PTO chippers- self feed vs hydraulic feed?

[wawajake]

But the people on here who are talking self feed vs hydraulic price often reference the Wallenstein 42 which has a price of ~$3250USD and a lot with a hydraulic feed reference the Woodmaxx WM-8H which has a price of ~$2800USD

I have also noticed that in general the people who love the self feed have more HP. Throw 70HP on that self feeder and you don't worry about anything, have 20hp then there are some issues.

To me hydraulic is 1000 times better than self feed (even if I had 70hp I would still go with hydraulic). If you want really cheap get a hatchet and chip it by hand, price isn't everything.

I have a 26 hp tractor so less than that at PTO (19 maybe)...........my Wallenstein 42 self feeds great with that HP ......and price is a lot when everything else around us is going up up up.

 

[Shady oak]

I just got a Woodland Mills 88. So far I love it. I had a Jinma and it was more work to feed than I enjoyed! Plus that little feed roller shaft went kaput. The Woodland Mills seems pretty well built, and heavy. As with all equipment, time will tell.

 

[oosik]

From what I've read on TBN - hydraulic feed is very nice if you are chipping hardwood trees and limbs that are crooked. I have my 64 hp Kubota M6040 and Wallenstein BX62S( manual feed ). I only chip small( 6" or less ) Ponderosa pines. I chip them whole( limbs on ) and it works just great.

 

[Rara Avis]

From what I've read on TBN - hydraulic feed is very nice if you are chipping hardwood trees and limbs that are crooked. I have my 64 hp Kubota M6040 and Wallenstein BX62S( manual feed ). I only chip small( 6" or less ) Ponderosa pines. I chip them whole( limbs on ) and it works just great.

Your BX62 will feed almost as easy as a hydraulic feed as long as the knives are sharp...

In fact, the guy that sold me mine...told me that when it stops pulling in the branches like a hydraulic feed, it is time to flip the knives over or resharpen them if you have already flipped them once...

 

[oosik]

Yes, Rara Avis, and until you get use to it - the chipper pulls so hard on the green pines - its frightening. A mean joke - have a person come out and help me drag & chip the pines I just fell. Don't warn them about how hard the chipper pulls on the pines when being fed in - watch their expression.

Strange - some never beg to come out and help again. I find chipping to be "fun" for about the first half hour - then as my body starts to hurt, it becomes a real job.

 

[s219]

I learned early on with my Wallenstein to drop the limb in and back away, especially long stuff. When I cleared my land there were a lot of long skinny gum trees, and I was able to feed an entire 20-25' tree into the ~4" x 10" chute and the chipper would suck them in like spaghetti. The end would often whip around just looking to beat up a bystander or slap them silly with leaves.

 

[Code54]

I learned early on with my Wallenstein to drop the limb in and back away, especially long stuff. When I cleared my land there were a lot of long skinny gum trees, and I was able to feed an entire 20-25' tree into the ~4" x 10" chute and the chipper would suck them in like spaghetti. The end would often whip around just looking to beat up a bystander or slap them silly with leaves.

That is one of the advantages to the hydro feed - much more "controlled" entry.

 

[ericm979]

Yes, the regular feed is much safer. And power feed allows a chipper to have a horizontal feed chute, which makes it much easier to get those 20'+ long pieces in. You don't have to tip them up into the feed chute, just get the butts up onto the feed chute and into the feed rollers. I chipped some limbs yesterday that were heavy enough that I would not have been able to get them into the MacKissick's feed chute.
But the best thing about power feed is being able to chip material that isn't nice and straight I've been chipping up the branches on a big Madrone that fell over last winter. Madrone grows every direction it wants. I've seen some branches that grew a 360 degree circle. I'd have to do far more prep work to get them into my MacKissick chipper than I do for the Woodmaxx.