Which woodchipper for strictly evergreen diet?

[oosik]

When I upgraded to the BX62S I also checked the BX92S. Then reality struck. It's all I can do to drag a green pine with a six inch butt cut. No way on God's green earth could I ever drag a pine with a nine inch butt cut. The decision was made.

 

[mikester]

When I upgraded to the BX62S I also checked the BX92S. Then reality struck. It's all I can do to drag a green pine with a six inch butt cut. No way on God's green earth could I ever drag a pine with a nine inch butt cut. The decision was made.

I went with an 8 inch chipper because it had a bigger and heavier flywheel and the bigger throat means less cutting off branches to fit in the chipper. Generally stuff over 4 inches goes to firewood, under that gets fed into the chipper in one piece, branches and all.

I will chip poplar up to 8 inches as the stuff grows like weeds and the firewood is useless.

 

[oosik]

All my green pine go into the chipper - butt first, limbs and all. Very seldom have to trim off any limbs.

 

[sixdogs]

No, six dogs - the BX52 has four knives and a 125# rotor. I've had/used both the BX42S and now the BX62S. There is one major difference between these two chippers - other than the size of limb/tree they can handle.

The weight of the rotor. BX42S is 75#. BX62S is 198#. This makes a TREMENDOUS difference. Momentum is a significant factor when chipping. The BX52S comes in at 125#.

Actually when I was considering upgrading I looked seriously at the Valby 500. It has a 600# rotor. The problem - closest dealer is in Montana.

You were right on the weight of the flywheel--rotor-- and that the heavier it is the better things chip. I once had a beautiful chipper with self feed and everything. It was a beauty but had a light flywheel. I spend hours untangling crap that jammed it up and had no idea the Wallenstein was out there. If I can find a BX62 I'm going to trade up just for the heck of it.

I mostly chip 10'-14' long branches that could be 3" or 4" on the butt. Sometimes bigger stuff but as fast as I can feed it in, it chips. Always amazing to me is that I can chip a mountain of brush and wind up with a handful of chips.

 

[herbertperform]

I bought a wood chipper 4 years ago to run on my 33hp John Deere 3320. I bought a Woodmax WM-8H. It has hydraulic infeed and reverse on it. This thing not only met my expectations, it well exceeded them. Customer service is top notch. It was shipped in an angle iron cage. It arrived quick. It is built like a tank. I can chip 8 inch pine with my 33 up tractor. I can't find anything to slightly complain about. It was only $3,000.

 

[sixdogs]

I bought a wood chipper 4 years ago to run on my 33hp John Deere 3320. I bought a Woodmax WM-8H. It has hydraulic infeed and reverse on it. This thing not only met my expectations, it well exceeded them. Customer service is top notch. It was shipped in an angle iron cage. It arrived quick. It is built like a tank. I can chip 8 inch pine with my 33 up tractor. I can't find anything to slightly complain about. It was only $3,000.

Must have a heavy flywheel. Sounds like a serious chipper.

 

[oosik]

I read herbertperform's post about chipping 8 inch pine and every muscle in my bod begins to ache. Dragging & chipping 6 inch pines is my ABSOLUTE limit. I refuse to start the practice of cutting trees in half. Makes the - "dragging to pile" more than twice as difficult. Also - I chip in the round - meaning, I do not remove ANY limbs from any tree( pine only ) I chip.

This years pandemic thing has been my excuse to rest up and forgo the "thinning of the crop" for one year. The 'ol bod weeps with appreciation. Besides - our tick population is particularly bad this year.

 

[sixdogs]

I'm the OP and my Wallenstein 52 will chip 5" with no problem. I don't often go much above 4" and usually 3" or less. I've never fed in a bigger piece with limbs attached but it will chip 3" limbs that are forked or have side branches and all kinds of nasty stuff. I'm pretty sure I never jammed it. It just goes and goes and goes.

 

[herbertperform]

I didn't chip a lot of 8". My back would be killing me too. I did that to put the machine to the test. I was surprised my 33HP tractor could power it. The nice thing about the 8 inch opening is you could feed a smaller tree through it without having to limb it. Most of my chipping was 4 inch give or take a little. I really believe this Woodmax is the best chipper for the money hands down.

 

[oosik]

There is no doubt. A larger chipper will mean a larger flywheel and smoother operations. Also, larger throat and opening means less branches to whack off any tree you plan to chip. The ONLY thing I ever chip here is small pines. H*LL - Ponderosa pine is ALL I have here. And acres of bunch grass.