Would you buy a Jinma Chipper?

Scotty Dive · Nov 29, 2011

I am looking for a used pto driven chipper for clean up around the house. My PTO HP is 20....I have a budget of about $1500 but I saw these Jinma 6 and 8" versions on ebay for under $1800 with delivery.

I burn everything over 3+ inches so I am wondering if folks are happy with this chinese made chipper?

I am in no hurry - I can wait until a good used one comes my way.

heilma · Nov 29, 2011

Just ordered one two weeks ago and had it delivered before thanksgiving. our pto hp's are the same and i was worried with the smaller hp on the chipper but it would feed a 4" oak branch with no issues the larger ones had to have the feed engaged and disengaged to keep the flywheel rpms up. We had it running for about 4 hours constantly feeding it a big pile of brush that had accumulated especially after the halloween snow storm and irene and it just ate it all. assembeling was kind of a pain but only took about 4 hours start to finish and checking over everything twice. Its built fairly well if you kow how and have access to a welder then its perfect since from just using it it seems a few things may need fixing later on in its life. I could be wrong but thats just my opinion. we ordered ours from circlegtractors and got the 6" (there is no real difference im told between the two) and had it in less than 4 days with lift gate included and the pto shaft as well so at 1800-1900 it seems like a very fair price for a very capiable device now the only issue is where to store it

teg · Nov 29, 2011

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/private-party-ads/223869-sale-goosen-chipper-shredder.html

This guy just lowered the price here on TBN, I paid the same $$$ but without a blower... nice chipper/shredder. Tempted to buy it and re-sell it without the blower

(wish it was closer to me).

rabidracin · Nov 29, 2011

My father has a 6" one that we use on his cub cadet 7532 and my mahindra 3016. I also burn anything much bigger than 3". The chipper works well but we had to modify feed roller drive system as it isn't very durable. But if you are handy and don't mind making a few modifications it seems to be a decent machine. The old adage you get what you pay for fits here.

greg_g · Nov 29, 2011

Scotty Dive said:
I am looking for a used pto driven chipper for clean up around the house. My PTO HP is 20....

I used to run my 6" Jinma behind 45 PTO hp, it chewed up anything I ran through it. But my current tractor only has 35 PTO hp, which bogs down when I put any hardwood through it that's bigger than 4". If you've only got light duty chipping to do, you'll be fine. Otherwise you're paying for an implement for which you don't have enough tractor. Your money would probably be better spent for a smaller (standalone) chipper that can actually be used to full capacity.

//greg//

grsthegreat · Nov 30, 2011

I have a 6" Jimna for about 5 years....has worked great on both a 28HP tractor and my 45HP tractor. Never had any issues except basic greasing, knife sharpening, etc.

I would definatelt recommend this unit.

weldingisfun · Nov 30, 2011

grsthegreat said:
I have a 6" Jimna for about 5 years....has worked great on both a 28HP tractor and my 45HP tractor. Never had any issues except basic greasing, knife sharpening, etc.

I would definatelt recommend this unit.

Same here. Go for it.

Scotty Dive · Nov 30, 2011

I have read that out of the box they need a lot of adjustments to get back in spec - so after all that, does it still need major adjustment due to design? How easy is it to clear a jam and or get the blades for sharpening?

BethesdaEC · Nov 30, 2011

For me China has about a 50% hit rate on good products and the most frustrating thing is it can be so hard to avoid China on some products. Here are my generalizations on Chinese manufacturing, the parts will often look correct, but the finishing of the parts is sub-standard and often cheap metals are used without proper heat treatments. When the part self destructs in 1 or 2 years a replacement can be difficult or impossible to find and ultimately you end up buying a new replacement from a reputable manufacturer which you should have done originally or you buy another cheap Chinese widget and start the roller coaster all over again.

Take a look in the Chinese tractor forum, there are guys rebuilding gearboxes after several hundred hours because the gears seem to have been machined out of structural cheese. Again just because a piece of metal looks like a gear does not mean it is going function like a gear, at least not for a lifetime.

I purchased a Wallenstein BX42r and I expect that it will last me a lifetime, not 2 years so in the long run I have saved my self money and more importantly I am not screwing around with sub-standard attachment, I am using the attachment.

greg_g · Nov 30, 2011

After a few pumps of grease for good measure, mine was ready to work right out of the crate. But subsequent maintenance/repair is time-consuming. It's a stout machine, but - from the perspective of maintenance and repair - it's not user friendly.

Hint: before you start taking anything apart to clear a jam, disconnect the PTO and use a bar or lever of some kind to rotate the chipper shaft backwards a few turns. Sometimes that's all it takes to permit the flywheel to get back up to speed and clear itself.

//greg//