Chipper advice needed for 8 acre residential property that has logged

[blades]

Good luck on the hunt

 

[steven1955]

Well, our plans have changed... We now own a Kubota L3410 4WD tractor with about 27 HP at the PTO. So now we're looking for a PTO chipper. First choice would be a good used Bandit, Morbark, or Vermeer PTO chipper that 27 HP would be enough for, but something like the WoodMaxx WM-8H is a more likely outcome.

Anyone here seen and can compare both the hydraulic feed Woodmax or Woodland Mills PTO chippers? Any others to consider?

 

[milton dave]

Wallenstein wood chippers.
Check their website. They sell a ton of pto chippers.

 

[steven1955]

Wallenstein wood chippers.
Check their website. They sell a ton of pto chippers.

Looks like Wallenstein makes a nice chipper, and the BX52R and BX52RI are sized right for our tractor. The RI version is of particular interest becuase it is an autofeed unit.

But unless I can find a used BX52R or BX52RI, for my application the Woodmaxx WM-8H or Woodland Mills WC68 is a better value. New the Wallensteins are over twice the price of the other two. If I did find a Wallenstein I'd need to add rear hydraulic connections to my tractor to run the hydraulic feed rollers, where the Woodmax and Woodland Mills have their own self contained hydraulic systems.

There are Chinese manufactured units other than the Woodmaxx and Woodland Mills, Jinma and American Sensorx come to mind, but those others do not appear to have the support and following or even the good reviews of the Woodmaxx and Woodland Mills.

So it looks like I'll be looking for a used Bandit, Morbark, Vermeer, or even a Wallenstein PTO chipper for a while longer.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Looks like Wallenstein makes a nice chipper, and the BX52R and BX52RI are sized right for our tractor. The RI version is of particular interest becuase it is an autofeed unit.

But unless I can find a used BX52R or BX52RI, for my application the Woodmaxx WM-8H or Woodland Mills WC68 is a better value. New the Wallensteins are over twice the price of the other two. If I did find a Wallenstein I'd need to add rear hydraulic connections to my tractor to run the hydraulic feed rollers, where the Woodmax and Woodland Mills have their own self contained hydraulic systems.

There are Chinese manufactured units other than the Woodmaxx and Woodland Mills, Jinma and American Sensorx come to mind, but those others do not appear to have the support and following or even the good reviews of the Woodmaxx and Woodland Mills.

So it looks like I'll be looking for a used Bandit, Morbark, Vermeer, or even a Wallenstein PTO chipper for a while longer.

Check out the Victory chippers. @RyeThomas just got one. Hopefully he'll chime in and let us know how it's holding up.

 

[steven1955]

Check out the Victory chippers. @RyeThomas just got one. Hopefully he'll chime in and let us know how it's holding up.

Sadly the only Victory chipper our tractor has enough power (27 PTO HP) to run is the Victory BX42S, which is a gravity fed chipper. We really want hydraulic feed. It appears to be a copy of the discontinued Wallenstein BX42S.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Sadly the only Victory chipper our tractor has enough power (27 PTO HP) to run is the Victory BX42S, which is a gravity fed chipper. We really want hydraulic feed. It appears to be a copy of the discontinued Wallenstein BX42S.

Personally I wouldn't worry too much about the HP rating. You should be able to adjust the infeed rate to put less load on the engine. Also, you might not be about to put in the largest material that the chipper is rated for. But that stuff would be better as firewood anyway.

The point is that you have 27 hp available no matter which chipper you have or what it's rated for. Other than the probably minor differences they might have in how much power it takes to spin them, they'll all be able to do pretty much the same thing with the amount of HP you give them. The larger ones of course will be able to stall the tractor whereas a smaller one can't, but you have control over that as well. Another consideration is that a larger infeed doesn't just make it possible to chip larger branches, it makes feeding small tangly and branchy stuff much easier.

 

[RyeThomas]

You may want to call or email them and see what they say. As stated if you slow the Infeed I don’t think it would be an issue.

I’m not sure where your located but if you wanted to drag your tractor to Virginia I’d let you hook up and run her.

 

[milton dave]

All Star auctions in Oro-Medonte Ontario has 2 pto wood chippers for sale today.
Auction closes around 2pm.

 

[steven1955]

All Star auctions in Oro-Medonte Ontario has 2 pto wood chippers for sale today.
Auction closes around 2pm.

I need to check this thread more often. Thanks for the lead milton dave, but we missed these.

Craigslist has a few PTO chippers of some interest, but all seem to be on the wrong half of the country.

There appear to be a few clones of the Woodmaxx WM-8H out there:

1. I found an Oxxn copy of the Woodmaxx, but Oxxn no longer appears to be in business. I don't know what support would be needed, but if I were Woodmaxx I wouldn't willingly support their out of business clones.
2. A while back on eBay there was an American Sensorx clone of a Wallenstein, but American Sensorx appears to be out of business as well.
3. There is the Victory WC8H that RyeThomas has, but for some reason it suggests that 30 PTO HP is the minimum required, where the Woodmaxx says 19 PTO HP is OK. Currently 4 of 5 Victory chippers are listed as out of stock. Only their BX-42S clone of the Wallenstein is in stock. I wonder if they'll be around for future support.
4. There is a local (near Lancaster, Pennsylvania) dealer with a used, slightly weathered, Woodmaxx WM-8H for a so far non negotiable $2597 with the 6% PA sales tax. Seems that it would be worth paying Woodmaxx's full $2799 to get a full 3 year warranty and not worry about the used machine's unknown history.

I have voiced my concerns a few times about future support of these cloned chippers. I am sure that I can always find replacement bearings, belts, knives, and hydraulic bits. But should any major component suffer damage or failure fixing the unit might be a challenge.

 

[steven1955]

I do not think that we will find a suitable used PTO chipper, but we will wait and watch a while longer.

My guess is that this will come down to a Woodmaxx vs Woodland Mills debate.

The Woodmaxx WM-8H has in it's favor:
1. A heavier 200 pound flywheel that spins at 1120 rpm.
2. Two 6 inch diameter hydraulic feed rolls.
3. 19 HP minimum recommended PTO HP.
Against:
4. 6 inch vs 8 inch feed rolls.
5. No folding chute. Bigger footprints for both driving the tractor and storage.

The Woodand Mills WC68 has in it's favor:
1. Direct drive (no belts).
2. A folding chute.
3. One 8 inch diameter feed roll, bigger than the Woodmaxx's 6 inch rollers.
4. A hinged housing to expose the flywheel for easier blade service.
Against:
5. The 540 rpm flywheel speed

The Woodand Mills WC88 has in it's favor:
1. An 1100 rpm flywheel. (I've read that the weight is 120 pounds, but that is not confirmed.)
2. A folding chute.
3. One 8 inch diameter feed roll, bigger than the Woodmaxx's 6 inch rollers.
4. A hinged housing to expose the flywheel for easier blade service.
Against:
5. A minimum 35 PTO HP is specified. (I only have 27 PTO HP.)

I have not made a big deal about the weight of the flywheels, because what's more important is stored energy at operating speeds. A 120 pound flywheel can store more energy than a 200 pound flywheel if the weight is distributed out near the rim of the flywheel. There is a reason flywheels are shaped like, well, flywheels. A solid disc of uniform thickness will store far less energy that a wheel with most of it;s weight near the rim.

I lean toward the belt driven flywheels because energy stored is a function of the square of the rpm, and the belt driven units simply spin their flywheels much faster. The Woodland Mills WC88, assuming that both the WC68 and WC88 use the same flywheel, will store at it's 1000 rpm operating speed 3.43 ((1000/540) x (1000/540)) times as much energy as the WC68 flywheel does at 540 rpm. I wish the makers of these chippers published the amount of stored energy in their flywheels instead of or in addition to the flywheel dimensions or weight.

I would surely like to pick the best features of all three of the above models, but at this moment the Woodmaxx WM-8Hseems to be the best compromise.

It's too bad that the Woodland Mills WC88 couldn't operate at 27 PTO HP or less (2 knives? Reduced feed rates?), be fitted with the straight chute, and had two feed rolls instead of one. I think that the Woodland mills is just a cleaner package.

 

[RyeThomas]

After my initial order I decided to get belts, they shipped quick, then I decided to get knives, they shipped quick. My initial order arrived from CA to Va in around a week. The small stuff was a few days. From my experience they can get any part to you fast, are super responsive to emails or phone calls. I even recieved correspondence on weekends.

If I had to do it all over I would buy another Victory chipper. Realize these chippers are almost all exclusively manufactured in China, they make claims about USA knives or assembled in the USA but the country of origin is China.

I have no affiliation with Victory, they have just been very helpful with everything and saved me hundreds of dollars.

Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[steven1955]

Hi RyeThomas and others,

There is no question that Victory could save us a lot of money. As of this date their model WC8H is only $2145 shipped, a full $654 cheaper than the Woodmaxx price of $2799 shipped for their WM-8H. But if I were to order today the Victory is not in stock. If it were in stock when I was ready to order, and that is after I give up looking for a suitable used PTO chipper, I will certainly consider saving my money.

American Sensorx had good reviews, and is now apparently out of business. Onnx had good reviews, and is also now apparently out of business. But in both cases someone handy and diligent will be able to keep those chippers running for a long time.

I have a concern about future support, but I can be handy and diligent, so I could keep a non supported chipper running. I too might well go for the savings like you did. A lot depends on what is available to buy when I decide to make our purchase.

 

[Big_Eddy]

I have 75 acres of hardwoods, with numerous trails throughout. A couple of times over the last 30 years, I have rented a chipper for a major task, to destroy a large pile of brush. Never been disappointed in the performance.
For smaller tasks generating a lot of brush, I piled in an open location and burned when dry. Over the years, the number of open places has shrunk - to the point that burning is no longer an option. I still produce copious amounts of brush from pruning and trail clearing. Mostly it gets dragged off the trail and either scattered or piled for habitat.

However - for the yard and apple orchard - My only option has been to collect the prunings in the dump trailer, drag up the hill into the bush and dump into the monster brush pile and go back for the next load. Gets old after about 5-10 loads.
Last fall - my wife bought me a 3pt chipper through TSC. https://www.tscstores.com/3-POINT-4-WOOD-CHIPPER-P36753.aspx
I have a JD855 with about 25HP on the PTO. I was pretty skeptical as to what it would be able to handle, but in reality I've been more than impressed by what it will handle.

Anything over about 4" and straight, I cut for firewood or evaporator wood. Smaller than that the chipper handles it without blinking. It's not the fastest - but it's as fast as I can feed it if I have to walk even a few steps for the next branch. Large Ys do need trimming to fit - but once it gets hold of a branch, 95% of the time it will pull it through without stopping. It ate our 8' Christmas tree (less a few bottom branches) and when I tossed in some ~8' 2"x6" pine slabs it chipped them up without complaint. The only time the tractor even seemed to notice the load was when I deliberately threw in a 4" diameter ash trunk, dry and hard as a bone, and the revs only dipped slightly before recovering.

Overall - I've been more than happy with the performance, and for $1500 CDN I'm delighted. Pruning the apple orchard this year resulted in a single dump trailer of chips, where last year would have been 8-10 loads of branches. And the chipping time was significantly less than 8 trips up the hill. And every tree base and garden bed is now mulched with chips.

Since I got it - it's spent way more time on the tractor than I expected it would. Might not be what you're looking for - but for my purposes it was a good buy. It's going to get a workout shortly - my neighbour lost a huge willow to the last windstorm.

 

[steven1955]

Anyone know anything about the Altec DC610? Performance, reliability and parts availability? (I know it's a 22 hp Honda gas motor driven chipper, but that should meet our needs.)

While I was waiting to pull the trigger on a Woodmaxx a number of these showed up at a local auction. I just haven't been able to find much about this chipper other than what can be seen on Youtube videos.

 

[mrhemihead]

I have no knowledge of this machine BUT I was faced a similar situation, that you have, on our 6 acre wooded lot.

Flash back 11 years ago, when we first moved here, I purchased a Vermeer 935 diesel from a defunct tree service, for $6K. After some light mechanical work we ran that machine for 1 year then sold it for the purchase price.

Fast forward to 2016 our ash trees were succumbing to the dreaded bark beetle. A logger selectively removed them all , now we are left to manage the debris. The piles are close to a neighbor in plain sight, especially now with the leaves gone. Regretting that I sold the 935, I purchased a 2008 Vermeer 1000XL, formally owned by an electric utility. The price was right, the chipper runs as it should, but it needed cosmetic work to suit my standards. Soon after a tree service, who spotted it parked in the woods, offered to buy it for my purchase price.

The moral of the story...purchase a machine that will appeal to a tree service, if or when you decide to sell. The 6" gas machines, commonly used as rentals, do not maintain their value and are too slow for commercial use. I know cause I rented one, several times.

I chose to stay with Vermeer because the local dealer stocks most of the parts. What they don't stock ships factory direct, always here in a few days. Maintenance and operating manuals are free of charge, when you register the machine on their site.

 

[steven1955]

The moral of the story...purchase a machine that will appeal to a tree service, if or when you decide to sell. The 6" gas machines, commonly used as rentals, do not maintain their value and are too slow for commercial use. I know cause I rented one, several times.

That's a good thought, but we would not likely be able to get a commercial machine to where the stuff that needs chipping. So we are looking at either a small trailer mounted chipper, or a PTO chipper.

We did a pre-auction inspection of the 11 Altec DC610 chippers.

a. There was one Vermeer BC600XL to compare these to. Despite having similar power this is a much more substantial machine than the Vermeer, with a wider chute and much feed roll twice as wide. The trailer frame was bigger and more substantial with bigger, larger diameter tires.
b. There was only an upper feed roll.
c. Six of the 11 started and ran properly, although a few had rough sounding bearings.

I would buy any of of the 11 at the right price. In past auctions this brand and model of chipper sold in the $4000 to $5000 range, where the Woodmaxx WM-8H is $3000. I'd have to get one of these pretty cheaply to choose one of these over the Woodmaxx.

 

[dennis066]

That's a good thought, but we would not likely be able to get a commercial machine to where the stuff that needs chipping. So we are looking at either a small trailer mounted chipper, or a PTO chipper.

We did a pre-auction inspection of the 11 Altec DC610 chippers.

a. There was one Vermeer BC600XL to compare these to. Despite having similar power this is a much more substantial machine than the Vermeer, with a wider chute and much feed roll twice as wide. The trailer frame was bigger and more substantial with bigger, larger diameter tires.
b. There was only an upper feed roll.
c. Six of the 11 started and ran properly, although a few had rough sounding bearings.

I would buy any of of the 11 at the right price. In past auctions this brand and model of chipper sold in the $4000 to $5000 range, where the Woodmaxx WM-8H is $3000. I'd have to get one of these pretty cheaply to choose one of these over the Woodmaxx.

My neighbor loves his PTO Woodmaxx.

 

[mrhemihead]

That's a good thought, but we would not likely be able to get a commercial machine to where the stuff that needs chipping. So we are looking at either a small trailer mounted chipper, or a PTO chipper.

We did a pre-auction inspection of the 11 Altec DC610 chippers.

a. There was one Vermeer BC600XL to compare these to. Despite having similar power this is a much more substantial machine than the Vermeer, with a wider chute and much feed roll twice as wide. The trailer frame was bigger and more substantial with bigger, larger diameter tires.
b. There was only an upper feed roll.
c. Six of the 11 started and ran properly, although a few had rough sounding bearings.

I would buy any of of the 11 at the right price. In past auctions this brand and model of chipper sold in the $4000 to $5000 range, where the Woodmaxx WM-8H is $3000. I'd have to get one of these pretty cheaply to choose one of these over the Woodmaxx.

I have rented a BC600XL several times, but would never purchase one for the reasons mentioned above. Will they allow you to test chip if you supplied the material? Hours and maintenance are everything with these machines, if the clock is functional and not tinkered with. Most rentals are well maintained.

The Honda twin cylinder is a VG engine. I own a small asphalt roller with one, plenty of power, easy to start.

 

[milton dave]

Bryan’s Equipment auctions in Puslinch, Ontario has 2 Wallenstien PTO chippers up for auction this week.


https://bryansfarm.hibid.com/lot/47238377/3pth-heavy-duty-wood-chipper?cat=231