Wood chipper- is it best to rent, or buy?

[Shaneard]

Hard to rent a commercial chipper here unless you hold a contractor license...

The Bandit Dealer worked up some numbers for me to buy their demo unit... said I should rent it for a day to see how I like it and the rent would be credited to the purchase.

Went to pick it up and it was already hitched to the truck and my credit card processed... as I was leaving the guy runs after me saying he needed to copy my contractor license... I told him I am not a contractor... I only work on my own holdings...

Lost story short I was not allowed to rent since I was not a licensed contractor... no where did it say this but all their business is contractors or government for rentals.

You should have gave him your drivers license and told him you had a contract with the state and it was government issued, as long as you abide by the law the contract is good that you get to drive, lol.

 

[vsteel]

I went through this for a few years. To me it made more sense to rent until you have to pile it up all of the time to get your money's worth or you need to chip a smaller job. Things then sit until you have enough to make renting worthwhile. Yes it is cheaper to rent but I was not sorry when I bought. I can do it on my terms and break things up into smaller jobs. It will blow chips into the back of my pickup and it runs like a top. I also don't have to worry about the condition of the chipper. Some I rented were good, some not so much and some were past their lifetime. Then you also have to deal with scheduling and if it is available to rent.

To me buying was the best decision I made, my time and convenience is worth something and to me it was the price of a chipper. I did get a Woodmaxx TM-86H and love it. It isn't pro grade but I don't chip but 10-30 hours a year so it is plenty good for my use. It also cheaper at $2650 so it wouldn't take as many rentals as if I was looking at an $8K chipper. I would also mention if you are looking at buying a chipper at $8K you might either be overbuying or you are going to need to rent something a lot larger than the 6" home depot model. The 6" rental machines are somewhat slow from my experience and you might need a more industrial machine.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

If I buy, or rent, I'm figuring a 6" capacity chipper should be a good match and hopefully overkill as I intend to only chip stuff smaller than 4".

I agree! We were fine on the smaller stuff, but even then, it's not just toss it in and walk away. And a few fought back. I got a few good whacks when branches would spin around as the teeth and chipper grabbed them. I would not go smaller than 6".

Have fun!

 

[s219]

The immediate need is that I have eight acres of slash to deal with after a logging project. LOTS of downed material. Unfortunately most is pine, which is not very desirable firewood. I estimate it will take me two years to get through it, considering other things I have to do. I'll be using a 50hp tractor with grapple and landscape rake on most of it. And a skidding winch.

I would not expect two-year old slash to be very good for chipping, so factor that in. In fact, I'd say you probably have 6 months to a year depending on climate. Around here, stuff has begun to rot by about 6-8 months on the ground. In that condition, it's not going to chip as well or make for good chips if you want them for other uses.

The other thing to keep in mind is that green wood chips better and cooler (moisture in the wood lubes the knives). When chipping dry wood, you'll find that chipper performance drops off (more friction) and you can run into situations where enough heat gets generated that there's a fire hazard. I've seen smoking chips come out of chippers before, and it's a bit concerning!

 

[Captain Dirty]

plowhog;4664434 . . . prepare a huge pile of stuff in advance, just so I can play "beat the clock" and keep the expensive rented chipper busy . . .

Playing "beat the clock" with a machine as capable of creating mayhem as a chipper is not a good idea. Nor is driving a PU/trailer combination frantically trying to return the chipper to the rental yard before the gates close. Fatigue-induced lapses of judgement may be more excusable than willful negligence, but the consequences can be just as grave.

As I have matured (OK, aged) and watched my capabilities decline, a big advantage of ownership is that I can operate on my own terms, at my own pace, and quit while I am ahead (and whole).

You will ultimately be the one to decide if you will rent or buy, just want to give you something more to add to the calculations.

 

[plowhog]

Captain, you really struck a nerve. I flew airplanes for 20+ years through hair raising weather and other hazardous circumstances without a scratch. And yesterday I backed into the garage and exploded the window on my camper shell because I had left it open. Yikes. So maybe "beat the clock" with a big inertia driven machine is not good.

I'm very confused by the chipper market. I was quoted $8,000 for a top end 6" chipper with hydraulic feed. And $7,000 for a *used* top end 4" chipper with hydraulic feed. Here's the confusing part. A WoodMaxx 8" chipper with hydraulic feed is under $3k. Ok, so you chalk it up to maybe being cheap Chinese junk. But, most people I read from say they are very pleased with their WoodMaxx chipper. ??? If that's true, how do the "top tier" vendors stay in business?

 

[Code54]

Captain, you really struck a nerve. I flew airplanes for 20+ years through hair raising weather and other hazardous circumstances without a scratch. And yesterday I backed into the garage and exploded the window on my camper shell because I had left it open. Yikes. So maybe "beat the clock" with a big inertia driven machine is not good.

I'm very confused by the chipper market. I was quoted $8,000 for a top end 6" chipper with hydraulic feed. And $7,000 for a *used* top end 4" chipper with hydraulic feed. Here's the confusing part. A WoodMaxx 8" chipper with hydraulic feed is under $3k. Ok, so you chalk it up to maybe being cheap Chinese junk. But, most people I read from say they are very pleased with their WoodMaxx chipper. ??? If that's true, how do the "top tier" vendors stay in business?

I had somewhat the same concern about the Woodmaxx then I sat and read all the reviews... Debated it over and over then finally figured it was not going to be the end of the world if it didn't work out so I ordered one. I love it - nothing really bad to say. They quality on mine is as good as my old Wallenstein chipper and all my friends that have looked it over have been very surprised and impressed with it. For home use, you really need to get a LOT of time on a chipper in a year for it make financial sense (Hydro or manual feed for that matter) - I just thought that for under 3K shipped to my house it would be worth it to me. The hydro feed makes the job easier and I believe a LOT safer. I used to get slapped with all those limbs and sometimes have to fight the machine to get it to feed limbs on my manual Wallenstein chipper(small green stuff was the worst). Not anymore, just get it up by the feed roller and the drive roller does the rest as I walk away. My Wallenstein chipper jammed several times since new - always green twiggy junk that gets stuck in the shoot. Had to take a bolt out and clean it out then restart the tractor. (Everything was in spec, the company agreed it was the type of little thin junk causing the issue as it really didn't chip it just got thrown threw due to the way it feed).
The Woodmaxx jammed once - a 6"limb with a big twist and a few branches in different directions. I pulled the lever, it reversed, I re-feed it, it got caught again, hit the reverser again, wiggled it around, press the lever forward for the drive and off it went. No shutting down, not really a problem.

I love having the chipper here when I want it. I Cut two tress recently and the branches are laying over on the edge of the yard/woods. Plan on putting the chipper on this afternoon and chipping them - should be an hours work from start to finish. Never worth renting one for, but it sure is nice to clean up when you have time and not work around a businesses rental schedule.

 

[747driver]

Captain, you really struck a nerve. I flew airplanes for 20+ years through hair raising weather and other hazardous circumstances without a scratch. And yesterday I backed into the garage and exploded the window on my camper shell because I had left it open. Yikes. So maybe "beat the clock" with a big inertia driven machine is not good.

I'm very confused by the chipper market. I was quoted $8,000 for a top end 6" chipper with hydraulic feed. And $7,000 for a *used* top end 4" chipper with hydraulic feed. Here's the confusing part. A WoodMaxx 8" chipper with hydraulic feed is under $3k. Ok, so you chalk it up to maybe being cheap Chinese junk. But, most people I read from say they are very pleased with their WoodMaxx chipper. ??? If that's true, how do the "top tier" vendors stay in business?

The machine is well built. With nice quality welds and heavy hardware. The paint job is also very nice. I elected to pay the extra $150 for a USA made pto shaft. The cutter knives are also made and installed in the USA. The final assembly of the drive system is done at their plant in Akron NY. The hyd roller feed is great and saves you alot of wear time and agony on yourself. Like a few post have said...i like to do it on my own time..... Just hook it up and drive around to the various areas and piles you want to clean up. It also has a adjustable feed system power to control the speed on the feed rollers so if you are doing hardwood you can slow it down so the chippers don't bog down. If i do piles and always rake away the the loose stuff and small twigs as its just not made to do 'shedder; work. That stuff goes in the burn pile.

 

[JRobyn]

The top end of prices are for commercial-grade machines that are intended for use by tree service guys that use them every day, all day. Everything in them is an order of magnitude beefier.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

The top end of prices are for commercial-grade machines that are intended for use by tree service guys that use them every day, all day. Everything in them is an order of magnitude beefier.

Yep.

And there is some degree of paying for a name.