idea.

Good luck and be safe with that chipper!

 

[WilliamBos]

Thanks, that's one bolt I did not check. Gonna do that before I need one....Dan.

Congrats on your new toy! They are Mennonite built up here in Ontario, so you will see metric fasteners.

Keep us updated on. It works out for you.

 

[RWTschoeke]

Zebra I am contemplating a BX62 for my machine. I have 45 @ pto what are you running it with?

I have 37 @ PTO with a bx62 and do not feel underpowered at all. Easily handles anything up to 6 inches and sucks the branches up with a larger hopper and beefier flywheel so no need for hydraulics in my instance. I hemmed and hawed between Bx62 vs. 42 and have no regrets going with the larger one. GET IT!!!

 

[s219]

I chip a lot of brushy and leafy stuff and a bunch of very small twigs (prunings). I've found that if I put a larger woodier branch through regularly while I'm doing that, that I don't get any clogs. I think the extra wood going through pushes out any of the leaves etc. Its a great machine, I think you'll find you use it a lot (I know I do!)

Yep, I have found the same exact thing with my BX42S. I have only clogged the discharge chute once. But I frequently fill up the feed chute with leafy twigs if I don't send a large piece through once and a while. So I try to keep things mixed up.

If I only have smaller leafy stuff to feed through, I bunch the limbs together, let them run in until they stop self feeding, and then pull the tops out and toss to the side (obviously, don't do this if you have to reach into the chute more than a couple inches). So basically I'm only chipping the woody part, but it still helps a lot. These are pieces that would be better handled by a proper chipper+shredder like the BXM42.

I have been very impressed at how well the standard BX42S feeds. The other day I sent the entire crown of a 50' pine tree through, as well as several long beech limbs, and it sucked them in the whole way with no help on my part. These pieces were at least 15-16 feet long, so it was pretty impressive to see. I came away wondering when I would ever have needed a hydraulic in-feed.

The only hazard I have run into when feeding really long limbs in is that the end of the limb is on a big lever arm and can flop and spin around quite a bit. I got whacked in the jewels a few times and had limbs violently torn out of my hands before I learned to drop it in and move off to the side quick.

The Wallensteins do cost a pretty penny, but they were one of the best options I came across when shopping. I was really impressed by the easy access to the blades, the standard blower and 360-deg discharge chute, and the ability to swing the feed chute up and stow it. Really helps when maneuvering in the woods where space is tight. And a side bonus I noticed -- the large bolt used to access the flywheel/blades is the same size as the big end of a chainsaw "scrench" tool.

In the interest of balancing colors in the thread, here's what an orange one looks like:

 

[tree farmer]

I have mixed feelings about this BX42R after using it today. The discharge chute plugs up continually when chipping fir, hemlock, and spruce limbs, which is really what I bought it for. These are limbs that were pruned from 1 to 6 months ago. I set the bed knife so it would just clear the rotor blades, and am now running at 2500-2600RPM, (governed speed) set the hydraulic feed control very slow, mixed bigger stuff with the twigs but it still plugs. I know I spent more time unplugging it than I did chipping with it today. I am having to sort through all my brush piles and only chip the bigger stuff now. Not enjoying that additional task much. Seems to work OK on all the hardwood limbs, though. Also the feed control handle vibrates into the neutral position when you feed in a large piece, meaning you have to stand along side the hopper and hold the handle while you get the crap slapped out of you by the limbs being fed in. I know if I wait until things dry out a bit here on the coast it will work better, but we also have fire season coming up in a few weeks, which will shut down most equipment in the woods unless you have fire suppression equipment, which I do not. I am going to turn the rotor blades around tomorrow even though they feel sharp. Anyone got any ideas or solutions? Thanks.....Dan.

 

[tractchores]

I have mixed feelings about this BX42R after using it today. The discharge chute plugs up continually when chipping fir, hemlock, and spruce limbs, which is really what I bought it for. These are limbs that were pruned from 1 to 6 months ago. I set the bed knife so it would just clear the rotor blades, and am now running at 2500-2600RPM, (governed speed) set the hydraulic feed control very slow, mixed bigger stuff with the twigs but it still plugs. I know I spent more time unplugging it than I did chipping with it today. I am having to sort through all my brush piles and only chip the bigger stuff now. Not enjoying that additional task much. Seems to work OK on all the hardwood limbs, though. Also the feed control handle vibrates into the neutral position when you feed in a large piece, meaning you have to stand along side the hopper and hold the handle while you get the crap slapped out of you by the limbs being fed in. I know if I wait until things dry out a bit here on the coast it will work better, but we also have fire season coming up in a few weeks, which will shut down most equipment in the woods unless you have fire suppression equipment, which I do not. I am going to turn the rotor blades around tomorrow even though they feel sharp. Anyone got any ideas or solutions? Thanks.....Dan.

Really surprised to hear that. I have chipped a lot of fir branches immediately after pruning with no issues as well as very small stuff. In around 30 - 40 hours of operation since I got it I've yet to clog the chute despite chipping vines, brush, pine and fir. I don't have the hydraulic feed, but can't imagine that would have anything to do with clogging. I'd make sure your 'twig breaker' part is intact and working (should be a slot the rotor goes through that breaks anything longer than about an inch), I know that piece is very important to preventing clogs. Other than that I've heard blade gap and sharpness is important. I'd also maybe look in the chute to make sure there's nothing in there obstructing stuff and causing it to clog up. It sounds like you did this, but I've also heard its important to be at full PTO speed. For small stuff I even go slightly above pto speed.

 

[Not Retired Yet]

I've clogged my bx42 up once with lots of little stuff. Somehow I got a small branch piece stick in the chute. That's all it took to start the clog. Cleaned it out good and made sure the twig snapper was cleared and all gas been fine since

 

[s219]

Make sure blades are sharp and clearance is set to 1/32 - 1/16".

I haven't had any issues with pines here, but that's the only conifer I have chipped so far.

 

[jake98]

I've clogged mine a few times on sappy pine, don't know what it is, long needles, very wet. It eats it up too fast.

 

[o2batsea]

I don't know squat about your Wallenstein chipper, but here is my experience with my Brush Bandit tow behind model 90:
You have to ride the feed all the time, especially with larger wood so that you always keep the thing turning as close to WFO as possible. Bogging equals low air flow equals clogged chutes equals clogged disc housing equals a half hour clean out. Don't put a tree in there and expect it to just eat it. You have to work that bar.
With hydraulic feed always stand to the side of the feed chute as invariably, when the feed grabs what you put in it will whip that tree around and smack you.
Never push with your hands, use another stick.
Always shut it down completely and wait for it to stop before opening any of the housing.