Chipper its between a mackessic tph123 or a farmers helper fh eco 19 shredder/chipper

cmugler · Oct 20, 2017

I have a kubota bx2370 and would like a small shredder/chipper I see good reviews on the mackessic tph123 (also sold by northern tool, does anyone have any experience with the farmers helper fh eco 19? It has a larger hopper and is a little heavier, lower price but would like some feedback on either one, thanks

CalG · Oct 20, 2017

I can not comment on either piece from experience. I do have the larger McKessic PTO unit however.
I do not appreciate the right angle drive of the FH model, Un needed complexity, in my opinion.
Having lived in Santa Barbara (Via Chaparral) , I can imagine the "Shredder" as most valuable, unless you have an orchard and need to reduce your orange or avocado trees. Then the chipper function would be most valuable.

I can say that both shredding and chipping with a small unit is tedious at best, but you at least could have dry material to process depending on season.

ericm979 · Oct 21, 2017

I have a Merry Mac which is the Northern branded larger 4.5" MacKissick. I ran it on a B7100 HST which had about 13 pto hp. Your BX had plenty of HP and lift capacity for the larger unit. I would strongly recommend getting as large a chipper as your tractor can handle unless you're going to burn everything that doesn't fit. Keep in mind that a capacity of X inches means that the material you can actually feed is significantly smaller due to bends, stubs, etc. I got good at angling things just right to get them into the MacKissick but it's better to be able to just put them in.

What are you chipping and shredding?

Do you have a link to that farmers helper model? I don't find it in a search. All I have seen from them is chippers, not chipper/shredders. If the shredder part is optional I'd recommend the 6" Woodmaxx with hydraulic feed over either of these. I have the 8" and even ignoring the size difference it's a far better chipper than the "chuck and duck" manual feed MacKisskic. While it doesn't shred I can get it to chip a lot of the small stuff that I used to have to put in the MacKissick's shredder. It won't shred green material for compost.

There used to be some support for JinMa chippers but they seem to have stopped importing them and the support looks to be drying up. I don't see much at all for FHM but maybe Betstco supports them. MacKissick is American and should be around for a long time.

Get a chipper with a discharge chute. The MacKissick just dumps below the chipper so you have to move the tractor every 15-20 minutes or it'll clog.

cmugler · Oct 21, 2017

ericm979 said:
I have a Merry Mac which is the Northern branded larger 4.5" MacKissick. I ran it on a B7100 HST which had about 13 pto hp. Your BX had plenty of HP and lift capacity for the larger unit. I would strongly recommend getting as large a chipper as your tractor can handle unless you're going to burn everything that doesn't fit. Keep in mind that a capacity of X inches means that the material you can actually feed is significantly smaller due to bends, stubs, etc. I got good at angling things just right to get them into the MacKissick but it's better to be able to just put them in.

What are you chipping and shredding?

Do you have a link to that farmers helper model? I don't find it in a search. All I have seen from them is chippers, not chipper/shredders. If the shredder part is optional I'd recommend the 6" Woodmaxx with hydraulic feed over either of these. I have the 8" and even ignoring the size difference it's a far better chipper than the "chuck and duck" manual feed MacKisskic. While it doesn't shred I can get it to chip a lot of the small stuff that I used to have to put in the MacKissick's shredder. It won't shred green material for compost.

There used to be some support for JinMa chippers but they seem to have stopped importing them and the support looks to be drying up. I don't see much at all for FHM but maybe Betstco supports them. MacKissick is American and should be around for a long time.

Get a chipper with a discharge chute. The MacKissick just dumps below the chipper so you have to move the tractor every 15-20 minutes or it'll clog.

yes it is sold and supported by Betstco,here is a link, 3-PT CHIPPERS – Page 2 – Betstco it is the last unit on the 2nd page. I thought about the woodmaxx but was thinking I also need a shredder and I burn the bigger linbs. Maybe I could get by without the scredder but will not be chipping that much so my thought is the smaller unit might work for me, maybe the mackissic is better than the farmers helper, they have been around longer and it does't have that 90degree shaft gearing, better designed, I can get the farmers helper for 1600 including shipping as they sell direct.

ericm979 · Oct 21, 2017

With the MacKissick I would chip the larger stuff and shred the small stuff. Often the chipper chute would clog with branch tops and I'd have to pull them out and throw them in the shredder. With the power fed Woodmaxx everything goes through the chipper. Leaves don't get shredded like in the shredder though. About the only thing the Woodmaxx won't do is shred leafy green material (like sweet pea) for compost.

With the MacKissick or any non power feed chipper I'd often have to reach in and pull out items that wern't feeding. Sometimes I have to turn off the unit if the piece isn' that long as I don't want to stick my hand into the chute very far. The shredder has the same problem, sometimes stuff just doesn't feed. I can usually get it to go down using a small branch but it means that I have to think about what I put in next. The power feed is a lot less picky.

The chuck and duck manual feed chipper and shredder can grab material and pull it in really fast. Or not want to feed and you have to push or reposition the material. With the power feed you just have to get the feed rollers to grab the material, which is easy, and then it's fed in at a consistent rate. It's a lot easier and a lot safer.

If you're going to be chipping much I'd strongly suggest a power feed unit. I won't ever go back to manual feed.

cmugler · Oct 22, 2017

ericm979 said:
With the MacKissick I would chip the larger stuff and shred the small stuff. Often the chipper chute would clog with branch tops and I'd have to pull them out and throw them in the shredder. With the power fed Woodmaxx everything goes through the chipper. Leaves don't get shredded like in the shredder though. About the only thing the Woodmaxx won't do is shred leafy green material (like sweet pea) for compost.

With the MacKissick or any non power feed chipper I'd often have to reach in and pull out items that wern't feeding. Sometimes I have to turn off the unit if the piece isn' that long as I don't want to stick my hand into the chute very far. The shredder has the same problem, sometimes stuff just doesn't feed. I can usually get it to go down using a small branch but it means that I have to think about what I put in next. The power feed is a lot less picky.

The chuck and duck manual feed chipper and shredder can grab material and pull it in really fast. Or not want to feed and you have to push or reposition the material. With the power feed you just have to get the feed rollers to grab the material, which is easy, and then it's fed in at a consistent rate. It's a lot easier and a lot safer.

If you're going to be chipping much I'd strongly suggest a power feed unit. I won't ever go back to manual feed.