More chipper questions - mostly about feed type

[s219]

In my experience, the only brand that has a good reliable self-feed is Wallenstein, and that is what I ended up getting for that reason. I've never had it not feed a limb well, in fact it generally pulls stuff in so fast you need to start it and then back off quickly to get out of the way. It will chip as fast as it can suck material in and is extremely impressive. I've never had it stall my tractor either, which may just mean I have plenty of HP.

Where self feed chippers fall flat is when trying to feed in very twiggy material. If it can't fall down the chute, then it will chip up to the point where it is wider than the chute, hang up, and stop. The proper solution is to follow twiggy stuff with thicker limbs, which will pull the twiggy stuff in for the ride. If you can always alternate heavier limbs with twiggy stuff, then great. If not, you should get a chipper-shredder and use the shredder for the twiggy stuff, or get hydraulic feed and suck it all in with the feed.

 

[ultrarunner]

With feed you can reverse it any time... a great safety feature so even my 84 year old Mom can do it safely...

It has been a joy to use with only one issue and that was adjusting the knife clearances when delivered...

 

[ning]

Someone nearby (an hour away) has something very similar to the current Echo Bearcat CH5540HM. It seems very similar to the Woodmaxx 8H and Woodlands WC68, but it's a 5" and lists for $8k. Why does this unit cost so much? (The listed one is way below new price for an almost-new unit but it's still almost 2x the price of one of the others when new.)

 

[oosik]

I've had two chippers - both were Wallenstein - BX42S & BX62S - both were manual feed. I've had a feed problem with both - only a couple times. It was with long - old - weather hardened - larger diameter - pine trees. The chipper would actually feed too fast and choke - causing a shear pin to blow in a couple instances.

Perhaps if I would have had hydraulic controlled feed in those couple of cases the trees would have actually been held back and would not have fed so fast and caused the blown shear pin. I really do not know because I've never had hydraulic in-feed.

So except for those couple of instances - manual in-feed works just fine for me.

 

[JD 4520]

Woodland WC 88

 

[ultrarunner]

It was a cost decision... still lots of older chuck and duck commercial units on Craigslist.

Asked my tree guy and he said he made a lot of money with those... fast and obliterates anything.

He had to get rid of his for insurance reasons... no safety mechanism to reverse feed.

 

[oosik]

I had wondered if the hydraulic feed system would have helped when I chipped all my ancient apple trees. About half a dozen times a crooked limb would get stuck in the in-feed chute. Shut everything down and using a plain old shovel - pry the limb loose.

I wondered if the hydraulic feed system would have backed the limb back out - or not. One will never know - all the apples are now chipped and the only trees now are all Ponderosa pines.

My thinning program is a spring time thing - every year - around 900 small pines - 1" to 6" diameter - chipped green and whole.

Just like a kid attacking a candy cane............

 

[AndyMA]

I had wondered if the hydraulic feed system would have helped when I chipped all my ancient apple trees. About half a dozen times a crooked limb would get stuck in the in-feed chute. Shut everything down and using a plain old shovel - pry the limb loose.

I wondered if the hydraulic feed system would have backed the limb back out - or not. One will never know - all the apples are now chipped and the only trees now are all Ponderosa pines.

My thinning program is a spring time thing - every year - around 900 small pines - 1" to 6" diameter - chipped green and whole.

Just li
ke a kid attacking a candy cane............

I've had both a hydraulic & manual feed Valbi (Farmi) CH160 chipper. Hydraulic wins hands down

Farmi Wood Chippers | Products | Northeast Implement

Andy

 

[oosik]

OK Andy - I will bite. EXACTLY what makes the hydraulic feed win hands down over the manual feed??

BTW - I was going to initially get Valbi - the nearest dealer is in north central Montana.

 

[Oldoak]

................... Hydraulic wins hands down............................

Andy

I agree. After using a self feed for a couple of years, I rented a hydraulic feed chipper which the feed could be stopped completely or be put in reverse to clear a jam in the infeed caused by old tree branches not being flexible enough to go down the throat of the chipper. I never went back to a self feed chipper again while maintaining our wood lot and three acre apple orchard.

A trick I also learned was to cut half way +/- through stiff limbs attached to the larger pieces with the chain saw before picking them up and feeding it into the chipper. This technique allows those branches to bend easily while being pulled into the chipper by the hydraulic feed rollers.