Trucks with built in chippers

[Trapperwv1]

I read an old post from a few years ago and people were wondering why they don't build trucks with buit in chippers.. Asplundh years ago built them on GMC chassis and the trucks had a 10 - 12 ft chip box, they were fed from the passenger side and were a standard Asplundd 12 inch chipper head with a curved chute that directed the chips into the back. It also had a side service door that looked like the dog box entrance on a standard chip box tree truck. The chipper ran off the PTO and If I remember corectly for heavier branches like 4 inch you ran it in 2nd gear at about 1200 rpm on the engine tach. They were powerful as a trailer type and were nice to used in crowded towns and cities. Of course all was not perfect in wet weather in leaf season the chute got stopped up hence the reason for the service door also when starting to get full you had to move the chips to get the last of the pile chipped in.. If the chipper broke both truck and chipper were down and if the truck broke same problem. I bought one from a company in 1970 when I was starting out for $500 and kept it running for about 5 years before I killed it permanently.. It was a 1962 GMC anyway. I would love to find one today to rebuild and restore talk about a quirky antique but even for an old retired tree guy brush chipping in town can make money. It was always a delight for kids to watch you shoving branches into the side of a truck and they disappeared.

 

[treedog54]

I read an old post from a few years ago and people were wondering why they don't build trucks with buit in chippers.. Asplundh years ago built them on GMC chassis and the trucks had a 10 - 12 ft chip box, they were fed from the passenger side and were a standard Asplundd 12 inch chipper head with a curved chute that directed the chips into the back. It also had a side service door that looked like the dog box entrance on a standard chip box tree truck. The chipper ran off the PTO and If I remember corectly for heavier branches like 4 inch you ran it in 2nd gear at about 1200 rpm on the engine tach. They were powerful as a trailer type and were nice to used in crowded towns and cities. Of course all was not perfect in wet weather in leaf season the chute got stopped up hence the reason for the service door also when starting to get full you had to move the chips to get the last of the pile chipped in.. If the chipper broke both truck and chipper were down and if the truck broke same problem. I bought one from a company in 1970 when I was starting out for $500 and kept it running for about 5 years before I killed it permanently.. It was a 1962 GMC anyway. I would love to find one today to rebuild and restore talk about a quirky antique but even for an old retired tree guy brush chipping in town can make money. It was always a delight for kids to watch you suhhoving branches into the side of a truck and they disappeared.

I used one when I first started tree work.Worse thing was ya had to be careful.cause ya couldn't get away and get beat against the side of the truck

 

[ATH]

How hard would it be to make one with a newer chipper? I've been thinking about that for a while...like you said, great option for tight spaces. I've been thinking about using a chipper designed to mount to a tractor PTO...or getting one with a blown engine.

 

[ATH]

Regarding the truck down/chipper do n issue, unless you have 2 trucks or 2 chippers, isn't that the case anyhow?