Wood chipper advice - fairly specific application

[Freep]

Greetings, TBN!

I'm considering the purchase of a wood chipper. My wife has asked me to make wood chips available for various purposes (trails, mulch, etc) and I want them for distributing weight (under my kid's play area, and of my tractor when traversing near trees). It would be nice to have various sorts of different types of chips and mulch, but I assume that different wood chippers serve different purposes: That which is most important is to be able to create large wood chips that will distribute weight.

I don't need to be able to shred material, and I don't need to be able to run leafy material through the wood chipper. I have a 2-wheeled tractor with a flail mower on it, so I can just put stuff in a pile and run over it with that if I want it shredded. I would never run anything more than 3" through the chipper (unless necessary to make larger chips), as anything 3-4" and up goes on the wood pile.

Try as I might, I cannot find much information on what sort of wood chips various wood chippers produce, nor any information on what sort of 'input' is required for different types of wood chips. I'm sure this info is out there somewhere, but I am unable to lay my hands on it. I called several wood chipper manufacturers and the salespeople I spoke with were not particularly helpful. They said I would probably do best with something adjustable, but that their wood chippers were not adjustable, and they did not know who to direct me to.

So: What sort of wood chipper should I be looking for to create large wood chips? Should I be considering a PTO (I have a BCS 853 and a Kioti CK3510) or a standalone model? Can a relatively affordable wood-chipper even make these large wood chips or is it something only an industrial machine can manage with larger pieces of wood?

Help me TBN, you're my only hope!

 

[oosik]

I chip around 900 to 1200 small - 1" to 6" on the butt - pines every spring. Thinning my pine stands. Over the years I've used two chippers. First a Wallenstein BX42S and now a Wallenstein BX62S. The 42S would handle trees up to 4". The 62S handles trees up to 6".

Both are PTO powered. Both produced nice chips. The 62S produces larger chips. They are 1/4" thick and around 1 1/2" wide by 2 1/2" long.

I've never had a moments problem with either chipper. Since I only chip pines - both chippers were manual feed. I feed the trees in whole - butt first. The chippers pull the pines in and chip VERY AGGRESSIVELY. So much so - at first it's rather frightening.

I used the 62S to chip four old dead apple trees. This wood was dry and hard as carbonite. The chips produced were smaller. The chipper was not able to feed as fast and therefore took smaller bites.

If you need/want an excellent chipper that you can use every day and never worry about failure - I would definitely recommend Wallenstein.

 

[Gordon Gould]

I think what oosik alluded to is right. The chip size is a function of the chipper geometry and input power as well as the material size and hardness. On my BearCat chipper I can adjust the spacing between the knives and anvil. Smaller spacing makes smaller chips but it is a hard adjustment to make and the chip size variation not that pronounced. It is meant to be a take up the wear adjustment. By far the biggest variation in chip size for me is the wood. Green soft White pine that feeds fast makes bigger chips ( 1" square by 1/4" thick say ) while dry hardwood can be almost as small as a sharp chain saw chip. This is on a 5" pto hand feed chipper and 30 hp tractor. Maybe you can affect chip size with a hydraulic feed I don't know but You may be wanting to much out of a simple chipper.

gg

 

[Brant]

I have a Patu DC65 chipper. It has adjustable chip length.

 

[oosik]

I agree with Gordon. Different brands = different chip size. The amount of moisture in the wood( dry or green) will affect chip size. The species of tree will have a bearing on chip size.

AND I certainly WOULD NOT be attempting to alter chip size by adjusting the knife/anvil spacing. That is an adjustment intended to correct for spacing after the blades have been re-sharpened.

Your 35hp Kioti would handle PTO chippers with 4" material capacity.

A stand alone or PTO powered. Use Google - upper right hand corner - to find the many threads here on TBN for those discussions.

 

[ericm979]

I have a Woodmaxx 8H hydraulic feed chipper. I had a self-feed "chuck 'n duck" before. I would not go back to something other than hydraulic feed now. It's easier to use and safer.

It makes larger chips when the feed speed is turned up. But the chip size is not like what you get from a commercial trailer type chipper. Those have a lot more power to push the knives though wood. I can chip material up to the chipper's capacity with my 32 pto hp but I have to turn the feed down to the minimum. I get the best chips from bare wood with no small branches of leaves, 3" and larger. Then it gives clean wood chips about 1/2-3/4" long and about 1/4" thick. There's some large chips that come out when the wood first hits the knives and when the piece passes the rollers and goes into the knives.

 

[Freep]

Thanks for all the responses!

It sounds chip size is increased as material size is diminished and chipper power is increased. So, despite my intent to process primarily material under 2" or 3", it may be useful to get as powerful a chipper as my tractor can use. I do intend to check out some stand alone units as well, but I'm accumulating quite a collection of engines to service and using the tractor is appealing in this regard.

Will hydraulic feed make the feed speed more 'controlled'? It sounds from some of the responses like the manual feed can aggressively self-feed and produce larger chips, or am I misunderstanding?

The reduction in size when chipping dried (dead) wood is an unfortunate complication. I try to take down trees that are on their way out, and many branches are often standing dead.

Wallenstein seems to no longer sell the 42 and 62, having now moved to 32 and 52. Perhaps others will weigh in on other specific brands and the sizes of the chips they produce.

One further question: Should I be avoiding the chipper/shredder that has two separate chutes? Is a dedicated chipper going to be better for my desire for larger wood chips?

 

[oosik]

Freep - you are correct. Wallenstein no longer makes the 42 nor 62. Most unfortunate. Were I to purchase one now - it would have to be the 72 @ around $5400.

However - I did pay $4500 for my brand new 62 in 2013.

BTW - I only chip green pine. After six years of chipping ~ 900+ trees every spring - I'm still on the same side of all four knives. I haven't had to sharpen the blades or reverse them. The steel in those blade is obviously superior.

 

[ericm979]

If you want chips, the shredder part will be useless. It makes fine particles and does not handle branches over an inch or so.
Hydraulic feed is more controlled. Self-feed can rip the branch right out of your hands. The self feed chipper/shredder I have was used with my previous tractor that has 15 pto hp vs th 32 on the current one. It didn't make chips any larger than the hydraulic feed chipper I use now. But that could be a function of the power driving it.

Personally I would not trade the ease and safety of the power feed for possibly slightly larger chip size.

Wood that's been dead for long tends to chip smaller and make a lot of dust. It depends on the species. Some wood like Madrone chips up really well even when dry, if you can get the branches in (it doesn't grow straight). Dead tan oak is horrible to chip, lots of dust. Dead wood and hardwood will dull the knives faster than green softwood. Buy a second set so you can work while sending the first set out.

 

[BLSXJ]

I have a Woodland Mills WC68 on my Kubota L3400 (30hp at pto)
the Woodland units have a self contained hydraulic circuit with a flow control valve. you have some ability to control/adjust the feed rate.

If you search you will find my in depth review of the unit.

I borrowed a gravity feed unit before I bought the chipper and spending a bit more (in my case $1500) to get the hydraulic in feed was the best money I spent.

 

[Captain Dirty]

So, despite my intent to process primarily material under 2" or 3", it may be useful to get as powerful a chipper as my tractor can use. I do intend to check out some stand alone units as well, but I'm accumulating quite a collection of engines to service and using the tractor is appealing in this regard.

Stop thinking about your 2-3" material and get as large a chipper as your tractor will drive and your wallet will stand.

I have experience with 2 stand alone chipper-shredders powered by approx. 10 hp motors and rated for a max chipping diameter of 3". The blade to anvil spacing is less than 1/16" and the distance from blade edge to flywheel surface is around 1/4" to ensure it won't take too big a "bite". Furthermore, the infeed chute is narrow with a long taper to ensure nothing over 3" is fed. The end result is fine (1/4-3/8") chips that are far smaller than you say you want. A 4-6" chipper will likely have a blade to anvil spacing of 1/4 to 3/8" and blade edge to flywheel surface distance of around 1/2". My 6" Salsco has produced chips as large as a deck of cards but typically 3/8" thick and an inch or two long/wide. Do be aware that if you feed limbs with pliant twigs the larger clearances mentioned will allow the twigs to pass through and be spit out as a "bird's nest". Presumedly you could fish these from the chip pile with a rake.

In the ads the demonstrator chips straight limbs; in the real world limbs have crooks and forks. The larger PTO chipper will have an opening that will accept crooks and forks. The PTO chipper will have heavier flywheel that stores more energy so you can power through oversized or gnarly limbs provided you don't get too aggressive.

Should I be avoiding the chipper/shredder that has two separate chutes? Is a dedicated chipper going to be better for my desire for larger wood chips?

When I was shopping for my PTO chippers the chipper-shredders with 2 chutes usually had a belt-driven step up; I viewed the belts as a complication that might cause problems. You state you can "shred" by mowing debris so spare yourself the expense and possible aggravation of a chipper-shredder.

 

[Freep]

More great advice - I appreciate especially the places I can ask for measurements (blade to flywheel/anvil spacing, etc). It looks like I should be making technical inquiries to manufacturers.

It occurs to me also that these may appear used seasonally... does anyone have any idea when tree cutting/clearing season is the Pacific Northwest? If I can hold out until fall, for example, might there be a decent used selection be available? I had planned on buying new, but considering the advice to 'go big' I am now expanding the potential search to used equipment.

 

[ericm979]

Your tractor's PTO power is going to limit the size of chipper you can drive. I think power determines chip size more than any other factor.

Used attachments here are usually beat up and priced as though they are new. Maybe it's different there but I doubt it. There's not really a season, you can clear and chip any time.

Woodmaxx and Woodland Mills both sell chippers they design and get made in China, for quite a bit less than US or Canadian made chippers. Woodmaxx also has a different design US made model.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

Flywheel weight is also something that you should consider. I bought a used large pto chipper from a farmer who ran it on an 80+ machine and also ran it on an old 38 hp machine. It has a 500 lb fly wheel so once that flywheel gets turning at the right speed, inertia is going to make it hard to stop. That equals more power. He said he had no problem running it on that older smaller tractor, he just couldn't jam it full of large stuff.
here it is in action.
Chipping Brush piles with Kioti Tractor and Valby Chipper - YouTube

 

[oosik]

For me - over here on the "dry" side - I don't chip in the winter. Too cold - too much snow. Otherwise - anytime between spring to fall. My Wally BX62S is manual feed. No need for hydraulics when only chipping small ( 1" to 6" on the butt ) pines. Just feed them in whole - butt in first. The chipper will snatch the tree and pull extremely hard as it chips it up.

I thin my pine stands almost every spring. Right around 900 small pines become chips.

 

[Snobdds]

I have a echo bearcat chipper that is towable. I put about 30 hours on it chipping all the dead pine beetle up at my cabin and I have no more use for it. I am trying to sell it and I almost can't give it away. I paid north of 15,000 new and even at 8500, people think that is high. It's amazing how cheap some people are...

I've had a PTO chipper in the past, but these towable chippers that have the engine and hydraulics self contained are the way to go.

 

[ericm979]

The PTO chipper can be moved around easier. And it costs a lot less. But you can get a large towable that can handle larger material, has a winch etc.

Around here towable chippers go for good $$ even when they're beat up and well used. Lots of guys want to start tree services.

 

[frogpond]

I'm also in western Washington, with 11 acres in Snohomish County. Our tractor is a Kubota bx25d, and we decided to get a standalone towable chipper. My wife and I hate taking the backhoe off the tractor and putting the 3ph on, for one thing. For a second consideration, we are usually using the tractor to move material to the chipper, both with the backhoe and the loader and forks, so we can get more done with 2 independent machines. Sometimes we shoot chips right into the front bucket, or into our utility trailer, then move, dump and spread them on trails and roads. To move the chipper or the trailer around, we have a hitch receiver that clamps easily onto the loader bucket, and we keep a 2" ball on it.
The chipper itself is a Woodmaxx DC 1260e (e for electric start). It has a gas engine, and a 2" trailer hitch. In size, it's somewhere between the homeowner ones and the big commercial ones . It cost a little over $2,000, shipping included. An important consideration is that this is a drum chipper. The drum is mounted horizontally, with 2 hefty blades running its full width of about 16". Thus the feed opening at the bottom of the intake chute is about 6x16, so we don't have to do much cutting of limbs or worry about crooked trunks. It mostly self feeds, and particularly seems to enjoy the long, convoluted vine maples we have, along with the Doug fir, cedar, hemlock, and alder that you probably also have in Duvall. It also is good with salmonberry, blackberry, and assorted shrubbery. One of the reviews on the Woodmaxx website very aptly said that this machine performed "like a pack of starving beavers".
Nothing is perfect, and we have had problems with the belt tensioner ( the belts run off the engine via a centrifugal clutch) and a defective safety shutoff switch; but Woodmaxx has remarkably good customer advice and service, and immediately responded with troubleshooting, advice, and parts at no charge. The repairs were not difficult, and I would buy the same machine again.
The chips come out pretty good size, but they do vary depending on wood species, moisture content, and so forth. It sounds like we use them for the same things you would.

 

[Freep]

Good to hear about someone so close with similar goals and their strategies for pursuing them. I talked to someone at Woodmaxx about the 1260e and was told that if I could run the PTO chipper it would be better. I've received similar advice from other manufacturers, and as you note above, from people on this forum. But like you I am attracted to the stand-alone models, and for similar reasons. The 1260e looks good, but there's a company called Dosko that makes one with a 13hp GX390 Honda engine in it that looks great to me. I am a big fan of those Honda GX engines, but I can find no reviews of the Dosko, it's pretty pricey, and am still given pause by the near-universal advice to look toward the PTO chipper. As you say, though, having multiple machines run at the same time seems very useful.

All that said, for me it's all about chip size. Both Woodmaxx and Woodland mills have both told me that their chippers are not what I'm looking for in terms of chip size. Wallenstein was less categorical about the matter, but provided little encouragement. I am considering a Novatractor chipper as a sort of low-stakes introduction to chipping, to take care of some chipping now and then diligently look for a higher end (Patu, Valby, etc) used model.

I have some time before I really need the chipper (read: I have other pressing projects underway), so I have the luxury to think things through.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Try renting one maybe. Get some piles of brush/trees, rent a chipper and turn it into a pile of chips rathe rthan spent 5-7K on buying something. Un;ess you're chipping often I would jiust rent