Chipper New member looking for advice on purchasing a wood chipper

[RoyJackson]

I was interested in buying a chipper. Researched all of the three point hitch chippers and even some stand alone used units such are the Vermeer 6 inch chippers with the Kohler engines. After renting a chipper I decided that renting was the best solution for me.

Renting does make a lot of sense, no doubt.
It was very difficult for me to justify $3K (or so) for a chipper I'd probably use for a few hours 2-4 times a year for yard cleanup....other then "I wanted a chipper".
I was lucky enough to find a very nice Woods 5000 on Craigslist. I paid a grand for a fairly low hour machine. I'm quite happy with it oo!

 

[Budweiser John]

Ray, Your point is well taken, however in my circumstances I've got about 1 1/2 miles of fence rows to maintain. Although I would capture some chips for landscaping, gathering limbs and branches to a central location for chipping would be a lot of work. In your area If you can rent a 9" chipper for $80 buck plus fuel that's a real deal. In my area, I rented a similar machine two years ago and my net cost was over $400 for the day.
At this time, the jury's still out on the machine selection but this site has been an invaluable resource to gather information.

 

[Gordon Gould]

I agree - a 9" chipper @ $80 is unheard of around here and might be the way to go. The $400 figure is what we have here. I like having my own. I can use it for an hour here or there doing casual clean-up type work around the dooryard or I can use it for two weeks straight doing something serious where I don't have to plan the work around getting it back to rental place I can plan the work around the best approach for the job at hand.

 

[rmorey]

We have a 200 acre woodlot. Trees fall all the time. We bought a little stand alone w/Briggs engine. Not ideal because little piles of chips everywhere. Pita to clean up. (momma wants the chips for mulch) Looking to get a 3pth model this summer. I agree, get the 6" model as it better handles side branches on the trunk.

Re: renting, I prefer to cut up a tree that comes down and chip up the branches when it happens, rather than having large pile of branches waiting for enough to justify renting. That's just my opinion.

Sorry, :welcome: aboard!

 

[Kyle241]

If you can afford it, I would recommend a Wallenstein bx62. I have looked over several brands and am still on the fence to buy a chipped but when I do, it will be a Wallenstein.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Don't be stuck on one brand - there are a lot of good chippers out there. It took me 3 years to find one I thought I could justify. Finally I found this one for $1200. That was probably 6 or 7 years ago now.

 

[newbury]

OP -

I'm on my second chipper. About 20 yrs ago I bought a Kemp 8hp standalone. Mainly for yard waste. It was more of a hassle using it than it was worth. Especially if you had twisted limbs.

This month I picked up a Jinma 8"

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/277284-jinma-8-chipper-first-hours.html

and it seems well worth the $1800.

My search started because I fell a lot of trees and planning on continuing. LOTS of limbs. I also run a small sawmill and have lot's of bark-sided cants. I live in Mississippi and have virtually no need for heat. I do need wood chips for landscaping.

I did a LOT of research and spent probably 80 hours on CL looking for a Wallenstein/Bear Cat 6" and rarely found one on the East Coast over the course of two years.

This year I HAD to clean up a rental lot and chipping seemed a LOT better than tying everything into bundles that weighed less than 50lbs and were less than 4' long for the trash. And I can't burn. Rental rates are about $300 for a weekend.

There seems to be 3 classes of PTO 6" plus wood chippers - Chinese (Jinma, Wood Maxx etc.), Bear Cat/Wallenstein and then the REALLY expensive ones. Prices are < $2K, $$5K to $6K, $10K plus.

I'm very pleased with the Jinma from RanchHandsupply.

A couple of salient points -
If you read many of the threads talking about "chinese" chippers you'll find they have lot's initial problem points. Loose or missing bolts, belts that break, bad oil, zerks, etc. And a LOT of the different "chinese chippers" brands look identical. Ronald addresses all these problems and ships a machine that has gone thru quality control and part upgrades.

Get the biggest throat you can afford. Limbs are not straight. I can't envision trying to lug an 8" diameter log to the chipper - too heavy. Yesterday I was feeding it 4' long 6" diameter tree trunks. They were heavy.

Make sure you have the "little things" - shear bolts etc. Safety glasses. Ear protection.

And a word on renting VS buying. For me to rent it's got to be a high maintenance or rarely used item. I've used this chipper for about 4 days at two hours per day. IN GOOD WEATHER. If I had tried to rent a chipper over the weekend it's poured the last weekend

 

[Kyle241]

Newbury, not to sidetrack the thread but I would be interested to read more of your experiences with the Jinma if you're up to that (in a separate thread of course). I have steered away from 'China' chippers for two reasons, one the issues that have been reported as I do not like when machines do not work correctly (more impatient than anything) and second, I would prefer to purchase from a North American manufacturer even though these days it's hard to find no matter the product.

 

[newbury]

Newbury, not to sidetrack the thread but I would be interested to read more of your experiences with the Jinma if you're up to that (in a separate thread of course).<snip>

Follow the link in my post above.

 

[JRobyn]

There are US-made, heavy, commercial-grade chippers out there if you have the luxury of time and patience to shop. I found this one, well used, but totally serviceable. It is a Morbark "Eager Beaver" rated for about 6" (I think) with hydraulic feed. Weighs a ton, just about literally; I think it is 1200-1600#. Gave about $2500 and had to drive from GA to WI to get it! I have only had to spend about $50 on it for a spare set of blades. Should last the rest of my lifetime and several more after that.