Help deciding between 3PH PTO Chipper, or standalone Vermeer or Morbark.

[tommcafee]

Decided to buy a chipper. I had actually bought a Woodmaxx 8 inch hydraulic PTO about 2 years ago, and ended up selling it to my neighbour. It was alright, but was constantly clogged when running white cedar through it, which is the main tree around here. I want to use the chipper for both personal and commercial. I have 50 acres and am going to be years cleaning up over grown pastures, trails, etc. I am also a building contractor, so it would see a couple days use a year for lot clearing and cleaning up, limbing etc. I realistically figure 50 - 75 hours a year use. Maybe do the odd tree removal as well, lots of my clients ask about it.
I have narrowed down to 3 choices. The new 7 Wallenstein BX 72R, which is a 7 inch chipper with hydraulic feed, and the blades turned at a 45 degree angle to the feed shoot, makes nice big chips. Have lots of power on the tractor, as I would be using my Mahindra 6010 to power it. Also uses the tractors hydraulics to run the hydraulic feed.
The other is a 2001 Vermeer BC 935, with a perkins diesel and auto feed. Good shape, low hours at 500, and two sets of knives. Used by an older gentleman to do lot clearing and limbing. Can handle a 9 inch softwood, but realistically 6 - 7 inches is good for the machine.
The other choice is a Morbark Model 13, with a cummins turbo, and able to handle a 13 inch tree. Has huge infeed rollers, and way overkill for what I need. Simplistic compared to the Vermeer, but does have an autofeed.
All three are about $1000 difference, andright about where I am comfortable spending. Could get a Vermeer BC600xl for the same money, but haven't heard the greatest about them.
I like the idea of the Wallenstein as it runs off my engine, meaning one less thing to change oils in etc. And it is new, so I get warranty, and it should last me a very long time. Downside is a pain to move, have to float my tractor and chipper to building sites etc.
I like the idea of the Vermeer and Morbark as I can just hook up and tow to where I need them. But its another engine to maintain, and I just cant be sure they weren't beat by previous owners etc first.

Thoughts? Anyone have experience with any of the above?

Tom

 

[dave1949]

I like my gravity feed Wallenstein bx62, but no experience with the others.

The largest one, the Morbark Model 13, would require some way to feed it (get the trees to the feed rollers) to make good use of it. That is way beyond hand work, and a FEL grapple would be awkward I think. So, if you don't really need it, you don't need the hassle and extra equipment either. At a $1000 spread, the Morbark sounds like the best value by far, assuming it isn't ready for a rebuild.

 

[RoyJackson]

If you're going to chip off your property, I'd go with one of the towable units...unless you regularly take your tractor to those work sites or can justify buying a large enough trailer and tow vehicle.
When ever you buy anything used, you can never be 100% sure it hadn't been beat...unless it's obvious it was, in fact, beat. But unless there's excessive smoke or any other thing you see in any worn engine, it's pretty safe to buy a used chipper. Obviously, run some limbs through any chipper you're considering as a test before you buy.

 

[tommcafee]

Good points Roy. I always float my Kubota L48 TLB, so an extra trip for my 6010 isn't really a big deal. I usually don't work more than 30 kms from the yard. So don't need to worry about buying the float or truck. I am not so much worried about the perkins or cummins engines, but the bearings, hydraulics, computers, etc. Anything too large is going to either get sent to the mill, or blocked up for fire wood. Realistically, I don't see too much more than 6 or 7 inches going into the chipper. I usually just burn it at the site, but its getting harder to do with daytime burning permits, and neighbours whining about smoke etc.

 

[Ken45101]

For a small price differential, I think I would go with a self contained unit. With a PTO unit, you have to unhook whatever you have on your tractor, then hook up the chipper. I am at the point of regretting a PTO log splitter because I prefer to wait until I'm not using the tractor for other things, too much of a hassle with unhooking/hooking up the bigger 3pt equipment by myself. Then in your case, you still have to load and tie dow the tractor, hook up the trailer, etc.

 

[boggen]

i would say a tow behind unit. more so if you have a trailer you can toss some sides up on it. to create more of a dirt/rock/mulch like hauler trailer. weld a hitch on rear of trailer. so ya got truck, trailer (with sides), chipper. put a winch on trailer. and winch the chipper up into trailer, and haul trailer and chipper where ever. unload chipper, and hook up to rear of trailer and do your chipping. un hook chipper and haul the chips/mulch were ever. and then come back and pickup the chipper.

i suppose if you have a full size truck, you might be able to just send all the chips directly into rear of truck for some smaller job doings.

bumper pull chipper means leaving chipper at a single point. and then being able to use tractor to bring stuff to the chipper. perhaps having another person feeding chipper.

 

[bigtiller]

If you do any commerical work it would pay to get the 13 inch Morbark. Smaller chippers takes too much of your time. Our local tree guy has 2 of them and his big one will take a trunk about 20 inches with a wench above the table.

 

[Piston]

If your honestly planning on doing a fair amount of work at other sites, I would get the self contained. However, if you think you'll do a bit of work now, then not much in the future, I'd get the Wally. It can sit for years unused and a quick adjustment of the slip clutch and your good to go. I have a Vermeer chipper run off the PTO. I absolutely love it. I don't use it often, but when I do it performs miracles every time.

Whatever you get, don't settle for non hydro, which it sounds like your aware of.

 

[newbury]

<snip>his big one will take a trunk about inches with a wench above the table.

Say what?
How big?
And why is the WENCH needed above the table?

 

[bigtiller]

Say what?
How big?
And why is the WENCH needed above the table?

i fixed it, thanks.

20 inches

the wench is needed because it can eat a tree in 1 gulp.

 

[Pete Judd]

A stand alone unit makes more cents, you can use your tractor to drag what needs to be chipped, and will save labor. I looked at the PTO units, and have found the I can put my smaller unit on a trailer behind the tractor, and tow it around the place, unhook the trailer, and use the tractor to drag the branches to the chipper.

 

[motownbrowne]

the wench is needed because it can eat a tree in 1 gulp.

I think you mean winch. A wench is something different.

 

[motownbrowne]

One thing to think about with the Vermeer vs. The Morbark is the size of the opening you're feeding material into. The larger the opening, the easier it is to get twiggy, tangled wads of branches into. I've used three standalone Vermeers, and they were all good machines. A 1600A with a Ford 300, and two 1000s one with a Cummins and one with the smaller Cat. The 1000s were really nice, safety bars, smart feed, etc. The 1600A was a little frightening. No safety features, the feed mechanism is essentially, push the branch in until it hits the knives and let the f@#$ go. That thing would yank stuff out of your hands at about 60mph. Did a good job, though.

 

[Happy Gilmore]

We have a Salsco 627XT PTO powered chipper. It has hydraulic feed rollers. It's a 6 inch machine, but it's a beast. One less engine to worry about. Quality is very good.

 

[oosik]

I've only ever had Wallenstein pto chippers - first the BX42 and now the BX62. I've really never had or understood the need for a hydraulic in-feed. The manual units are exceedingly aggressive. I chip unlimbed ponderosa pine - 6" and smaller. I wonder how are you ever going to man handle something bigger than 6" out of the woods and up and into the infeed of the chipper. My biggest chore in chipping is just that. Once I get the tree up and into the infeed - the hard work is over. The manual chipper sucks it up and chips it like a kid eating a candy cane.
In any case, I've had the Wally chippers since about '05 and never had a moments problem with either one.

 

[Happy Gilmore]

Only thing with the manual units being aggressive, is just that, they're aggressive and have an inherent danger of not being able to reverse it in a safety situation. Once they start pulling in the material, there's not much stopping. If someone ever got hung up on a branch, bad things are going to happen. Hydraulic feed rollers also allow you to slow the feed on bigger pieces as well. If you really want to rip em in turn up the speed on the rollers. Once you get the butt on the table, the rollers do all the work, if anything does get hung up, reverse it, reposition the limb and feed it back in.

 

[oosik]

Safety issues - yes, I see your point. I never wear long sleeve shirts or gloves just for that reason. The scratches on my arms and pitch on my hands are small concerns. Nobody wants to trim their nails on the blades of a chipper.

 

[Happy Gilmore]

Safety issues - yes, I see your point. I never wear long sleeve shirts or gloves just for that reason. The scratches on my arms and pitch on my hands are small concerns. Nobody wants to trim their nails on the blades of a chipper.

No, definately not, something about manicures doesn't appeal to me :laughing:

 

[Happy Gilmore]

Any luck with a chipper tom?

 

[tommcafee]

No luck yet, I am still deciding between either the Wallenstein BX 72R and a Vermeer. Did find a nice older PATU DC 65 with hydraulic feed, but its a long ways away and again, unknown history, and has a bent pto shaft. In the end, likely end up with the Wallenstein.