Wood chipper advice - fairly specific application

[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