I'm currently running a 2007 Altec 1217 with a 80+ Horse Kubota diesel, disc. Also have a 2006 WC12 widow maker with a Nissan H25 gas motor for backup. I've worked relentlessly to save for an upgrade. Pretty sure I"m going with the Vermeer 1800. Which engine should I get? Money IS an issue. I'll have to get a bank loan for most of this chipper and I hate debt. I want to get the machine that's best in the long if I'm going to make such a commitment.
Winch would be additional $5K. Don't think I need that as I have an articulating loader with rotating grapple to feed it.
My engine choices are:
165HP/300 torque gas, $70,000, new
130HP/369 torque diesel, $80,000, new
173HP/492 torque diesel, $90,000, new
2017 1800xl, used 1200 hrs., 173HP diesel, $60,000
Appreciate feedback
As others have mentioned, you might consider Bandit, unless they just don't have anything in your area. I have been using mine since 1997, and it is the best machine I have ever purchased.
Bar none. It has been in regular use and has almost every single original component still working as good as the day I bought it new in 1997. (The 80hp John Deere engine is getting kinda tired and hard to start though.)
As to winches? That depends more on the kind of tree work you do than whatever other equipment you might have. I have often wished for a winch on mine. They probably waste a lot of time with guys that don't want to drag brush, but in the right situation, they are a life-saver. Imagine a tree cut down at the bottom of a slope. Your guys will be killing themselves cutting up pieces small enough to drag up the hill, and then losing time toting much tinier pieces than the chipper can chip. You could run out the rope and pull huge loads up that hill, and then cut it up small enough to put in the chipper. A big chipper like that 1800 can consume branches bigger than your guys can drag, so it might pay off very nicely. That winch can also be used to help keep the chipper pointed in the right direction when you are backing into a tight or muddy spot, but that is a risky thing to do as the winch isn't rated for the weight you might expose it to.
The need for a winch depends more on your specific business, the kind of trees you encounter, and what your customer base is. It would probably be of little value to someone working in an expensive neighborhood where you cannot drag the work closer to the chipper.
On a slightly different line of thought:
You said " Don't think I need that as I have an articulating loader with rotating grapple to feed it. "
I had a job so rough that I mounted a hydraulic winch onto my grapple! You may not realize how often that is needed unless you have it! It literally lets me do some jobs in 1/4th the time required if I didn't have it. I mounted it up for a job that required us to drag cut trees up a 50' slope out of a very steep river bed. We couldn't leave anything in the river bed, as it would wash downstream and cause huge problems. The slope was so severe that we could barely crawl up it with a chainsaw. Without that winch, we would have been there for months. It paid for the installation expense the very first job we used it on.
I'm pretty sure that I would rather have a winch on my grapple than on the chipper, if it was a choice of "pick just one". Just think of all the times you cannot go to where the brush/logs are, and you have your guys drag it to the machine for further & easier transport. I can even reach over a 6' tall fence, pull in a big log from 90' away, and then pick it right up into the grapple and tote it over to the truck. I have even used it to hold logs into my grapple that were too large for the grapple to fully surround and hold reliably.
And...it makes a pretty nice engine hoist, too. Just the other day, I was helping a competitor on a job, and his log splitter had a flat tire. I quickly rigged the winch line to the hydraulic cylinder, moved the wedge to a balancing point, and then carried the splitter across the yard to a safe point for pickup later. Sure! That could have been done with a chain, but at great peril to the cylinder. Adjusting the height while carrying was much easier too.
If money is tight, and you are considering a winch, I personally think that $5k would be better spent putting a winch on the top of your grapple than onto your chipper. But that is because I am one of the few folks that have ever tried it.
