Purchased a Victory 3 point Chipper

[RyeThomas]

Well I went round and round a few weeks ago between renting and purchasing a chipper. My little enterprise is trying to grow but it’s been an expensive ride. I have 2 jobs pending and I was going to spend $700 min in rental fees. I also figured in the stress of a tight deadline when renting, weather and possible delays, the fact I have a full time job and can’t dedicate a full couple of days to any job. All this added up to me deciding purchasing may be better.
I looked at a lot of chippers, they all seem to be clones of one another. Once I started digging into the specs and looking seriously I couldn’t help but notice they were all based of a similar design and many strikingly similar (like almost exact) and hailing from somewhere in China.
We can get into a big discussion about who’s from where and what’s done here in the States but I’d rather just concede one way or another the vast majority of these machines are not manufactured in the USA.
Next I started looking at some of the big name brands and they were a fortune, then they were Manual feed not even Mechanical feed but Manual.
So when I started looking at Hydraulic feed machines there are a few big players and then hidden a bit was Victory. I contacted them and recieved quick responses to all my questions. Over a weekend (even when they were closed) I received prompt responses to all my e-mails. Heck I’ve purchased products from people and couldn’t get customer service till normal business hours.
Anyway long story short I went with this https://etractorimplements.com/product/wc8h/

 

[RyeThomas]

Well she arrived in a nice metal framed box yesterday, of course at 5:30pm in my 9-5 window. HA! I will say even dry this is a heavy bugger at a little over 1000lbs. The 200lb flywheel helps.
We are having a rain/snow event so I probably won’t start assembly till Thursday, then I’m assuming I’ll have to let it dry out a bit. Chipping wet material seems like a disaster waiting to happen. I’ll probably have to wait till Saturday or next week to get some test run time in. Then I’ve got to put her to work and make some money rather than spend it.
I will keep this thread up to date for anyone interested. This was a big purchase and I hope it works out. It boggles my mind most of these name brand PTO Chippers are $1800+ and they are Manual feed, not even mechanical but Manual. So for $2145.00 shipped to my door with Hydraulic In feed, while still a fortune if it works out will be a homerun.
I assure you I will be critical of the machine and I’m sure there will be a few bumps along the way. Stay tuned...

 

[RyeThomas]

Patiently waiting, not.
Excuse my mess I need to clean up and paint that darn garage door. For size reference that’s a pretty good size Yamaha 250. This chipper at 1000lbs looks pretty stout.

 

[RyeThomas]

Not trying to start a war but these parts, bearings, valves, hydraulic pumps/ motors, look exactly like the big name brands.

 

[RyeThomas]

I also want to be clear I paid the full $2145 and have no association with Victory. I did save $650-700 over the other big name brands and after digging they are all made in China.
The only difference I can tell this far is some have an adjustable top link and skids vs simple feet. Neither of which bothers me at all. That said this could all blow up in my face, lol.

 

[blades]

looks like a very nice set up , really like the 8x12 intake

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Thanks for posting this Rye!! My wife and I just bought an already established 5 acre orchard. Up until now the owner had been renting a chipper every spring to clean up the prunings. We may continue to do that, but this chipper does look intriguing. The price certainly is appealing. I look forward to your updates!

 

[RyeThomas]

Ok so I got the Chipper assembled in about 4 hours. I was in no hurry, with two people you could have it done in no time. I of course like always was solo so it was a bit more challenging. Directions were good with pictures until I got to the hydraulic control lever and valve. They have updated the valve and it is more like the Woodmaxx (different part number but the same type) Instead of simply reducing flow by a set screw, it is a valve that sends extra fluid back to the tank via a return line. Like the Woodmaxx though the valve is probably oversized so you get 100% or probably 30% not much between.
Next the control bar (for the infeed rollers Fwd/N/R) is under the chute rather than over. I like it under but I have no experience with the bar that’s over either.
Putting the control and hydraulic valve and setting the linkage was not covered in the directions (the older style was still in the instructions). I got her figured out but sent them an email about the instructions not being complete.
The last difference is due to the mounting or hook up design my quick hitch won’t work. Not a huge deal as my John Deere 4510 has the easy adjustable bottom links with the pins. But if you have the turnbuckle style I could see this being a big pain.

 

[RyeThomas]

Ok so operation wise the machine has exceeded all my expectations. It has handled much larger material than I expected with ease and very little rpm drop. My tractor is only 35 pto hp but it doesn’t seem to be an issue.
The quality, fit and finish seem to be of similar HD construction as my other more expensive big name implements. I am very satisfied with my purchase and if I need another implement I will be using Victory Tractor Implements again.

 

[RyeThomas]

I will try to get a video and definitely more pictures. If anyone has any questions or wants to see anything specific let me know. I will give you an honest answer, I’m not the guy that thinks what I have is the best cause I purchased it. That said I’m glad I saved a bunch of coin going this way vs the bigger brands that IMO are all clones of one another.

 

[RyeThomas]

 

[RyeThomas]

 

[RyeThomas]

My 4510 is at the low end of pto horsepower for the chipper, they want 30 min and I’m only at 33.6. RPM dropped but nothing to worry about.