More chipper questions - mostly about feed type

[oosik]

I have NEVER blown a shear pin at startup - but I do as Aquamoose says and start it slow. The one blown shear pin/shear bolt that comes to mind - an old dry - hard as rock - 6" apple trunk out of my orchard. It got thru about 3/4 of the total length and "Bango" Takes about 4 minutes to replace a shear bolt.

As I remember that's the only blown shear bolt on my new BX62S. Of course, that's, also, the only time I've chipped anything other than green pine trees.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Chippers are safe if you never ever stick your hand in the chute.

I've had both "self feeding" and power feed chippers. A MackKissick TH184 4.5" and an 8" Woodmaxx 8H. I will not go back to self feeding. Power feed is so much better and safer. The material is pulled in at a steady rate that's not too fast. The MackKissick would yank stuff out of my hands and pull it in very fast... .when it caught. If it didnt' catch I'd have to mess around with angles etc until it did. Power feed has a lot less of that. If it doesn't feed I reverse the feed to get it out and try again. I recommend paying the extra for a hydraulic power feed. That lets you adjust the feed rate which is vital if you chip a range of sizes of material and lets you reverse the feed. Power feed makes for more consistent chip size and lets you adjust it some.

The Woodmaxx 8H uses a heavy flywheel that's geared up to 2x pto speed. While the flywheel effect does help it power through short bits of larger wood, it slows rapidly if I feed in a large piece of wood too quickly. It's not practical to burn here due to fire risk and air quality restrictions and I have way more wood than I know what to do with, I chip whatever will fit. With a 32pto hp Branson 3725 I can handle wood up to the chipper's capacity but only with the feed turned way down. I ended up buying a flow control valve that's better matched to the 8h's flow and better made as the chinese one's adjustment range was very narrow.

Much of the time I'm chipping stuff smaller than 8" but the capacity lets me chip without having to trim as much. I suggest a largish chipper even if you're not chipping large logs.

The 8H's chute is waist height but it's level. I can chip stuff that's too heavy for me to pick up entirely by putting the butt end in and then picking up the other end.

Another advantage of the 8H (and the equivalent Woodland Mills model) is the output chute. The MackKissick just drops the chips. They build up fast and when the pile gets too high the chipper clogs so you have to move it. The 8H blows chips a ways so I can dump them in the woods or spread them right from the chipper.

Thanks for the detailed review Eric. I was actually looking at this same Woodmaxx chipper online yesterday. I remembered your statements previously that you wished you had more hp when chipping with your 3725. So we would effectively have the same setup. I'd also be interested in the flow control valve you put on your chipper. I may end up getting a chipper after all. I have a large pile of limbs still from storm damage a few months ago, and just haven't been able to get the right weather conditions to burn it all (too windy on weekends). Don't like the idea of buying a chipper for "one job", may wait and see what our next property looks like as far as trees needing managed. All we really have around here is soft woods, box elders here, with a few evergreens here and there, but no hard woods anywhere.

I probably won't chip anything bigger than 6", as that gets cut up, split and used for camp fires/backyard fire pit.

 

[ericm979]

I have plenty of power for 4" material. It's when it get to 5-6" where I have to slow the feed down and I start wanting more power. Many people don't chip stuff that large. The primary hardwood I've been chipping is madrone. The wood's hard but works well especially when wet. But little on a madrone is straight. I've found branches that grew into a 360 degree ring.

The valve I got was a Brand FCR51-1/2(0-4). It was a direct replacement for the chinese valve. It's a 4 gpm valve where the original is 16 gpm. Woodmaxx told me the system is 3 gpm so 4 is right according to the books. The narrow adjustment range of the original was right out of the textbook I found. I also got some excellent advice in the hydraulics forum- there's some really knowledgeable people there.

WoodlandMills may have the same issue, if they didn't locate a Chinese supplier that makes < 16 gpm valves (all I found on Alibaba).

When I'm chipping a large tree I have to cut it into parts. I'm not dragging a complete tree that's 8" at the butt and loading it into the chipper. My tendency is to cut them into pieces just small enough for me to manage but it's actually easier on me and just as fast to cut them smaller. When I'm working from a pile I can keep the chipper fed pretty much all the time.

 

[LD48750]

Jinma wood chipper review - YouTube

 

[Gem99ultra]

I bought the Woodland Mills WC68 about 2 months ago. So far I've chipped up at least 800 trash trees. Size of chipping runs from 1/4" to 6" x 8", although most are in the 2" to 4" size.
The WC68 is sized for power around 30hp. Your 29hp will definitely handle it just fine. I'm absolutely pleased with mine.

My initial evaluation narrowed down to WoodMaxx and Woodland Mills. Unfortunately for WoodMax, they chose to not respond to my 3 inquiries via their Customer Service, Sales Dept. nor direct eMail. On the other hand, Woodland Mills immediately responded, and has followed up on after-sales via eMails and telephone calls, to be sure everything was good and I was happy. I'm not saying WoodMaxx is bad or anything, but customer service is important to me.

I've tried the little 'toy' chippers with little satisfaction. They handle tiny sticks just fine, but in the end, they're a lot of work for little results.

 

[Budweiser John]

Another endorsement for a hydraulic feed machine.
My Woodmax 8-H is on it痴 fifth season and although an import machine, has worked as advertised with out any problems. Eats small trees with out limping so you can cut, stuff, repeat, and move on.
I generally cut and chip rather than accumulating the material in piles.
The chips do make decent landscape mulch however, unless you致e got a covered trailer to blow them into the collection and handling even with a FEL eats up a ton of time so i致e (In most cases) simply let them fall where they may and purchase commercially processed landscape mulch for the dressy stuff around the house.
B. John

 

[mikester]

If you go with a feeder don't buy a mechanical one - go hydraulic feed. I made that mistake and ended up converting mine to hydraulic in-feed after getting fed up with constant break downs on the mechanical feeder.

I personally wouldn't go gravity feed unless you really enjoy using a chainsaw and need to work on your Popeye arms.

 

[ruffdog]

That is why I hired out to rid me of those 1800 trees (5" to 12"). I'm in my 50's and I don't have the energy like when I was younger. With the right equipment, three guys did that work in just a few days. Sure, it cost me some coin but the job is done and my body didn't get beat up in the process.

 

[hayden]

If you can swing it, I too would highly recommend power feed. It makes a huge difference. I would also suggest buying as big a unit as will fit on the back of your tractor. The size capacity is not so much about chipping really big stuff - your tractor will bog down if you go too big - it's more about odd shaped branches with side branches and crotches not getting stuck. With a big opening, the chipper will sort out the odd shaped branches. With a smaller unit, you will spend a lot of time cutting things into smaller, straighter branches. Apple trees are probably the worst, then beech trees - at least around here. And don't forget Salsco as a possible builder/vendor. US built, very sturdy. I actually feed mine with the excavator and it gobbles it up. They also have a cool feature that is a speed sensor that pauses the feeder if the speed drops too much. So if I feed it a full, 3" maple sapling/tree, it chomps, pauses, chomps, pauses, then finishes it off. Meanwhile I'm picking out the next one to feed it.

 

[ericm979]

The speed sensor would be cool. But the units that have it cost a lot more than the Woodmaxx 8H (or the 8" Woodland Mills).

The Woodmaxx makes much smaller chips than the big commercial trailer chippers that tree services use. They're easier to scoop up with the loader. But if you need to transport them a ways from where you're chipping, doing it one bucket load at a time is a hassle. I got a dump trailer for the UTV and can dump or chip into that. In the past I've thrown a tarp over the UTV's cab to make a backstop and shot chips into the bed. That works but the bed is small and fills up fast. I'll probably take some scrap plywood and make a backstop for the dump trailer so more of the chips end up in the trailer instead of on the ground.