Disc vs drum chipper

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Which do you prefer to use


  • Total voters
    52
Chip quality may not mean anything to some, and that's fine, however, when you're in an area where it can be beneficial to be able to get rid of it as a marketable product, it can make a big difference. Even if it mean just getting people to take it.

I think that one of the most notable chippers in my opinion are the bandits with the 37" hybrid wheel, starting with the 1390xp model. It's sort of a cross between a classic drum or disc.

drum_diagram.jpg



Other than that, I've run an old diesel power chuck and duck, a cat powered 06 versmeer 1400xl, and own a 98 woodchuck wc17 with the ford 6, which does a really nice job all around and maintains a great deal of simplicity. If I have my way I might just keep it as a backup once I move on to a bandit 1390xp.

So then I suppose disk vs drum is really a question, and function, of various parameters.

You see this is the difference between a good helpful comment and the remark made by the young lad (I am assuming by the wording ) that would only say that because of distance. A real man would face to face a remark like that. If I would slap his face with a glove and challenge him to a duel by gum I would. Coward!
 
You see this is the difference between a good helpful comment and the remark made by the young lad (I am assuming by the wording ) that would only say that because of distance. A real man would face to face a remark like that. If I would slap his face with a glove and challenge him to a duel by gum I would. Coward!

Who's the coward chappy?




Chappy is the german word that is used to describe anger or short temper. A person who is regarded as a chappy will suffer from anger managment issues and abnormally large mussle mass. There is only one thing that can calm a chappy down and this is by placing a sock in his mouth as soon as the sock touches his mouth all the anger will drain away and the chappy will return to normal
 
I think you guys are being stupid about faster this and better that. My 990XP will keep 2 guys sweating like fat drunks all day long how much faster do you need to be? As for chip quality who the f..k cares just get em' into the truck and be done with it. What a bunch of egotistical moronship I am reading here. The straight answer to the original question is they are both good. They both work fine as they are intended to if well maintained. My chipper this and my chipper that is nothing more than little boys measuring up at the urinal. Grow up it's a chipper not a penis.

Maybe you should wake up and realize different tree services may do things different. If I had two people loading my chipper, I would never get any work done. There have been a few days where My 325hp 570 was down and I have to use the 180 hp 515. It is still a very nice 18" chipper(still faster than a VR 1800), But it was holding us up the whole day. Our chipper is loaded daily by either one or two ASV track machines and or our log truck. We don't play around. If your chipper is not slowing you down, Its either the right size for your crew, or your working too slow. I have jobs quite often that we are waiting on the 570 or chip truck swaps. I also have a lot of big jobs we bring our 48ft walking floor trailer to. And as far as chip quality. Not everyone just throws there chips a way. There are lots of times the quality of the chip determines if I can sell them or not. The conehead chippers are drum chippers that produce chips like a disc chipper. They basically cut the chips at the same angle as a disc. Its the happy medium for the most part.
 
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chip quality is important, nice chip takes up a lot less space
but if you really want to save time dont chip at all, get a log loader
 
chip quality is important, nice chip takes up a lot less space
but if you really want to save time dont chip at all, get a log loader

Agree with this. Log removal or reuse to fire wood or timber product is a way to reduce need for large capacity machines and their cost plus your staff backs in the cut up haul away process.
 
It goes both ways. It is much easier for my crew and more profitable in the end to drop and chip whole trees when we can. Then to spend the time to cut logs and branches. We also sell chips. We save saw logs but minimal firewood and very little soft wood.
 
Chip quality may not mean anything to some, and that's fine, however, when you're in an area where it can be beneficial to be able to get rid of it as a marketable product, it can make a big difference. Even if it mean just getting people to take it.

I think that one of the most notable chippers in my opinion are the bandits with the 37" hybrid wheel, starting with the 1390xp model. It's sort of a cross between a classic drum or disc.

drum_diagram.jpg



Other than that, I've run an old diesel power chuck and duck, a cat powered 06 versmeer 1400xl, and own a 98 woodchuck wc17 with the ford 6, which does a really nice job all around and maintains a great deal of simplicity. If I have my way I might just keep it as a backup once I move on to a bandit 1390xp.

So then I suppose disk vs drum is really a question, and function, of various parameters.

The woodsman chippers have a 36 or 37" drum too.

Call me old school, I voted for disk. I love my 250 with quad rollers and supersized infeed.
 
The woodsman chippers have a 36 or 37" drum too.

Call me old school, I voted for disk. I love my 250 with quad rollers and supersized infeed.

Nice. I'll keep that in mind about the woodsman, I'm not too familiar with them yet. I would be happy to find a decent deere powered 250 instead of a big step up into the 15"-18" range for the time being. If I end up making payments on something, it'll have to be happy to eat the bigger branches. I know what a vermeer 1400xl with a winch can do in short order, but I don't want a vermeer for poor design, cheap switches, arrogant service and glorified parts.
 
Nice. I'll keep that in mind about the woodsman, I'm not too familiar with them yet. I would be happy to find a decent deere powered 250 instead of a big step up into the 15"-18" range for the time being. If I end up making payments on something, it'll have to be happy to eat the bigger branches. I know what a vermeer 1400xl with a winch can do in short order, but I don't want a vermeer for poor design, cheap switches, arrogant service and glorified parts.

I picked mine up a few years ago for 18k. it had under 1500 hours on it, 125hp turbo deere, supersized infeed with quads and hyd. chute. Deals are out there, you just gotta be lucky enough to find em (I thought it was a good deal anyway).

If I ever buy another chipper, I would have to demo a 1590 with 140 deere power.. seems like it might be just the ticket (without getting into the whole CDL thing).
 
Who's the coward chappy?




Chappy is the german word that is used to describe anger or short temper. A person who is regarded as a chappy will suffer from anger managment issues and abnormally large mussle mass. There is only one thing that can calm a chappy down and this is by placing a sock in his mouth as soon as the sock touches his mouth all the anger will drain away and the chappy will return to normal

That's not what I'd be sticking in your mouth chumpy!
 
I think you guys are being stupid about faster this and better that. My 990XP will keep 2 guys sweating like fat drunks all day long how much faster do you need to be? As for chip quality who the f..k cares just get em' into the truck and be done with it. What a bunch of egotistical moronship I am reading here. The straight answer to the original question is they are both good. They both work fine as they are intended to if well maintained. My chipper this and my chipper that is nothing more than little boys measuring up at the urinal. Grow up it's a chipper not a penis.

Well said! I have read statistics, and all these opinions contradict each other. You are right, they are both great designs, each have small pros and cons. Not enough to say one or the other is the #1 style. I have had both, very little difference as I only do tree work 1-2 times a week.
Write down all your goals for the machine. Let your personal needs decide which is best.
 
I like these old threads. Salty, grumpy and opinionated.

I'm currently looking to upgrade chippers and have done a lot of research. This is what I have found.

Disks require fine tuning your knives more making sure they stay very sharp, but for sure produce a higher quality chip. Drums can be ran with duller knives and are easier to change. Disks handle large wood better, drums process limby messy brush better. Disks are heavier but throw chips harder. Now as far as the bandits go, it sounds like you can run the machines with the 37" dia drum with lower hp packages because the large drum has much more torque and cuts on the bottom half. I'm leaning towards a 990xp, if $ and weight weren't an issue I would probably go with a 250xp.

My 2 cents
 
CHUCK and DUCK. Hands down. Or hands cut off....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
CHUCK and DUCK. Hands down. Or hands cut off....
I just bought a "chuck'n duck". Scary. There are no feed rollers. Looking through the feed chute you see the drum and knives screaming for debris. The knives grab the branches and suck them in, really, really. fast. Very careful to release the branches because it sucks them in at warp speed. Great for palm fronds. Never use disc chippers when you chip palm fronds, it burns up the bearings.
 

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