Woodchipper Recommendation

[IronCladChad]

Anyone have a good woodchipper recommendation for my t474? I sold my Bearcat before moving to WV. I'm up against a lot of autumn olive, vines, and thick bushes. Anything over 6" is firewood unless it's punky. I'm hoping for some January sales.

 

[sea2summit]

I have a Woodmaxx, very pleased. Walensteins are good as well.

 

[ericm979]

I have a Woodmaxx 8H. It's been pretty good. Woodland Mills also offers an 8" chipper which is a different design. There are some good points to that design and to the Woodmaxx.

Even if you burn anything over 6" an 8" throat would be a minimum. It will let you chip material that isn't straight or has branches. I don't often chip stuff over 4" these days but would not want a smaller chipper.

Chipping larger material takes HP. Even with the feed turned down all the way my tractor will run out of steam on 6" stuff. I need to stop and start the feed.

Speakin of feed, hydraulic power feed is the way to go. It's safer than manual feed which grabs the branch and sucks it in unpredictably, and you can adjust the feed rate unlike mechanical feed. It only costs a little more but it's so worth it.

 

[oldnslo]

I am Curious on how well a chipper works on vines. Do they feed in or turn into a tangled mess?

 

[oldballs]

I think that feeding vines and smaller stuff works best if accompanied by some larger limbs etc.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Gregster613]

I think that feeding vines and smaller stuff works best if accompanied by some larger limbs etc.

That's been my experience with any of the stringy stuff, need to feed in a good chunk to clear the throw-out chamber or else you're stopping and cleaning out a jamb -- which is not fun!!

 

[Piston]

I had a 6" Vermeer 606 PTO chipper. It was about the heaviest duty model I could find, it had a 6x6 opening and was hydraulic feed. A lot of times if I didn't trim the larger branches or small trees just perfectly, a branch would get hung up in the feed and I'd have to back it out.
I think Wallenstein's design with the 6x12 opening for the 6" chipper is a better design, although I have no personal experience with it, I could absolutely guarantee that I would have had a lot less hangups if the Vermeer was similar.

I sold mine, it ended up being way more work than it was worth. Now I just grapple the brush into a pile in the woods, or burn it.

 

[IronCladChad]

I had a 6" Vermeer 606 PTO chipper. It was about the heaviest duty model I could find, it had a 6x6 opening and was hydraulic feed. A lot of times if I didn't trim the larger branches or small trees just perfectly, a branch would get hung up in the feed and I'd have to back it out.
I think Wallenstein's design with the 6x12 opening for the 6" chipper is a better design, although I have no personal experience with it, I could absolutely guarantee that I would have had a lot less hangups if the Vermeer was similar.

I sold mine, it ended up being way more work than it was worth. Now I just grapple the brush into a pile in the woods, or burn it.

I've learned my lesson when burning. Out of no where the breeze picks up and the fire takes off and looks like a portal to satan is opening. I also use all the wood chips to smooth out a path over all the clay.

 

[Torvy]

I've learned my lesson when burning. Out of no where the breeze picks up and the fire takes off and looks like a portal to satan is opening. I also use all the wood chips to smooth out a path over all the clay.

Yes. I have a mostly pine forest. Burning has its place, but big fires are just asking for trouble. Wood chips can be used many other ways, too. My place is big enough that I could put the vines and such in a remote pile/pit and let them decompose over time. I'll burn logs and chip branches.

 

[mikester]

I am Curious on how well a chipper works on vines. Do they feed in or turn into a tangled mess?

Vines and trees that tend to shred and become stringy like dogwood and willow are a PITA. For me they wind up inside the chipper housing and eventually jamb into place.

You need sharp knives and your anvil adjusted tight, feed slow and make sure the chips coming out match what's being fed.