MacKissic TPH-122 Review

[OlyRick]

Hello all,
I recently purchased a Mighty Mac and have used it a few times and thought I would pass along my thoughts on this machine. I have it on a Kubota BX 1500 (just about the smallest tractor you would think about putting a chipper on). I think there is 10.6 hp at the PTO.

This is a great machine. It is a solid and well built piece of equipment. I can't recommend it enough. It may not have power feed, but it really sucks stuff down the shredder hopper. You sure don't want to be hanging on to it when it hits the blades. The chipper will also pull branches in on its own (though not real fast). It makes it nice to just let a branch get pulled in while I get another one. The tractor has no problems keeping up with this chipper/shredder. I went through a good pile in no time at all. Now I look forward to chipping and the to be chipped pile doesn't turn into a mountain.

I tried to find one locally but the best I could do was have a dealer order one for me. Considering the cost of this machine, I really wanted to look before laying down any money for it. Well thanks to the reviews from this forum, I decided to order it site unseen.

I ordered it from West Power Tools. They had the best price (when you considered the price of shipping) and were very helpful and friendly. They are great folks to deal with.

Hope this helps anyone considering buying a chipper/shredder.
Rick

 

[RalphVa]

The 10+ PTO hp is certainly enough for the MacKissic if it's similar to the ones the JD dealer has here. They appear very similar to my MacKissic that mounts on a Gravely or my TroyBilt Tomahawk. The MacKissic was originally for an 8 hp Gravely, and the TroyBilt is 8 hp. I've been thinking about getting a MacKissic for my JD 4010 if I can't sell the TroyBilt or figure out how to mount it on the 3 ph.

If you search for MacKissic herein, you'll find a very thorough review of one in (I think) the JD owners' forum.

My TroyBilt sucks stuff in until the hammers get rounded off on the corners. If you look at the hammers on the MacKissic, I think you'll find them to be round with little rectangular cutouts in each corner. Those little cutouts are what do the "grabbing" to pull things into the chute. The TroyBilt pulled so hard that I put radiator hose slitted down one side over the edges of the chute/hopper. Helps a bunch. Over time, the corners of the hammers will round off. You can then rotate them, up to 4 times to get all 4 corners into that leading edge. That rotation process on the TroyBilt is quite a job. Heard that it's a bit easier on the MacKissic. Once you wear out all 4 corners, it's time to replace the hammers.

You should be able to remove and sharpen the chipper blade. It'll need this probably more often than rotation of the hammers.

Ralph

 

[Cliff_Johns]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( If you search for MacKissic herein, you'll find a very thorough review of one in (I think) the JD owners' forum. )</font>

Nope. Right here in the attachments forum. It's always good to have multiple people reviewing a product. Perspectives differ.

Previous mackissic review

Cliff

 

[OlyRick]

It was your review Cliff that convinced me to buy this chipper site unseen. It was a big help. Thanks.
Rick

 

[Cord]

I have my Dad's McKissic which dates to the early 80's, maybe the late 70's. His machine was originally mounted on the front of a Gravely 12hp walkbehind, but I have converted it to fit behind my Yanmar. We have pushed some pretty serious wood through the thing. I finally went through it this past year. Bearings are all good. Hammers are dull, but they are a major pia to reverse so I'm not going to bother. I just replaced the cutter blade and that was a major project. It's not that the blade was hard to get out, it's the fact that it's been in there for 25 years that made it impossible! The two things about the machine that amaze are that it's such a simple design and they havn't changed it at all over the years. It's basically, a very very good home owner machine.