treeclimber101
UNCLE BUCK
I agree the vermeer 15 is a turd , I am seriously looking at the Altec 18 disc machine .. I don't feed crane tops into mine at all and anything bigger would be waste for me and a handfed machine seems to do us fine ..
best chipper size with bmg grapple?
- Thread starter defensiblespace
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
I agree the vermeer 15 is a turd , I am seriously looking at the Altec 18 disc machine .. I don't feed crane tops into mine at all and anything bigger would be waste for me and a handfed machine seems to do us fine ..
ihatevines
ArboristSite Member
To the people that think a single feedwheel can't take large and wide brush well... Welll your way off. The woodsman will pull in and crush branches that are huge. Its built to have alot more downpressure all the time. The feedwheel is rear pivoting and so the yoke and feedwheel are always putting over 300lbs down. You hardly ever have to use the extra hydrolic down pressure. Our morbark 2400 needs downpressure at least 90% more/
And if it can't break it off at first your know what happens???? The fing feedwheel with its huge teeth and two hydralic motors just keeps on spining until it cuts the unions itself. The teeth on the feedwheel just rip right through live oak. Looks like a huge ass grizzly is ripping at the unions until it can go through.
If you can look at woodsman just do it. Just make sure the hydrolic breakout is turned up to maximum. If you buy a woodsman used they will get you a manual if you call them. This explains how to do this.
The only negative of a woodsman is. With the single feedwheel and the heavy downpressure you have to lift the feedwheel on anything over about 8in if you are hand feeding. Machine loading it will run up it. But the feedwheel is insanly fast. Less than 2 seconds to all the way up. Our morbark takes about 10 seconds to fully open but its not needed nearly as much.
And if it can't break it off at first your know what happens???? The fing feedwheel with its huge teeth and two hydralic motors just keeps on spining until it cuts the unions itself. The teeth on the feedwheel just rip right through live oak. Looks like a huge ass grizzly is ripping at the unions until it can go through.
If you can look at woodsman just do it. Just make sure the hydrolic breakout is turned up to maximum. If you buy a woodsman used they will get you a manual if you call them. This explains how to do this.
The only negative of a woodsman is. With the single feedwheel and the heavy downpressure you have to lift the feedwheel on anything over about 8in if you are hand feeding. Machine loading it will run up it. But the feedwheel is insanly fast. Less than 2 seconds to all the way up. Our morbark takes about 10 seconds to fully open but its not needed nearly as much.
ducaticorse
Addicted to ArboristSite
I think we've come to the realization that it is more of a mission specific piece of equipment. If you're machine loading, the woodsman may be the way to go. If you are hand loading, then a dual roller set up may be more appropriate. Either way, when comparing a 100K chipper to a 70K chipper, the 100K unit better work better lol..... Even then, I am not entirely sure about the woodsman, because every one here that is familiar with the machine aggrees that it blows welds and cracks early on in it's service life. Yes, if one takes into consideration to what the machine is asked to do, yeah, it is given a beating. I'm not so sure that should justify the thing breaking on a regular basis, and employing an in house mechanic just to keep it running.
mattfr12
The Bulldog
the cracking does sound kinda bad i been jamming stuff in my chippers with bobcats from day one and never had to weld anything yet. you would think they could engineer it so this wouldnt happen. im assuming it just hasnt been on the market long enough to be a well oiled machine yet.
im sure it does chip like no bodys buisness but for 100 g's it should be a pretty durable machine.
ducaticorse
Addicted to ArboristSite
The way it's been described so far reminds me of a race built funny car motor. it's a bad MF for sure, but it's got to be ripped down and rebuilt every 10 runs. And again, at a cost of (an unverified by me) 100K, I'm all set.....
ihatevines
ArboristSite Member
My woodsman is an 18x which is comparable to a 770. A 770 runs for about 50,000 with a 140hp motor. Iam comparing apples to apples. Also I completly agree that each brand of chipper has its place. I have run the piss out of my woodsman for 400 hours now. (and we treat it rough its almost always machine feed) Have had to do 2 small welds that i paid $20.00 for. Also I had to replace the seals to the gears on the feedwheel. Those were $20.00 a piece but it was alot of labor to fix them. Since i replaced them they have made a new guard that I installed that protects the seals.
My 2005 1400xl vermeer was a maintence disastor. But it was excellent for handfeeding. Our guys and me included like the Morbark the least so far. But Morbark build quality is excellent.
My 2005 1400xl vermeer was a maintence disastor. But it was excellent for handfeeding. Our guys and me included like the Morbark the least so far. But Morbark build quality is excellent.
defensiblespace
ArboristSite Operative
Well, I've gotten a little bit of experience since I posted this thread. I tried feeding a bandit 250xp with my grapple a while ago and it was like trying to stuff a marshmallow into a keyhole. Yesterday I fed a Bandit 1890 all day and it took it like a charm. That 1890 is one hell of a machine. I fed whole trees and piles of brush into it and the chipper took it all with no hesitation.
