Chippers

[Robby]

I need some help! I have never used or been around a branch/wood chipper. I need one, but have no idea if any are worth the money. I only want to chip 2 1/2 or smaller limbs, soft wood, but lots of it. I never expected they would be $1000 or more. Rather spend more money and not get junk. Folks here must have lots of experience.

 

[Basso]

Hello,
Well, if you have never been around or used a small wood chipper, then let me tell you...........they are a LOT of work and a pain in the butt !!!!! I have one and barely use it. It costs me around $1700.00 about 10 years ago, so it wasn't an el cheapo. You should prepare the branches, meaning placing all the ends in the same direction or you just continually fight the pile while trying to get one ready to put through the chipper. Pine branches in particular, after they are dry are a real pain. They have smaller branches going every direction and make it hard to get them down the chute. There is a lot of trimming with nippers in getting the branches ready for the chute. I'm telling you, lots of work for the little that you get out of it. You do get rid of the branches and you do get some mulch, but I find it dull, boring and tiring work. Now, if I trim some branches off a tree I usually just drag them back in the woods and out of sight. The long straight branches are fun, but they are generally far and few between. I would love to be able to justify buying one of the type that the professional tree trimmers use......they are power fed and can take some real wood !!!!! Just my opinion.....hope it helps !!!

Basso

 

[Circle B MN]

I wouldn't waste my time with anything that wasn't big enough to have an auto feed. Better off to pile and burn, or leave it lay for the critters.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

IMO, go rent a big one....in my area, around $140/day. Most small ones should be called Fisher-Price chippers....

 

[Ductape]

Those small chippers the bigbox stores sell are pretty useless. IMO, you need twenty or more HP to have a decent chipper.

 

[Streblerm]

I have an older Troy-Built (USA made) Super Tomahawk. It is their bigger model, 8HP. IIRC it was around $1200 new when my dad bought it. It is a simple hammer mill and it works pretty well for what it is... 2.5" is WAY outside of what it will do. Pretty much anything bigger than your thumb is out of the question unless it is really soft wood. A piece of pin-oak, thumb size, will wad up around the hammer mill, and if you aren't careful it will rip it (painfully) right out of your hand.

I do like mine and use it quite frequently. You have to understand its limitations. I have chipped a lot of green brush with it. Of course there is no open burning where I live, so I chip the small and leafy stuff and keep the bigger stuff for firewood, or the occasional "recreational cooking fire"
I would consider anything smaller a waste of time, unless all you want to do is mulch grass and leaves.

If you have bigger stuff, I would say rent a bigger chipper with an auto feed as others have suggested.

 

[kallaste]

chipper

I have a 5.5 craftman chipper/shredder. All of the previous posts are accurate. My chipper has a chute about 2'x2' square that folds left and right to the ground for leaves also.If you have alot of leave in the fall,this thing is great! Dry leave are turned to dust as fast as you can rake them into the chute! No bagging necessary.


Steve..

 

[STLfirewood]

Like someone else said rent one once a year or put an ad on craigslist and have a tree company drop by when they are in the area. Another use for the hammer mill type chipper is to pulverize dirt with it. You get all the clumps out and have some nice dirt to work with. You can also mix it with compost at the same time.

Scott

 

[Robby]

Chippers (not)

Well thanks,

I guess you all just saved me a $1000 or more. I was about to start selective cutting in woodlot. Thought chipping branches easier and look better.

BUT, like the man says, critters do like the piles.

I already have some white elephants, don't need more junk!!!!

 

[mtfallsmikey]

I love burning brush!!!

 

[Butch(OH)]

Like they said, the box store type chippers are a total waste of time and money other than to reduce a few twigs. I rented chippers for a few years something about renting goes against my grain. Warched Ebay for close to a year before a Morbark came along that was both in my price range and close enough to go get.

 

[wkpoor]

IMO opinion the only ones worth a darn for home use will be the PTO driven ones. They can come close to commercial power. Probably one of my better Epay purchases was the one pictured. I bought it for 1300.00 and it didn't have enough time on it to wear off any paint and the knives where perfect an razor shape. This thing gobbles branches like a monster and unless its has a nasty fork it will take it. Power feed would help because this actually needs slowed down. It is wickedly fast. And unlike most chippers that will actually chip about half the size they are rated for, this could be the opposite if the opening were bigger. A 4" 20' branch goes through in literally abut 5secs. Its rated for 6" I think? It has 4 blades on a 30" wheel. Downside is the chips are large and small stringy stuff and leaves go through untouched for the most part. The Wallenstein is very comparable.

 

[371groundie]

the pine that grows here (eastern white pine, pinus strobus) the branches lay down pretty easy, and rot within 5-10 years. even for some of the larger stuff.

seriously its a woodlot not a park, just run the saw through the brush some to dice it up and it will lay flat enough to not be obnoctious. or hit everylimb twice once at half its length, then cut it off the trunk.

ive logged small woodlots for several years now and have yet to pile or chipp brush. dice it up, run it over with the machine and let it rot. cutting behind peoples houses, in thier hunting lots, etc, never a complaint.

the limbs will rot and add nutrients to the soil. burning can damage other trees around, chips take forever to rot, and the manual labor involved is miserable!

 

[jerryw66]

Robby, if you're ever down this way, I've got a 5 hp troybuilt I'd just about give ya, 200 U. S. dollars. It's in good shape, because I can't stand to use it. the little ones are just a pain. A friend of mine found an olathe with a 170 horse cummins for 3800$ so that's what we use now. Problem with that one is, it weighs 12,500 lbs. Need at least a good 3/4 ton to pull it, and someplace for the chips to go, it will devour a 10" tree with no problem.

 

[Robby]

Chipper

It's a small world. My son in law has just returnrd from S. Dakota, down twice, he is a trouble shooter for seismic company. I guess from comments I don't want a chipper.

 

[Squirrel's Drey]

I have a Patriot model CSV-3060, with the Tecumseh 6hp OHV, two chipper knives and 6 y-hammers - couldn't be happier.
I wanted something I could run on a Sunday afternoon with out anyone complaining, leaves and branches up to 3".
Leaves and smalls are a big pain, anything larger gets burned for heat.
I just mulch it up

 

[Mr. Firewood]

I have a 6" chuck and duck that I use for tops at the farm, a little under powered but it will still handle a 4" limb 20' long

 

[Den69RS96]

i have a mackissic 12pt-10 chipper shredder. The chipper handle 3.5 inch branches and the shredder has a large opening and handles anything from leaves, vines etc to branches 1 inch. The shredder uses reversible hammers and the chipper uses a single blade. It goes through most branches like butter except when the branch is near the max size and extremely dry and hard. Just have to take your time with the larger ones. I actually spend more time gathering up all the sticks and branches than I do chipping them. I paid around 1500 for mine a few years back.