Buying Advice Wood Chipper for 12 acres

[Jstpssng]

I started out, many years ago, with a Wallenstein BX42S - manual feed. When I upgraded to my current Kubota M6040 - I wanted a larger chipper. I looked at the Wally BX92S. Then reality hit me. There is no way in God's green earth that I could drag a 9" pine tree. The VERY BIGGEST pine I can drag is 6". I got my current chipper - Wally BX62S - manual feed.

Every spring I scurry around the property - thinning my pine stands. I will end up with 900 to 1200 small pines that need to be chipped. So it's - identify, fell, drag to a pile, chip. "Drag to a pile" is, far and away, the most difficult part of this annual project.

Been doing this for over 15 years now. I chip all the pines "in the round" - ie, no limbs removed. Butt first - away they go. With pines being 100% of what I chip - never had the need for a hydraulic in-feed system. Crooked limbs & trees - completely different story.

There is a lot of truth to what Thunder Chicken says. Larger chipper - larger in-feed chute - larger mouth at the chipping fly wheel - larger flywheel. It also means - larger $$$$.

Another option is to move the chipper to the tree. The R/W company I worked for had me windrowing brush all day, then for the last hour or so the bucketman would come down and drive the truck -with the chipper attached to the front bumper- and I would guide the stacked brush into the chipper.

Besides a lot of brush to lean up on my 20 acres here, I also have a 2 acre houselot I bought with intent to clean it up and sell it. There's about 30 cords of wood that I will sell, and probably 40 cords of brush that I will cut and get rid of. I can't see trying to drag and burn that much, so am looking at the Woodmaxx MX-8800. (Their smallest Made in USA chipper.) For safety reasons I am buying a hydraulic feed. I will be working alone and want that last chance if things go south and I get caught.

 

[radios1]

they do make some really big one's for large jobs, maybe a bit pricey for you though. https://www.morbark.com/product/50-48x-whole-tree-drum-chipper/

 

[Jstpssng]

they do make some really big one's for large jobs, maybe a bit pricey for you though. https://www.morbark.com/product/50-48x-whole-tree-drum-chipper/

You're in an altogether different category now. Those are used to chip wood to sell... fine tuned good enough they will meet pulpwood chip specs.

 

[plowhog]

they do make some really big one's for large jobs, maybe a bit pricey for you though. https://www.morbark.com/product/50-48x-whole-tree-drum-chipper/

I looked at the specs. 400 gallon gas tank? I'd go broke quickly running that ....

 

[4570Man]

I looked at the specs. 400 gallon gas tank? I'd go broke quickly running that ....

That’s probably a days worth. I guess that’s not that bad if it’s chipping 185 tons an hour.

 

[PEJ5]

We have the Woodland Mills WC-68 and love it. It is built like a tank - no fear of bending or breaking something. The hydraulic feed provides a sense that it is the safer option, but I have not run a chipper without that feature. The WC-46 requires 26 to 30 HP and so it would work for you. You may not need to chip 4" logs if you heat with wood.

We used to burn... Cross pile branches, use forks to take them to the burn location, wait for burning to be allowed, manhandle the pile of brush again, tend the fire for hours.

With the chipper we cruise around the property to the location where the trees were cut and handle the branches once, on the day best for us. Faster, safer (forest fire danger), less work, heathier (no smoke) and chips for the paths and gardens.

Good luck deciding.

 

[5030]

On the side, I grind used chipper knives for homeowners as well as commercial tree outfits and one of my customers has a huge diesel powered (Cummins Diesel) chipper that eats whole trees (not including the root ball), those go to a landfill. It will gobble up trees up to 30" in diameter, no issue. Hardwood, softwood makes no difference. They feed it with a track hoe. Once the tree gets in the feed rollers, the machine feeds it or backs it out according to the load on the engine and the blow the chips into a moving floor trailer and I think, sell them to an outfit that applies some kind of coloring and that is what you buy at box stores for landscape mulch.

Interestingly, the knives (and anvils) are basically the same as what you have in your homeowner chippers, just more of them and a bit longer. and thicker. Last time I ran the knives for that machine (last spring), I think I ground 30 knives and 15 anvils.

Typically, a commercial tree company will have multiple sets of knives and anvils (usually 3 complete sets) so they can rotate them as needed. Commercial knives are double edged so each knife has 2 cutting edges and the anvils have 4 edges. I grind the anvils square to the flat surface and parallel across the entire shear section. Each end has 2 shear edges. When I get knife sets, they usually get delivered in a crate.

It's very important the the anvils are ground square so the knife clearance remains constant across all the knives and the knife clearance is set just like a residential machine, just more high strength hold down bolts.

When knives get dull (loose the cutting edge from trash in the wood like nails or spikes), the chips get stringy and are not marketable.

Like your knives, they are through hardened tool steel.

I also grind Tungsten Carbide stump grinder teeth but not so much anymore as the newer stump grinders have replaceable inserts instead of brazed on carbide teeth,

 

[oosik]

I do have trees that are burned. About 3 -4 big Ponderosa pines every ten years or so. Pine bark beetle. Fell them - cut to length - pile up with the grapple - burn in the winter. Makes a real roary-snortin' fire for a couple of days.

Jstpssng - after I fell & drag my small pines, I will have 15 to 20 piles located all over my 80 acres. I DEFINITELY move the tractor & chipper to these piles. Hey - I DO NOT drag anything over 30 feet. I've tried using the grapple to collect and pile the pines. In rare cases I can get in/around the standing trees. Usually it's just a lot easier/faster to do it by hand.

When I've finished felling in a stand - it looks like a game of Pick-Up-Sticks. There will be 45-60-up to 85 small pines. Laying in all directions - all over each other.

However - this coming spring it WILL be different. My son and his friend will be helping

 

[hslogger]

I have had the woodmaxx hydraulic chipper for five or so years now and couldn not be happier with it. i run it on a 45 hp tractor. It has been a great machine for me. Upon my recommendations some friends purchased the newere big 9000 model from Woodmaxx that is coupled with a 65 hp tractor. They are loggers and tree farmers and have satisfied with the performance. They are doing timber stand fuels reduction on stands of reprod and their machine hasn't missed a beat and is user friendly.

f

 

[radios1]

I looked at the specs. 400 gallon gas tank? I'd go broke quickly running that ....

it'll do 40 tons in 13 minutes.. that 400 gallons would last many people a very long time..