Chipper pto driven wood chippers

[5030]

Hi folks...gravelman here...im thinking of getting a 3pt ht pto wood chipper. burning is a pain nowadays. any recommendations. It would be on my Mahindra 55 hp tractor Anything over 6" or so i use for fire wood or fire pit so nothing big would be needed. Thanks much

Here is my opinion for what it's worth. I own a chipper and I have no brush piles anymore and don't want any. I dislike burning brush and a chipper makes chips and those chips always find a place in the flower beds or around trees.

Having said that, I would NEVER get a gravity feed unit like a Wallenstein, thats a PITA waiting to happen, besides they are overpriced for what they are. So are the Woodmax hydraulic feed units plus you have the extra mechanicals and hydraulics involved (they have their own pump, storage tank and drive motors, all at some point will require maintenance and or replacement). It's a chipper, it's a part time tool. I have a huge wooded parcel and I might have my chipper on my tractor a week each season, maybe....

I bought a Jinma mechanical feed 8" chipper, Woodmax sells it as their 'economy' chipper for much less than the more complex hydraulic feed ones. Mine handles an 8" hardwood log, no issue though I only chip up to 2" because everything else goes to a guy who splits the stuff and sells it to campers (I don't heat with wood and don't want to).

I've owned the chipper for 5 years, used it hard and have has no issues other than I resharpen/replace the knives yearly, I happen to own a machine shop and I jig the knives on a surface grinder and sharpen them properly because the knife angle has to be held to 27 degrees for proper feeding, something you cannot do manually. The big issue with any chipper not operating properly (stringing chips / clogging and overworking / slipping, breaking drive belts) is dull knives.

The Jinma / Woodmax economy chipper is a mechanical drive infeed roller setup just like the hydraulic drive but with a right angle gearbox and driveshaft driving the infeed rollers, really no difference. It pulls in the branches at the correct feed speed, in fact, I've chipped a large amount with mine (dumptruck loads) and I've never had to replace any driveline components, just grease the driveshaft and pillow blocks on the PTO input end and the drive rollers.

I highly recommend it as a part time (which is what you need) chipper. All the Woodmax chippers are Chinese anyway. They come over in a container from a Chinese factory, just like their backhoes and all their products. Why pay huge bucks for a hydraulic unit when a mechanical infeed works just fine.

I'm here to tell you it does, in fact, mine is on my Kubota right now, I'm doing spring cleanup.

Get the least expensive Woodmax or shop for a Jinma (same thing) from Circle C tractor. Mine is bullet proof. BTW, Circle C sells all the replacement parts, knife sets, belts, infeed parts and sheet metal, just like Woodmax. No difference except price.

Thats my 2 cents. Take it how you want to, it's your money. No, mine isn't for sale either.....

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Even better just let the tree die and rot in the woods. That's even EASIER.

That wouldn't be "better" for me... I like to harvest the "saw log" out of the tree, then there's fire wood in the tree too! Then there's trimmings off my orchard trees and.................

BTW, I don't burn ANY brush piles or leaves either...

SR

 

[5030]

That wouldn't be "better" for me... I like to harvest the "saw log" out of the tree, then there's fire wood in the tree too! Then there's trimmings off my orchard trees and.................

BTW, I don't burn ANY brush piles or leaves either...

SR

I hammermill all my leaves and they go in in the garden along with the horse poop and compostable kitchen waste for next season's vegetables

brush piles around my property tend to attract undesireable animals that I then have to shoot. Chipping eliminated the piles and the unwanted vermin and saves me ammunition....lol

 

[hslogger]

Woodmaxx hydraulic feed. git one.

 

[5030]

Woodmaxx hydraulic feed. git one.

Whats your reasoning other than you have a flush wallet. The mechanical drive is as good as for much, much less and they are all Chinese anyway.

It's 'get' not git. Git is leave. FYI.

 

[Code54]

Having owned a manual feed chipper I personallly would skip it and get a hydro feed. The manual is a pain in my opinion and sold it after a while. Yes, they are cheaper but small stuff does not always feed and just jumps around, big stuff will slap you silly depending on how it is catches. The hydro is a much smoother operation and you can just stick a limb in and walk away to get the next one. They adjust if the chipper starts to bog down and really don't have much extra maintenance - they do have a drive motor but other than that it is a tank, roller and a few hoses. Not much more of a big deal than log splitter.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I hammermill all my leaves and they go in in the garden along with the horse poop and compostable kitchen waste for next season's vegetables

As do I, in fact I "also" completely cover all of my gardens with the hay/grass I cut. Here's my front garden getting "mulched in",

brush piles around my property tend to attract undesireable animals that I then have to shoot. Chipping eliminated the piles and the unwanted vermin and saves me ammunition....lol

Glad I don't have that problem... but then again, we do enjoy seeing the deer daily...

BTW, I bet you spend a LOT more on fuel "chipping" than you ever will on "pest ammo"! lol

SR

 

[hslogger]

My reasoning for a hydraulic drive is very simple. I have run large commercial aborist chippers extensively. There is no comparison in safety and productivity between the "chuckum in there" and the hydraulic feed units. Anyone can go cheap and run some ol crappy old technology stuff but why? The hydraulic feed drum systems are superior to the old ones period. The Woodmaxx unit to me seems well built and they seem to have excellent customer support.

I could go on about ease of cleaning the units out,having a chip that can be used for some thing, the ability to back some piece out if need be and last but not least the ability to save your butt with the panic reverse bar. I would NEVER run some old unit without a hydraulic feed, ever. To each his own. Go git one. gee haw whoa, git.

 

[5030]

None of that is germane to a limited use situation (as I thought). The mechanical feed works just as well for a limited use machine as the much more expensive hydraulic feed.

I don't need to 'git' one, nor do I want one.

The OP wanted opinions on consumer grade pto chippers, not an arborist unit. If he wanted that, I'd steer him toward a Chipmore with hydraulic infeed staged to the engine load verses infeed speed. A mere 30 grand should get you in the door for thew base unit.

For the life of me, I don't know why threads like this get posted with 'pie in the sky' comments with no real bearing on the question asked.

 

[5030]

As do I, in fact I "also" completely cover all of my gardens with the hay/grass I cut. Here's my front garden getting "mulched in",

Glad I don't have that problem... but then again, we do enjoy seeing the deer daily...

BTW, I bet you spend a LOT more on fuel "chipping" than you ever will on "pest ammo"! lol

SR

Probably more on fuel than rounds. It certainly don't strain the tractor, I'm running a 100 pto tractor on the chipper, or about 3 times rated input ponies. Never even spools the turbo up. I have a wife to contend with and she don't like the piles of brush (my main impetus for getting a chipper in the first place). A happy wife is a happy life.

You garden is maybe 1/4 the size of mine. Mine 'grows' every year or so it seems. We give a lot away and I have a good friend who has a vegie stand in the city. I grow zuchini (wife beaters) and sweet corn for him all the time. This year he's put in for Brussels Sprouts. I make a little on the produce, about enough to cover my sweat equity. I happen to like winter stored carrots, potatoes and onions, frozen stuffed peppers and frozen shelled corn, cauliflower and sprouts to go with my elk, duck and deer meat.

The wife's draft horses make plenty of poop and she beds on straw I bale and hay I bale so feed is of no consequence and the bedding goes in the garden too. This is excellent potato and carrot ground. Last year I dug at least a ton of spuds and we had 5 bushel baskets of layered carrots in the root cellar. I gave away at least 2/3rd of the potatoes to the family, they all like the 'home grown' versus store bought vegies. I just need to figure out a way for them to come help....