I have wrestled with the same problem as the OP and at this point I have decided that buying either a
chipper or
grapple isn't going to make the work easier enough to justify the cost of either implement.
I have a Kubota
B7610, so about the biggest
chipper I could run is probably something like the Wallenstein BX42, which chips up to 4" and would run me $2700 - $2800. I like the idea of going this route because it means touching the material to be chipped just once. Drive the tractor with
chipper attached around my trails and chip whatever needs chipping - as long as it's been trimmed up and is less than 4" in diameter. However, I live less than a mile and a half from a rental place where I can rent a 6"
chipper with hydraulic feed for $175 day. The downside of renting is that I can't safely tow a
chipper that size around my trails, so I'm left with having to pile up the brush near my driveway where I can easily bring in the rented
chipper.
So then I turn to the idea of a
grapple, which seems like it would make grabbing and piling stuff up by the driveway easier, but when a big tree falls getting the tractor in position to grab all the debris doesn't seem like a simple task. I've never used a
grapple, so maybe I'm wrong about that, but this pic shows the kind of stuff I typically have to deal with.
Seems like I would still have to cut pieces up, pile them up by hand and then pick them up with the
grapple and transport to the big piles by the driveway to be chipped. In this scenario I'm handling the material twice - once to be picked up by the
grapple and once to be chipped. Another problem with going the
grapple route is that I don't have a quick attach bucket - so I'd likely have to go with either a bolt on
grapple or a thumb, which I don't think would be as effective as a true
grapple. I would also need to add a third function kit for about $800.
What I've been doing - and what seems to work for no additional cost - is to pile the debris up on a pair of clamp-on pallet forks and tote it out to my big chipping piles by the driveway. I'm handling the material twice, which isn't ideal, but it's only costing $175 once or twice a year to rent a big
chipper. It would be a lot more fun if a new implement would make the job easier enough to justify the cost, but I just don't see it. I would love to be convinced otherwise and I think my wife would be willing to listen too. We were both exhausted after cleaning up the mess in the picture.
