New to me chipper, canvas the best cover?

[BillsWS]

Recently I asked if anyone was using a PTO chipper to clean up their branches, etc.. when wood cutting. Thanks for some good advice. Managed to pick up a good used Bear Cat this week. I don't have anywhere to store it indoors. Would covering it with a canvas tarp be superioer to a plastic or poly tarp? My thinking is that the canvas tarp would "breathe" and allow the metal to dry out after condensed frost melt, etc.... Can I get your opinion?

 

[blades]

Yes better than plastic, ya do not want a frozen pool at the bottom of the chipper disk. I have the Chipper/shredder version, no drain ports in mine.

 

[BillsWS]

Yes better than plastic, ya do not want a frozen pool at the bottom of the chipper disk. I have the Chipper/shredder version, no drain ports in mine.

Ahhhh. Thank you blades. I'll check Menards today for a canvas tarp. Depending on quality I may temp cover it with a plastic and order a good quality canvas online.

 

[MasterMech]

That Bear Cat is going to be a good unit for you. Keep the blades sharp and it will happily munch a ton of wood.

 

[blades]

Never seen anything but cheap plastic at Menards. I would suggest a company that sells awnings or repairs tents and such. Sometimes military surplus is a good choice to check at/in or a farm supply store. Tough to find canvas tarps that are worth anything. Weight, convenience, and cost of plastic overshadows advantages of canvas. Course it is getting tough to find good plastic ones also. Never seem to get more than a season out of Menards units. Even plastic would be better than leaving it wide open. Plugging the intake and the shoot are the big concerns. De-iceing the chipper disk and housing is time consuming. You do not want to be spinning the chipper disk out of balance. An out of balance rotor can make a nice piece of equipment into a pile of junk very quickly at 3600 RPM. Plus it's tough to dodge the shrapnel.

 

[MasterMech]

Talk to Lees Wood-Co (Member here) . He has plenty of experience with high quality canvas tarps.

 

[BillsWS]

Thanks for the comments guys. Bought an ATV cover (nylon?) from Menards. No canvas there at all. I think I will pull the shoot off the chipper to make it easier to cover for this winter.