L4400 chipper advice
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I have an L3400 and a Bearcat six inch chipper and if I really get to chipping 4"-5" limbs it will drag the engine down until it stalls if the branch is 4'-6' long. A chipper really takes some horsepower so your L4400 should do better.
One thing I don't like about the Bearcat is that the chips pile up really fast at the bottom of the chipper where they exit and it seems like you have to constantly clear them away. After a while it gets kind of tiresome.
On the plus side it really eats the limbs up and the knives are really easy to service. Brian
One thing I don't like about the Bearcat is that the chips pile up really fast at the bottom of the chipper where they exit and it seems like you have to constantly clear them away. After a while it gets kind of tiresome.
On the plus side it really eats the limbs up and the knives are really easy to service. Brian
Scott in IN
Bronze Member
I've got a Goosen chipper and it kind of bogs down if I feed it some larger limbs. I think it's rated at 25 pto hp and my L3400 is just over that. I'm guessing your tractor wouldn't bog down as much but it might be too much hp for the tractor. Unlike the previous poster, I've got the optional blower for mine and the chips are no problem at all (I just blow them out into the woods).
daveinnh
Gold Member
We have a 6" Salsco model 627XT that works well off the back of a Kubota L4310 HST. The sheet metal and welding quality are good, the paint applied is tough, and it's relatively easy to open the housing when clogs occurr (trick is to mix green wood with the old dead limbs).
The opening is about 9" x 6" and only when we feed a long (over 6'), thick (4" plus) oak limb does the tractor motor slow down.
I should tell that it's heavy ~ 900-1,000 lbs and a little unbalanced when driving down a woods trail. I wouldn't recommend a much smaller tractor try to operate it.
Made in CT and sold thru dealers.
The opening is about 9" x 6" and only when we feed a long (over 6'), thick (4" plus) oak limb does the tractor motor slow down.
I should tell that it's heavy ~ 900-1,000 lbs and a little unbalanced when driving down a woods trail. I wouldn't recommend a much smaller tractor try to operate it.
Made in CT and sold thru dealers.
David_Kb7uns
Veteran Member
Have a Bearcat 73554 5" chipper/ shredder and usually use it with the MF35 instead of the L3130 because the Massey has a little bigger engine. If you get into the 3-4 inch range with anything longer than 4 feet long you loose all the momentum of the engine and it bogs down alot. Around here anything over 2 1/2 inches is usually firewood anyway and gets cutup for use in the stove. Wholesale chipping like the tree guys do takes alot of power and fuel and while a 9 inch chipper is nice to get things in I think you may be underpowered for more than ocassional use. Since the blower on my unit is integrated into the flywheel/cutter head it may take a little less power than the ones with the add on belt driven blower. From looking at there catalog I am guessing you are looking at the 72854 which you may be able to get away with since it is a hydrostatic feed that uses more power but the feed rate can be slowed down to chip at a slower rate than the self feed gravity chippers. If I was looking at one hard, I would want it hooked up to my tractor and have a demo to see if it would work out ok with the stuff that you are chipping. Usually the greener firs and softwoods with high moisture chips easier then the hardwoods like the cherry and apple we have to clean up.
David Kb7uns
David Kb7uns
Scott in IN
Bronze Member
My blower will blow chips 20-30 feet with no problem, which is kind of cool. However with the blower attached to the chipper it's a pain to service the shredding knives (though I've never done it) as there are a number of extra bolts to take out (maybe a half hour of extra work).
As long as I've got sharp blades the Goosen pulls the wood in without the need for for a hydraulic feed attachment. I too burn anything over 2-3" in the wood stove. All in all I'm very happy with my chipper as I hate burning brush (I'm afraid of catching the woods on fire).
As long as I've got sharp blades the Goosen pulls the wood in without the need for for a hydraulic feed attachment. I too burn anything over 2-3" in the wood stove. All in all I'm very happy with my chipper as I hate burning brush (I'm afraid of catching the woods on fire).
Happyman
Gold Member
Check out the Wallenstein chippers. I love mine. Don't need a feed, it feeds itself. And it shoots the chips extremely far. One of my favorite attachments!
BX42r/BX62r Wood Chippers - Wallenstein
BX42r/BX62r Wood Chippers - Wallenstein
Farmerford
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2006
- Messages
- 733
- Location
- Columbus, Georgia
- Tractor
- Kuborta B2400, L2900, L4330; Caterpillar D3B, John Deere 455D
I have a Vermeer 6" chipper (BC 606) on a Kubota L2900 (29pto ph, I think). The feed is hydraulic and adjustable from a barely perceptible crawl to a fast pull-in. The manufacturer recommends 30-60hp at the pto. I rented the same size chipper and it had a 44hp diesel engine and automatic feed control; with 6" hardwoods the speed control would reduce the feed speed significantly to keep engine speed up.
6" pine will almost stall the 29hp tractor at the slowest feed speed. A 6" oak will stall it completely, so you have to feed it in by turning the feed on and off in short intervals; probably chipping 1/4 the time and resting 3/4 the time. That is no problem occasionally, but it really slows you down if you have a lot of large hardwood to chip; not only is the chipping slow, you have to hand control the feeder speed, so you can't be bringing another branch tot he chipper.
Your L4400 is probably about 50% more powerful that the L2900 and your 9" chipper is about 50% bigger, so I suspect you will have about the same experience on larger wood. If you don't expect to chip much hardwood in the 7 to 9" range, I would get the 9" chipper and understand that it will be slow with the larger wood. However, if you plan to chip a lot of 7-9" hardwood, you will either go very slow, get a bigger tractor, or rent a 9" commercial chipper with probably a 60hp engine.
6" pine will almost stall the 29hp tractor at the slowest feed speed. A 6" oak will stall it completely, so you have to feed it in by turning the feed on and off in short intervals; probably chipping 1/4 the time and resting 3/4 the time. That is no problem occasionally, but it really slows you down if you have a lot of large hardwood to chip; not only is the chipping slow, you have to hand control the feeder speed, so you can't be bringing another branch tot he chipper.
Your L4400 is probably about 50% more powerful that the L2900 and your 9" chipper is about 50% bigger, so I suspect you will have about the same experience on larger wood. If you don't expect to chip much hardwood in the 7 to 9" range, I would get the 9" chipper and understand that it will be slow with the larger wood. However, if you plan to chip a lot of 7-9" hardwood, you will either go very slow, get a bigger tractor, or rent a 9" commercial chipper with probably a 60hp engine.
