Found a unicorn - Vermeer BC906

[Whitbread]

My side job tree work has turned into enough that my woodmaxx wm8m just wasn't keeping up and was clearly not enough for the volume of brush I needed to deal with. At the last tree job I did, my friend brought over a morbark 9" unit that he had to "test" after doing some engine work on it for his neighbor. As expected, the difference was night and day even though I had more hp and could chip a physically larger in diameter piece before I bogged down.

So I began hunting for something larger, but still a 3pt unit as the portability/maneuverability is invaluable to me.

Last week I found a BC906 listed in central PA. I was already going to upstate NY for a friends birthday party so the 3 hour detour worked perfectly. He was the original owner and was retiring from a landscaping business. He gave me all the manuals, spare blade set, and even a VHS safety tape haha.

The only oddball part is he had the dealer mount it on a trailer so he could just pin it to the draw bar instead. It worked perfectly for me picking it up though as I just bolted a 2" coupler onto the channel mount and it saved dragging an empty trailer on the way out. I'll get it cut off this week and turned back into a 3pt unit.







Just in case there's any towing safety police here, the hitch on the car is the factory euro hitch rated for 4klbs, car has helper bags in the rear coils, it's a tuned diesel that makes 600lb/ft at the tires, has larger brakes than a pickup truck, safety chains were hooked up, and magnetic lights were installed on chipper. Averaged 21mpg at 70mph with the cruise set on the freeway. Was comfortable as can be.

 

[2manyrocks]

That is one of the most unique pictures I think anyone will ever see on TBN.

 

[MossRoad]

My side job tree work has turned into enough that my woodmaxx wm8m just wasn't keeping up and was clearly not enough for the volume of brush I needed to deal with. At the last tree job I did, my friend brought over a morbark 9" unit that he had to "test" after doing some engine work on it for his neighbor. As expected, the difference was night and day even though I had more hp and could chip a physically larger in diameter piece before I bogged down.

So I began hunting for something larger, but still a 3pt unit as the portability/maneuverability is invaluable to me.

Last week I found a BC906 listed in central PA. I was already going to upstate NY for a friends birthday party so the 3 hour detour worked perfectly. He was the original owner and was retiring from a landscaping business. He gave me all the manuals, spare blade set, and even a VHS safety tape haha.

The only oddball part is he had the dealer mount it on a trailer so he could just pin it to the draw bar instead. It worked perfectly for me picking it up though as I just bolted a 2" coupler onto the channel mount and it saved dragging an empty trailer on the way out. I'll get it cut off this week and turned back into a 3pt unit.







Just in case there's any towing safety police here, the hitch on the car is the factory euro hitch rated for 4klbs, car has helper bags in the rear coils, it's a tuned diesel that makes 600lb/ft at the tires, has larger brakes than a pickup truck, safety chains were hooked up, and magnetic lights were installed on chipper. Averaged 21mpg at 70mph with the cruise set on the freeway. Was comfortable as can be. View attachment 807925

What the classy foresters drive...

 

[workinonit]

Does the car have economy PTO?

 

[Hay Dude]

You sure you want a 3pt mount? Of course you know your needs, but if you leave the hitch on and tow it with tractor, it’s super easy to connect/disconnect that way. Can still be towed the way you towed it, too.
You also might find it handy to back the chipper up at an “angle” sometimes.

 

[workinonit]

I was thinking the same thing. That's a lot of weight for a 1620. That thing looks like it's supposed to have wheels under it.

 

[Whitbread]

Does the car have economy PTO?

No, the original owner didn't check that option box

You sure you want a 3pt mount? Of course you know your needs, but if you leave the hitch on and tow it with tractor, it’s super easy to connect/disconnect that way. Can still be towed the way you towed it, too.
You also might find it handy to back the chipper up at an “angle” sometimes.

Yes, I haul my tractor over to the job on the gooseneck. With the vermeer setup as a tow behind like it is now, I'd have to make second trip or have someone follow me as it would be over 32' long all hooked up on the deck with the grapple on the loader. In 3pt configuration, I could also haul one bunk of logs on the trailer in addition to the tractor and chipper when the job is done. On the jobsite, being able to get into tight areas and shortest overall length is worth its weight in gold to me.

I was thinking the same thing. That's a lot of weight for a 1620. That thing looks like it's supposed to have wheels under it.

Woops, guess I need to update my profile. I have a massey 1740m now. It lifts 2535lbs at 2' from the pins on the 3pt, so it should handle it. Chipper is listed at 2180lbs. It's definitely on the big side, but anything over 5" is firewood to me so the 9" capacity simply means WAY less brush trimming over my Woodmaxx.

Here's what the 906 normally looks like without the trailer option.

 

[Squirrel Tooth Alice]

Nice score! I bid on a couple of them through online auctions, but they went for crazy money, in my opinion.
I ended up with a Vermeer 935, that "runs and operates" according to the ad.
I haven't seen it run or operate yet, but I guess it runs on dirt, rust, sediment, and old kerosene, since that's what was in the fuel tank!

 

[Piston]

I had it's little brother, the 606. It's one of the heaviest duty built chippers you can buy. For commercial work, it's excellent, for personal use, it's even better. They can sit around for years with no use, fire it up, and good to go. Vermeer stopped making the 3 point hitch versions because they weren't selling enough of them, and the 606 was $10k new back then (early 2000's if I remember correctly) so the 906 was even more.

I sold mine (one of the few implements I've ever sold) but if I ever found the need for another chipper that's the one I'd hunt for.

 

[Squirrel Tooth Alice]

This 906 went for 9 grand a couple months ago. As much as I wanted it, I couldn't justify the price.

https://www.equipmentfacts.com/listings/construction-attachment/auction-results/222819137/vermeer-bc906

 

[Piston]

This 906 went for 9 grand a couple months ago. As much as I wanted it, I couldn't justify the price.

https://www.equipmentfacts.com/listings/construction-attachment/auction-results/222819137/vermeer-bc906

I paid $2,500 for mine. The guy I bought it from over the phone, said he wasn't going to be home when I pick it up. He said to leave the cash in his tractor and use the tractor to load the chipper. I showed up to his house and he had a nice M8540 which I used to load it. I was wondering if I was actually stealing it, but turned out to be legit
I used it for various paying jobs, made good money with it, then ultimately sold it for $5,000 when I stopped my side business. Kept pretty much everything else though, just don't see the point in chipping for my own use.
They are great machines.

 

[Whitbread]

I paid $2,500 for mine. The guy I bought it from over the phone, said he wasn't going to be home when I pick it up. He said to leave the cash in his tractor and use the tractor to load the chipper. I showed up to his house and he had a nice M8540 which I used to load it. I was wondering if I was actually stealing it, but turned out to be legit
I used it for various paying jobs, made good money with it, then ultimately sold it for $5,000 when I stopped my side business. Kept pretty much everything else though, just don't see the point in chipping for my own use.
They are great machines.

Well you definitely did better than me, but I did better than the recent auction, so I don't feel too bad haha. You straight up stole yours!


I got a ton of progress done today! The plasma cutter made quick work of the crappy stick welds and it was free of the trailer in about 15 minutes. Before I started making anything, I did hook up the tractor and make sure it would actually lift it. At idle it will pick it 80% of max 3pt height, rev it up to 1500rpm and it'll go to the top. I proceeded to make the new feet and clean up other areas. Templates are made for the pieces to fix what was cut out on the 3 point mount structure and that's tomorrow morning's project. Should be done in the afternoon!

 

[Whitbread]

Got the last pieces welded in today at the bottom of the hitch structure and 2 coats of cat yellow put on. As much as I wanted to repaint the whole thing, that'll have to be a winter project when I don't need it in a couple days. I've got a dead oak that needs to come down so I'll give it a proper test this week .

 

[Whitbread]

Ready for work now!

 

[deezler]

Nice! I mean, you MUST have tested it out already, no?

 

[Whitbread]

Nice! I mean, you MUST have tested it out already, no?

I just gave it a proper test and I'm thoroughly impressed! I took down two ~12" dead oaks and chipped all the brush up. I ran the feed as slow as it would go while still having power to pull stuff in and left it there.

Even being ~15hp under the recommended minimum, the only time it pulled the tractor off max rpm was on a 5" at the butt limb about 15' long. It dropped to 1900-2000 rpm and chewed right through it. Being used to my woodmaxx, i couldn't believe how it folded gnarly/twisted limbs and pulled them in. I didn't trim a single thing after cutting it off the trunk. I'm 110% happy and can't wait to see how it runs with ~50 pto hp after the tractor mods!

 

[deezler]

By the way, is that max 3-pt lift height in your pic? Hope it doesn't scrape too bad when you try to drive on/off your gooseneck.

 

[Whitbread]

By the way, is that max 3-pt lift height in your pic? Hope it doesn't scrape too bad when you try to drive on/off your gooseneck.

That was max lift height at the moment of the picture. The 3 point lift links that run down to the lower arms were at their longest possible setting. I moved them to their shortest possible setting after taking the chipper off, so it should go substantially higher now .

 

[Whitbread]

Took advantage of a 20° cooler day than yesterday to get rid of some poplars in odd places. This was 5-6" at the butt and feed set as slow as it goes, ran it much faster when doing the brush.

With the 3 point lift rods moved it does pickup substantially higher also.

 

[deezler]

Normally I'd get irked to see a good 5-6" pole turned into chips instead of firewood, BUT, it's poplar. Nice chippin!