pickup truck chip box ideas please

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Here is an inside shot. This box is now mounted on a dump till I figure out how I am gonna build a complete new bed for it
 
For now i'm only part time doing tree care. Business is good, any jobs I cant handle I refer to a good friend who does tree care for a living. It works good, probly better for him cause I dont do the big take downs so he gets the work.
I have decided to biuld ply wood sides half way back with a top.
I'll post some picks when finished. Gona start on it right away.
There are probly alot of guys in my same position doing part time tree work also that read up on this site, but are skeerd to post because there not a pro or doing this trade full time.
:D
 
What's so bad about plywood??

Properly painted n treated, it looks just as good (and professional) as a metal chip box, lasts just as long, and weighs LESS.
 
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"Thats the sharpest-looking plywood box I've ever seen!"


Why thank you mb!:D I tried to make it look as good as I could. I forgot to mention you will still need to protect the plywood on the inside from the blast of the chips. I usually just adjusted the chute on the chipper to blow the chips into the metal of the bed. As the chips piled up I adjusted the chute up. If you let the chips blast against the bare plywood, you will blow a hole in the plywood quicker than you think. I thought of screwing a piece of plexiglass or some think sheet plastic to the inside to protect it from the chips. That box is 2 years old.
 
Originally posted by David Hardman

There are probly alot of guys in my same position doing part time tree work also that read up on this site, but are skeerd to post because there not a pro or doing this trade full time.
:D


THAT would be a shame!

New guys, DON'T BE AFRAID TO POST!!! :blob2:
 
Originally posted by topnotchtree
If you let the chips blast against the bare plywood, you will blow a hole in the plywood quicker than you think.

Nice box, but you'd be surprised how well the ply holds up.

Been chipping into the box on my bucket for 5 years now, and haven't blasted a hole thru it yet... and I AIM fer it!
 
Well netree, maybe the plywood is tougher in Mass. ? Lol. My plywood started getting chewed up quickly so I quit blasting at it.
 
Originally posted by topnotchtree
Well netree, maybe the plywood is tougher in Mass. ? Lol. My plywood started getting chewed up quickly so I quit blasting at it.

Sheet metal, maybe 3/32" or so. That should hold up.

What are you using for a chipper??
 
Eric, Tsk, tsk. You haven't been paying attention.-David just bought a Promark 210. (6" capacity disc without feed wheels):p
 
Pickup chip truck

My first chip truck was a plywood box built onto a flatbed. I've evolved, but I remember the hardship of offing the chips. I began employing a series of tarps. Tarp # 1 went from the tailgate end, up to the front, then 1/4 of the way up the 'impact wall'. Against the wall I'd place a 3' x 3' square of plywood against which I'd take aim and blast chips. This first layer would get a light load of chips, mebbe 100 lb or so. Chip away, Hardman.

Remove the blast square, take 20 seconds to spread the chips to an even surface side to side, deeper in the far end, tapering shallow toward the tailgate. This is important. Also important is the blast square, without which you'll blast holes in the tarps in no time.

Enter tarp #2, laid over the chips and half way up the impact wall. Place your blast square against the back wall and continue chipping, about 150 lb this time. Same deal, remove the blast square, spread the chips out, and now you've created a wedge-shaped chip hill, higher at the wall end, sloping downward to the tailgate. Enter tarp #3.

Onto this level you can chip a few hundred pounds because if you're following the pattern, when it comes time to off the individual tarp layers, the higher-up ones will be sliding downhill and can be substantially heavier than the bottom ones .

You'll max out at 4 or 5 tarps, but when it comes time to offload, the topmost, heaviest ones will come off easiest. It's a PITA to crawl in and out of the back end of the truck, futzing with tarps, and interrupting your chipping session, but its worth the magic in pulling off an entire truckload of chips in mere minutes at the end of a long day.

I'm glad to have moved beyond this method, but it worked really, really well for the time. TIP: Screw some small spring clips to the blast wall to attach the ends of the tarps. They'll self-release when you do your pull-offs. -TM-
 
I 'spose it could happen...

Had a Vermeer 1250 that ate thru the sheet metal at the back of the chipbox of one truck.
 
Early beginnings

I found an old pic of my first 'real' tree truck, the one where I employed the tarp layer system.

Note the 'roof' of the chip bed is shadecloth to keep the chips (though not the dust) from escaping. -TM-
 
Another way of keeping chips from flying

This pic is of a heavy cloth 'cone' I used to use. It got attached to the end of the outfeed chute and would allow me to chip a tight, conical pile of chips onto the ground next to the chipper, or into the back of a non-box pickup truck pulled alongside the chipper. This worked really well. I lost it, and have never gotten around to making another. -TM-
 
A 6 inch chipper.
You call it a promark? What do them buggers run?
Looks lightweight. Humm interested.
 
Gravely bought out Promark and I don't know if they even kept that model in their line. All the Promarks are several years old and seem to bring a couple thousand $ if they are in good working order.
 

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