Chipper size

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ArtB

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Grandson does summer jobs, gets loaner tools from grandpa.
He dumps on my compost pile (about 14/ acre pile back of house), but compost will be slow as it is all the full branches 6-8ft long.
Told him I'd watch for a chipper of decent size, already have a couple of 'toys', just 5 HP HO type, need something decent, enough to fill a 3/4 T PU or 4x10 trailer in a half hour or so
So, what is a decent size, 4 inch size likely biggest branch he would try to chip.
Have seen some decent deal on Bidadoo.
Recommendations for 'summer job' type, used, want to keep cost under say $3K, can repair if need be.
 
Sounds like he's already hauling brush to your place?
He could make a bunch of neat piles and rent a big chipper for a day at the end of the season and chip it all.
Sounds like a 6" chipper would serve him well behind a 3/4 ton, but 3k wont get you very far around here on something like that.

I know some small time arborists use smaller 4" chippers that you can load into a trailer, but if your buying used, what's available in your area will be the deciding factor in what you get.
 
What you want and what you want to spend are too far away from each other.

The above suggestion to stage slash and rent a chipper every so often is your best option. Even a 6" chipper will be frustrating if you have much volume to feed thru it. A 12" drum chipper would serve you. But $3,000 would probably buy just a worn-out heap of trouble, unless you or grandson are a top mechanic with time on your hands.
 
I found an old Peco 6" disk chipper when I first got started. It had been sitting for about 3 years but I thought I could get it going. I spent $1250 on the purchase, put new tires, belts, and fluids in it and got the motor running. About a week later the starter snapped clean off the block, so I put a Harbor Freight 22hp on it. Then the pump that ran the feed wheels went out. Finally I had replaced everything on it and it ran like a champ. Lol. It wasn't an auto feed so we had to manually reverse the feed wheels when the motor bogged, but we could easily run 4" branches threw it. All in all I had about $5000 in it, and hours of time working on it and searching the internet for parts. Once I was ready for a bigger chipper I could only get $2000 out of it. Sorry if that wasn't helpful just wanted to share my experience.
 
Yup getting a good chipper is a real investment. 1980's 8" chippers around here go for 10 grand.
The guys I work for in my off season had there JD diesel die in there 1800xl. They said I could have it but a motor rebuild was quoted at 15,000. I'm sure I could find a used motor but that machine has had a rough life and broke down nearly weekly. I think if I go all in i might get a brand new echo bear cat for like 20g's. I think 20 grand will getcha a 10 inch. Nothing worse then unfixable problems on the job site. I rent a vermeer 9 inch for 240 a day currently. I shoot the chips into a dump trailer which sucks cause of all the hooking and unhooking trailers. Lots of dump sites around here help. A 550/5500 dump w/chip box would be the ticket for me.
Good luck with your next chipper choice.
 
Any under 3k chipper is going to be a pos. It will probably spend more time broken down vs operational. Your likely to spend more time working on it vs using it.

We have an f550. Its been a really good choice. It's small enough to take into yards and tight driveways but its big enough to really have some capacity. Its like driving a large pickup truck and doesn't require a cdl unless pulling a trailer over 10,000lbs.
 
Guys what is a 2002 Bandit model 90 with a 50 horse diesel and 2000 hours on it in OK condition worth?
The best thing I've found is to do some research online and see what other machines similar are going for. Also what I can afford, an amazing machine makes money fast, but not when it's raining. And a machine that can't keep up with the work load cost money. On a quick search I wasn't able to find any Model 90's of that year but the newer ones are in the 20K range.
 
Guys what is a 2002 Bandit model 90 with a 50 horse diesel and 2000 hours on it in OK condition worth?

I had a 99 model 90 with 48hp deutz diesel around 1000 hours. Sold it 5 years ago for 9k.

For 3k you could get by with a chuck and duck. I have one as a back up and it chips like a beast when the knives are sharp and well maintained. I think I paid 3400 for it last year. It's a 2011 Altec Whisper Chipper with Ford 2.3L gas engine. Not fun to chip dead ash with though.
 
I sold my Bandit 90 not working for 2 grand. Disc and trailer were good, small 2 cylinder Wisconsin engine was shot. I intended to put a new Kohler engine on it, but never got round to it. I sold my Bandit 95 for about 5 grand with a worn out Wisconsin D 4 cylinder on it. It also needed new tires and bed knife. But that rig was tight and had no rust. A guy from NY bought it and put new tires and WI 4 cyl. gas engine on it. I gave him 4 sets of knives with it, and a pintle hook hitch receiver.

For the OP, you really need to go large scale to get away from the weenie 5 HP chippers. But they have to be towed, they suck up a lot of gas, they require a lot of maintenence (like the knives have to be constantly be re-sharpened) and they are DANGEROUS to operate. You need to think about liability. A gal near me here ran her husband though one (on purpose). They will chip tree and human limbs just the same. People always wanted to BORROW my chipeprs. I always said NO!
 
I had a 99 model 90 with 48hp deutz diesel around 1000 hours. Sold it 5 years ago for 9k.

For 3k you could get by with a chuck and duck. I have one as a back up and it chips like a beast when the knives are sharp and well maintained. I think I paid 3400 for it last year. It's a 2011 Altec Whisper Chipper with Ford 2.3L gas engine. Not fun to chip dead ash with though.
Prices are up they arent making them so fast with Covid and all.
 
Just found a 97' bandit 90xp w/ deutz on it, decent shape, well maintained. Are they a bear to start in the winter?
 
Bandit 90xp, well maintained--that's a nice machine.

My chipper is powered by Deutz diesel. I don't use it much in winter, but in general it has impressed me with its cold-starting ability. In freezing temps you do need to fire up the glow plugs. May take a few tries, but it'll run.

Other thing I've learned about Deutz diesel is that it's a reliable beast. If you're a farmer in Zimbabwe with the nearest diesel mechanic 1,000 miles away in another country, you want a Deutz-powered tractor.
 
Don't know how the Bandit-Deutz is set up, but mine is oil-cooled. Meaning that instead of a water jacket filled with water and anti-freeze, the motor oil is pumped thru the radiator to cool the engine. Pretty damn cool setup and I've never had any issue with it.
 

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