Anybody used a "Chomper"?

[sawinredneck]

I gues the guy I've been delivering wood to wants to buy a proccesor and thinks this is the cats meow:

http://www.chomper.net/page2.html

I don't want to come right out and call it a POS, but for cutting dried White Oak I don't think it's going to either work, or last long if it does work.
Can anyone prove me wrong? I hate to see this guy waste a bunch of money on this thing, but it's just my hunch.

 

[hutch3912]

Don't believe it

On there website they try and justify the piece of machinery by saying it drys wood faster. It gives a table saying that Red Oak will dry at the same speed as white birch or red maple. I'm calling Bull right there cause unless it has a kiln theres no way it drys oak faster than a soft maple. We let oak sit two years for a good dry and the red maple we will burn after six months.

 

[avalancher]

I cant begin to figure out how wood would season different just because of the way that it is cut and split. Only time, heat, and air movement seasons wood.
At least that is what I have been told a jillion times.
Maybe if the machine splits it into kindling........
I wouldnt buy anything from a company that tried to pull that one over me.

 

[clawmute]

I gues the guy I've been delivering wood to wants to buy a proccesor and thinks this is the cats meow:

http://www.chomper.net/page2.html

I don't want to come right out and call it a POS, but for cutting dried White Oak I don't think it's going to either work, or last long if it does work.
Can anyone prove me wrong? I hate to see this guy waste a bunch of money on this thing, but it's just my hunch.

Large shears work Ok, provided they have all of the beef and hydraulics required to stand the heavy duty work. One chipmill operator I worked with had a large set of hydraulic shears that cut tree length hardwoods to prescribed lengths as they were being fed into a tree length debarking drum.

It was VERY stout and would shear large hardwoods with no sweat. It was very impressive to see those giant scissor shears whacking off a piece of Oak.

Anything handling wood must be very healthy and if you think it's strong and heavy enough when you first build it, then you are mistaken.

"Bring more steel plate and the welder and lets beef this thing up."

 

[i'mstihlaguy]

I cant begin to figure out how wood would season different just because of the way that it is cut and split. Only time, heat, and air movement seasons wood.
At least that is what I have been told a jillion times.
Maybe if the machine splits it into kindling........
I wouldnt buy anything from a company that tried to pull that one over me.

:agree2:
In some cases you don't have to have a good product, just good marketing. Some have both, some have one or the other and some don't have either.

Let the buyer beware!

 

[dnf0929]

They claim that the shear blade squeezes more water out of the wood and therefore it dries faster...? I emailed the company and they provided me with a list of people who owned them. I spoke to 2 people and neither of them had much bad to say. The one guy raved about his and the other guy said he was pretty satisfied but felt it was a little underpowered. No one close by had one so I haven't seen one in action.

 

[blackdiesel]

i'm with dnf, i looked into them a while back and got the list also. i got the same stories from the people i called.

and i believe the line about the wood drying faster then being cut with a saw. the amount of force that has to be exerted to slice a log could easily bust the wood up so it would get much more air and drain the water faster.

when i get a stick caught in my 8 way splitter on my timberwolf, and the ram really goes to putting a lot of pressure on it, the water just pours out of it. so its very possible

 

[Wet1]

I'd be a little skeptical. That would take a lot of force over a very large area (unlike the splittler example above).

 

[Ohiowoodguy]

I don't want to come right out and call it a POS,

You gotta call 'em like you see 'em! Haven't you noticed all the almost-new "Chompers" for sale? Wonder why? Any Timberwolf, Cord-King, or Multitek for sale used is usually 5-10 years old with 1000's of hour on it.
I got a small HudSon machine- don't complain too much 'cause the price was right, own a welder, work with a mechanic- if you catch my meaning.

A local guy here got a Woodbine a year ago- took him all summer to get it re-constructed to work properly and got only laughs when he asked the company for help .

 

[redprospector]

Sawinredneck,
Now that you've heard everyone's opinion's, and what they think I'll let you know what I've learned about my Chomper.

First off; For real dry wood it's not a good choice, it will basicly just shatter it. If the wood has a little moisture in it, it will do fine.

Second; The longer the log's the more productive you will be. I can process a cord in 1 hour 20 minutes average time with log's 16' long from 6" to 14" diameter. I can process a cord in 1 hour average time with the same size log's 40' long.

I have the 14" Chomper with the automatic option. It came originally with an 18 horse honda, but since I'm at higher elevation I upgraded to a 35 horse Brigg's.

It will handle some crooked logs, as long as you're not crowding the capacity of the machine. An 8" log can have a pretty good "dog leg" and still go through.

Yes, the wood will season faster. I don't know the science behind it, I just know it does. That's all I need to know.

Do they hold up? In the last year mine has probably processed 250 cords. 200 of that being Pine, & Fir the rest Gambel Oak. No problem's yet.
Is it the fastest? No!
Is it faster than a chainsaw & splitter? Yes!
Is it reliable? Yes, so far.
Is it amazing to just stand there with your arms crossed, and watch it chew up & spit out wood to deliver and never break a sweat? Definatly!
Is it a POS? Nope.
Is it the right machine for your aplication? I don't know.

This is as honest an evaluation as I can give my chomper. It work's for me.

Andy

 

[blackdiesel]

Sawinredneck,
Now that you've heard everyone's opinion's, and what they think I'll let you know what I've learned about my Chomper.

First off; For real dry wood it's not a good choice, it will basicly just shatter it. If the wood has a little moisture in it, it will do fine.

Second; The longer the log's the more productive you will be. I can process a cord in 1 hour 20 minutes average time with log's 16' long from 6" to 14" diameter. I can process a cord in 1 hour average time with the same size log's 40' long.

I have the 14" Chomper with the automatic option. It came originally with an 18 horse honda, but since I'm at higher elevation I upgraded to a 35 horse Brigg's.

It will handle some crooked logs, as long as you're not crowding the capacity of the machine. An 8" log can have a pretty good "dog leg" and still go through.

Yes, the wood will season faster. I don't know the science behind it, I just know it does. That's all I need to know.

Do they hold up? In the last year mine has probably processed 250 cords. 200 of that being Pine, & Fir the rest Gambel Oak. No problem's yet.
Is it the fastest? No!
Is it faster than a chainsaw & splitter? Yes!
Is it reliable? Yes, so far.
Is it amazing to just stand there with your arms crossed, and watch it chew up & spit out wood to deliver and never break a sweat? Definatly!
Is it a POS? Nope.
Is it the right machine for your aplication? I don't know.

This is as honest an evaluation as I can give my chomper. It work's for me.

Andy

Do you wish that you would have bought the super 16 with the big diesel motor?

 

[redprospector]

Do you wish that you would have bought the super 16 with the big diesel motor?

If I wanted to be in the firewood business that would be the ticket. But since I'm basicly just getting rid of wood from the properties I thinn this one suits me for now. I put the 35 horse Briggs (overkill I know) on because they have a bigger pump I'm planning on upgrading to in the future. But who know's, if business picks up enough, I may sell this one and get a super 16.

Andy

 

[ropensaddle]

For the price they want on those contraptions I would have to
sell a bunch of firewood. I also feel I would want it to process
45" diameter logs for the money involved! I have thought of
making my own version and building it strong enough to handle
the big stuff. I will stick with the splitter for now though!

 

[coog]

Sawinredneck,
Now that you've heard everyone's opinion's, and what they think I'll let you know what I've learned about my Chomper.

First off; For real dry wood it's not a good choice, it will basicly just shatter it. If the wood has a little moisture in it, it will do fine.

Second; The longer the log's the more productive you will be. I can process a cord in 1 hour 20 minutes average time with log's 16' long from 6" to 14" diameter. I can process a cord in 1 hour average time with the same size log's 40' long.

I have the 14" Chomper with the automatic option. It came originally with an 18 horse honda, but since I'm at higher elevation I upgraded to a 35 horse Brigg's.

It will handle some crooked logs, as long as you're not crowding the capacity of the machine. An 8" log can have a pretty good "dog leg" and still go through.

Yes, the wood will season faster. I don't know the science behind it, I just know it does. That's all I need to know.

Do they hold up? In the last year mine has probably processed 250 cords. 200 of that being Pine, & Fir the rest Gambel Oak. No problem's yet.
Is it the fastest? No!
Is it faster than a chainsaw & splitter? Yes!
Is it reliable? Yes, so far.
Is it amazing to just stand there with your arms crossed, and watch it chew up & spit out wood to deliver and never break a sweat? Definatly!
Is it a POS? Nope.
Is it the right machine for your aplication? I don't know.

This is as honest an evaluation as I can give my chomper. It work's for me.

Andy

I think your experience is more helpful in evaluating this machine than any other thing I've read.I go Elk hunting on a ranch in Eagle's Nest, NM that is totally overgrown with trees.This thing would be great there, providing you had the market for the wood.Thanks for the review.

 

[STLfirewood]

From what I have been told is the wood seasons faster because as the shear does it's job it send little splits(cracks) going into the log. Those little splits(cracks) allow air to more in and dry the wood. When cuting with a chainsw the cut is smooth thus no little splits(cracks) to allow air in.

Scott

 

[avalancher]

From what I have been told is the wood seasons faster because as the shear does it's job it send little splits(cracks) going into the log. Those little splits(cracks) allow air to more in and dry the wood. When cuting with a chainsw the cut is smooth thus no little splits(cracks) to allow air in.

Scott

I reckon that would make sense, but if I was the company building these machines I think I would explain that on their website and other advertising medium. Upfront it sounds like a bunch of bull to most folks.

Redprospector, thanks for relating your first hand experience with the machine. I have one question for you.
Do you find that shearing the wood makes for a lot of splinters in the ends of the sheared pieces? Not a big deal for most of my customers, but I have a number of older folks that hate white oak because of the amount of splinters in the wood, it doesnt split clean like the red oak. I wondered if shearing would further this problem.

 

[sawinredneck]

Sawinredneck,
Now that you've heard everyone's opinion's, and what they think I'll let you know what I've learned about my Chomper.

First off; For real dry wood it's not a good choice, it will basicly just shatter it. If the wood has a little moisture in it, it will do fine.

Second; The longer the log's the more productive you will be. I can process a cord in 1 hour 20 minutes average time with log's 16' long from 6" to 14" diameter. I can process a cord in 1 hour average time with the same size log's 40' long.

I have the 14" Chomper with the automatic option. It came originally with an 18 horse honda, but since I'm at higher elevation I upgraded to a 35 horse Brigg's.

It will handle some crooked logs, as long as you're not crowding the capacity of the machine. An 8" log can have a pretty good "dog leg" and still go through.

Yes, the wood will season faster. I don't know the science behind it, I just know it does. That's all I need to know.

Do they hold up? In the last year mine has probably processed 250 cords. 200 of that being Pine, & Fir the rest Gambel Oak. No problem's yet.
Is it the fastest? No!
Is it faster than a chainsaw & splitter? Yes!
Is it reliable? Yes, so far.
Is it amazing to just stand there with your arms crossed, and watch it chew up & spit out wood to deliver and never break a sweat? Definatly!
Is it a POS? Nope.
Is it the right machine for your aplication? I don't know.

This is as honest an evaluation as I can give my chomper. It work's for me.

Andy

Thanks Andy! That is exactly what I needed to hear!!

For my aplication I don't think this would be a wise investment for him! At least not for the dry Oak. I can get plenty of green "pecker poles" but I would rather bring back the dried stuff right now.
I had heard of some issues with the blade binding up in the dried hard woods, but wanted some real world evaluations before I said anything to the guy. It seems my fears where reasonable.

 

[Zodiac45]

The shear seems like it would have a real advantage over saw chain on dirty skidded logs.

Yep, that and the fact that you have very little (too none) saw dust too deal with is a big plus. There are a couple other guys beside Andy who've owned or currently operate Chompers. I certainly trust their opinions. As far as the quicker seasoning goes, I've been told it was due too the shearing action leaving "micro wicks" on the cut ends that allow the moisture too wick away faster than sawn?

 

[redprospector]

I reckon that would make sense, but if I was the company building these machines I think I would explain that on their website and other advertising medium. Upfront it sounds like a bunch of bull to most folks.

Redprospector, thanks for relating your first hand experience with the machine. I have one question for you.
Do you find that shearing the wood makes for a lot of splinters in the ends of the sheared pieces? Not a big deal for most of my customers, but I have a number of older folks that hate white oak because of the amount of splinters in the wood, it doesnt split clean like the red oak. I wondered if shearing would further this problem.

Not on the wood we have. I haven't processed any White Oak since it dosen't grow here. Different species act a little different to the process, but everything I've cut has pretty good end's. They're not like they were cut with a saw, but pretty smoothe.

Treeco is right, it's wonderfull on dirty skidded wood.

Andy

 

[alderman]

New one on me

Rainier is right up the road from me. Might have to check this out just to see one in action.