PTO Chipper vs Tow Behind Chipper

[hslogger]

Dry wood is hard on any chipper. When running vines and stuff like wisteria, grapes, etc., I keep some solid stuff to chase it with. Same thing with blackberries. If you just load er' up with crap it balls up inside. Best to feed and chase, and use reverse often, back and forth.

 

[ning]

I'd consider the nova chipper - BX102RSH Super heavy duty professional wood chipper
but I agree that a tow-behind unit is probably overall the best thing

 

[mikester]

The answer depends and what you are chipping and what kind of production volumes you are expecting.

I have an 8" chinesium PTO chipper. I also have experience running bigger self powered diesel units.

The PTO unit is ok for doing a couple of trees at a time i.e. you need to remove a tree and want it cleaned up after. If you are expecting to run the chipper 8 hours a day you are beating up your tractor and PTO chipper for no good reason.

You need HP to keep that flywheel turning and putting on a bigger flywheel is like attaching a bigger engine brake. You also need flywheel speed to keep your chipper operating efficiently. As the flywheel slows, chips exiting the machine slows and you end up plugging your chute faster and more often. End result is you will waste more time pulling the chipper apart to clean the chute and the chipper housing instead of making chips.

If you are expecting any kind of production get the biggest self power diesel unit you can afford. Expect breakdowns and repairs.

If you are clearing brush and cr@p already on the ground go rent a forestry mulcher with a minimum 100HP CTL or bigger machine. It will be faster and less manual labour than using a chipper.

 

[Buxus]

Dry wood is hard on any chipper. When running vines and stuff like wisteria, grapes, etc., I keep some solid stuff to chase it with. Same thing with blackberries. If you just load er' up with crap it balls up inside. Best to feed and chase, and use reverse often, back and forth.

Thank you for this tip. Definitely got plenty of both so I'll feed it a mix.

 

[Buxus]

The answer depends and what you are chipping and what kind of production volumes you are expecting.

I have an 8" chinesium PTO chipper. I also have experience running bigger self powered diesel units.

The PTO unit is ok for doing a couple of trees at a time i.e. you need to remove a tree and want it cleaned up after. If you are expecting to run the chipper 8 hours a day you are beating up your tractor and PTO chipper for no good reason.

You need HP to keep that flywheel turning and putting on a bigger flywheel is like attaching a bigger engine brake. You also need flywheel speed to keep your chipper operating efficiently. As the flywheel slows, chips exiting the machine slows and you end up plugging your chute faster and more often. End result is you will waste more time pulling the chipper apart to clean the chute and the chipper housing instead of making chips.

If you are expecting any kind of production get the biggest self power diesel unit you can afford. Expect breakdowns and repairs.

If you are clearing brush and cr@p already on the ground go rent a forestry mulcher with a minimum 100HP CTL or bigger machine. It will be faster and less manual labour than using a chipper.

View attachment 1747143

Definitely won't be doing 8 hours a day of chipping. Just doing a couple of trees at a time.

 

[oosik]

When I upgraded to my Kubota M6040 - I knew it was time to upgrade the chipper. All the trees I chip run from one inch to six inches on the butt. My BX62S is the perfect size for this. I could have easily got the next size bigger Wally. It goes up to ten inches on the butt of a tree.

All the trees I chip are chipped "in the round". Meaning - no limbs are ever trimmed off - no trees ever cut to a shorter length.

To make my decision on the size of a larger Wally - I went out and fell a pine that was eight inches on the butt. It was 29 feet long. It took three tries but I finally was able to lift the butt end. Then to drag it. No way in Hell could I drag that green tree.

This cinched my decision. I got the BX62S. It will chip a six inch pine. And I can drag a six inch pine. However - dragging a six inch pine thru a field of fallen pines can easily end up with skinned up shins. I have scars on my shins to prove this.

 

[ScipioUSA]

Well under your price range, but you could look at the Woodland Mills TF810 chipper. They make a nicely built machine.

 

[Buxus]

Well under your price range, but you could look at the Woodland Mills TF810 chipper. They make a nicely built machine

 

[Buxus]

After some discussions with the regional rep I pulled the trigger on the big unit. All in all he felt the larger one would run fine on my tractor, and he said that for deadwood its weight would be a big help. Also, the discount on the big unit was much higher than on the next one down. Should be here in a couple of weeks, and I'll report back then. Thanks for all the help from everyone.

 

[sixdogs]

After some discussions with the regional rep I pulled the trigger on the big unit. All in all he felt the larger one would run fine on my tractor, and he said that for deadwood its weight would be a big help. Also, the discount on the big unit was much higher than on the next one down. Should be here in a couple of weeks, and I'll report back then. Thanks for all the help from everyone.

In my view, that's the right thing to get. Congratulations.
I've used different chippers over the years and with larger chippers the gain in performance and efficiency always paid off for me.