I had a craftsman. I used it for about 15 years, off and on. It was great for disposing of smaller tree and bush branches. I had to put new cutters on it twice. I would spread the chips and leaves in my garden, rototill them under in the fall, and next year everything would grow great!
One day, half-way thru chopping up the limbs/trunks from the Mugo Mugo whose rootball is almost all removed from the ground, it threw the rod. Holy heck, did it throw the rod. I wondered if the backyard neighbor had poured sand in the crankcase, but many hours of disassembly later, I discovered that all the bolts holding a vertical crankcase cover (between the crankcase and the chipper box, so unseen) had loosened, and the oil had poured out. The connecting rod was in pieces no longer than ~1 inch!
If you have a use for the chips, I'd recommend getting one. Burning/landfill is a LOT easier...