Chipper Question

[Skywalker]

Im a landscaper and my guy is working for a tree company for the winter as a climber

I turn down a ton of tree work every year

Not this year

Were going to do some smaller removals and trimmings for now

were about to purchase a chipper from another small tree service

its older but is solid

its a 1984 Woodchuck WC12

4 cylinder Ford Diesal 224 cu


comes with sharp knives on her with an additional set

its been maintained well from what I can see

without a pic what do i offer him

he wants around 5000

would I insult him at 4000

thanks alot

 

[Treeman587]

No, I do not think that would be insulting. I have that chipper and would accept $4000 for it. And mine has been repowered with a White/Hercules engine.

 

[Skywalker]

Treeman

You like this chipper

how big of a company are you anyway

this chipper for me, will probably last forever

anything above 6 inch in hardwood, well sell for firewood anyway

Give me the ins and outs of this machine

or rather the pros and cons

thanks

 

[Treeman587]

It loves pine, I can throw a 25 ft long pine limb through it at about 5 inches diameter and it will eat the whole thing. On the hardwoods you will learn to guage it. But if you are doing firewood then it will be perfect. These chippers are extremely fast. Generally as fast as you can throw it in it will eat it. But the larger the diameter, the shorter it needs to be. I can throw pine logs at 8 in. and about two feet long through there. I just redid the cooling system because I had a leak on the radiator. First time out it ran at 165F. All I did once we started chipping was engage the drum, chip everything, Drop the throttle back to a little above idle, and then when it came time again I let her rip. As with any chipper, When the cutterbar, table height, and good knives are in it, it make sthe best chips, about two inch diameter at the most. Maintenance is key, grease it, all of it. And keep the knives sharp and adjusted. There are fittings on each side of the drum, facing up, and then some on the clutch. These things are tough and last for years because of their simple design.

My operation down here is a single crew. Unfortunately not working five days a week right now though, As it is really slow. I have been legit for three years now and working completely off of referals.

 

[BDawson1234]

I love my Vermeer 625 chipper. 6in is the max it will take but it's the small brush that takes up space space in my truck. The auto feed system pauses the feed rollers so it takes "bites" of the big stuff and so a 21hp V-twin Kohler motor is all it needs which makes the rig light weight and compact. Better for gas mileage and you can put it anywhere without messing up a nice lawn or caving in an old septic tank.

 

[ddhlakebound]

Im a landscaper and my guy is working for a tree company for the winter as a climber

I turn down a ton of tree work every year

Not this year

Were going to do some smaller removals and trimmings for now

were about to purchase a chipper from another small tree service

its older but is solid

its a 1984 Woodchuck WC12

4 cylinder Ford Diesal 224 cu


comes with sharp knives on her with an additional set

its been maintained well from what I can see

without a pic what do i offer him

he wants around 5000

would I insult him at 4000

thanks alot

I recently bought a '85 wc12 drum, and really like it. Its very fast, not terribly heavy, and fairly simple. As stated above, it'll eat a 15' pine limb 5" diameter in about 2 seconds. Users do need to respect all chippers, but with these old woodchucks, the drum is about 4 feet from where your'e standing. The nickname chuck n duck is quite literal. Just hearing the airplane like humm of the drum makes you want to stay plenty far away. Watch out for being whipped by branch tips too.....Once will be enough, and you'll be saying "thats gonna leave a mark".

I've used bandit 90's, 150's, and tried out the vermeer 625. Love the bandits, but they are heavier, and more expensive, and not quite as fast for the 6" and under stuff we usually chip. The vermeer 625 I feel is just a small step up from the stand up mini chippers. It was TERRIBLY slow, didn't tow well, and required much more cutting to chip everything. Very time consuming to use the 625 six in chipper.

As far as what to pay for the woodchuck, I got mine for 2900, drove 400+ miles one way to pick it up. I feel like I got a pretty good deal, and I wouldn't be upset if it had cost a little more.

I'm guessin you can get if for 4250....maybe offer 3800 and go from there....I wouldn't start any higher than 4000 though.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

 

[Steve-Maine]

I have used the smaller chippers but went to atleast 80HP Diesel and 12" Disc. That way I can chip about anything that will fit into chipper. It is more money in begining but will worth it when you have a large tree like pine or willow. Actully I have 2 Morbark 12" Disc with 80HP cummins For Sale.
Good Luck

 

[begleytree]

Its a good chipper, the WC12. too bad its diesel. they came with a 80ish hp diesel or a 120hp gas.
the gas is cheaper to operate, cheaper to buy, cheaper to fix and more powerful, doesn't require fuel additives with this UL sulfur junk fuel for '07, and regular gas is cheaper to buy than diesel fuel, and starts on the coldest days.
If it were me, I'd start him at $2500. $5K is way too much for a 23 year old CnD that may or may not be needing an injector pump very soon.

vermeer 625? please! not even in the same class.

-Ralph

 

[begleytree]

If it were me, I'd talk to this guy.

Actully I have 2 Morbark 12" Disc with 80HP cummins For Sale.
Good Luck

 

[BDawson1234]

All privit must die.

Not the same class is exactly my point. The man said he was a landscaper, not a tree service, and he wanted to start doing "smaller removals and trimmings", as in for homeowners he already works for. With homeowners, most of the time you don't even have to haul chips, just put em in the flower bed or blow em into the woods. I got one of those dump kits for a standard pickup F-250, raise the bed up to protect the back glass, shoot em in and dump em out. I do have to agree on bigger jobs, the 625 can slow ya down, and if anybody reading this happens to own one, welding an extension on the tongue makes for a better tow and backing. Also, tire inflation is key to a smooth ride, 32psi and ya don't even know it's back there.

 

[ddhlakebound]

Not the same class is exactly my point. The man said he was a landscaper, not a tree service, and he wanted to start doing "smaller removals and trimmings", as in for homeowners he already works for. With homeowners, most of the time you don't even have to haul chips, just put em in the flower bed or blow em into the woods. I got one of those dump kits for a standard pickup F-250, raise the bed up to protect the back glass, shoot em in and dump em out. I do have to agree on bigger jobs, the 625 can slow ya down, and if anybody reading this happens to own one, welding an extension on the tongue makes for a better tow and backing. Also, tire inflation is key to a smooth ride, 32psi and ya don't even know it's back there.

Ummm......He said he was a landscaper with a helper working for a tree service, who does not want to turn down tons of tree work this year.

BDawson, have you ever used any other chippers besides the vermeer 625? I'm guessing not, or you wouldn't be promoting them as effective tools to work with. The 625 is simply to small and way to slow to get a job done efficiently. Using the 625 requires a great deal more chainsawing to prepare material to chip. Once your done prepping your brush, you get to stand there and wait for the auto feed to slowly drag the limb through. On 4-6" material, the waiting is much longer, to the point of being very aggravating.

While I'm sure a longer tongue would help, my biggest problem towing it around was the narrow width, and it wanting to hop up on one wheel on bumpy turns, even at slow speeds.

The only thing about the 625 that I liked was the chips it produced. Very small, uniform chips.

You also never mentioned how much you paid for your 625. When researching to buy a chipper, most of the used 625's I saw were 6k+. Twice as much as I spent, for a much less productive machine. I'm glad you like your chipper, but because it works well for what you do does not mean you should recommend it to other people who already stated they need a bigger chipper.