Wood chipper options

[DonTee]

I’m looking at used wood chippers. There are two different styles I’m looking at. The first is a tow behind style that I would pull behind my garden tractor. The second is a PTO wood chipper that would go on my Ford 3000 tractor.

I’ve been cutting a lot of ash trees. I’d like something I can use to chip up the tops. I would chip 3” branches at most.

The tow behind chipper I’m looking at is this one.

And the PTO mount is this one

Both are manual feed chippers.

The benefit of the tow behind chipper is I could take it anywhere in the yard. Places I don’t want to drive the tractor because it ruts up the grass. My trails in the woods are also good enough that the garden tractor will make it almost anywhere I would be cutting a tree on the property

The benefit of the PTO chipper is it’s more powerful. It would have a 47 horse diesel powering it instead of a 7 horse Briggs.

I’m worried the tow behind chipper won’t be powerful enough to do what I want. Any input?

My wife likes the chipper idea because she wants mulch for the paths and garden. I’m fine with letting the tree tops rot in the woods, but she thinks it ugly

 

[EbS-P]

We just bought a a new 7 hp chipper from harbor freight. It got the small yard brush done fine. Nothing bigger than 1.5”. 7hp would not do 3”. It was really slow to feed everything.

If you want to get rid of tree tops get the PTO just for the larger feed shoot. But it’s going to be slow. Fasts solution is to make a pile some where safe and burn it.

 

[DonTee]

I had been just leaving the brush in the woods until now. And then my wife said it was ugly so I started burning it. Even dragging it into piles and burning it is a bit of work. And time spent watching over the fire etc

I figure we could use the mulch, and that seems to be the cleanest way to get rid of the tree tops.

Maybe I’ll just go for the PTO chipper. If you don’t think the 7hp model tow behind will actually chip 3” branches…

 

[peakbagger]

One thing to keep in mind is that green wood chips easier than dead wood. It makes a big difference with small splitter, not so much with large splitter. My guess is you may need to wait a year or two to deal with dead ash on the ground until some rot kicks in.

 

[DonTee]

I’d love to get my hands on an old tree service chipper. But even the worn out ones are more than I want to spend. Hoping to spend less than a grand.

 

[Gearhead660]

I would go with the pto. I had a small 5 hp one and it was useless for bigger branches. Plus the pto doesnt have a motor to maintain.

 

[ericm979]

I've had three chippers. A standalone 12hp home store model, a MacKissick TH186 on a 16hp tractor, and a Woodmaxx 8H on a 37hp tractor. The homestore model was useless. Hard to start (it had no clutch so you were turning the chipper flywheel in addition to the engine) and totally ineffective as a chipper. I had to trim stuff down to make it all straight or it would not feed. The MacKissick worked ok. The tractor was a little small. It drops chips out the bottom rather than out a chute so you have to move the chipper after 20 minutes or so because the chip pile is up to the outlet. Manual feed is sketchy. You have to shove branches down but when they catch they're ripped out of your hands. You have to position your hands so they won't get sucked in.

The Woodmaxx on the larger tractor is so much better. Finally enough power to do useful work, and it's got hydraulic feed which is much safer. Being 8" and power feed there's a lot less trimming that's needed to get stuff to feed than the MacKissick required. That makes the work much faster. It's easy to move around the property- it's on the back of the tractor. Woodmaxx and Woodland Mills hydraulic feed chippers start at about $3k. Unless the used 3pt chipper is much cheaper than that, I'd spend up for a hydraulic feed model. Either way, run it on the tractor. 3" material especially with branches and forks takes more than 7hp.

 

[DonTee]

The PTO model shown above is listed for $800. But it’s pending already. Usually I see them on Marketplace for $1000-1500 used.

I don’t have remote hyd on my tractor unfortunately

 

[highanddryinco]

I don’t have remote hyd on my tractor unfortunately

FWIW, the PTO chippers with hyd feed are generally all self-contained. You don't need tractor hydraulics, the PTO also powers a small pump on the chipper.

 

[salecker]

I have one like the first one...
Its so painfully slow i haven't used it in years,plus it didn't chip big stuff well.
The last time i used it was for shoveling spruce cones through it

 

[DonTee]

FWIW, the PTO chippers with hyd feed are generally all self-contained. You don't need tractor hydraulics, the PTO also powers a small pump on the chipper.

Ok that’s good to know.

 

[blades]

Depends on the depth of your pocket. I have a Echo BearCat 20HP chipper shredder list as 5" , but that is sq opening so say 4" round, and it will do that green or dry. about 1.5" on the shredder part. New in the 8k range this is a tow behind tractor type self contained. They make a coulpe pTo units as well. Size of chips is variable as well. That is about the price of a clapped out commercial unit . Some places rent out commercial units, might be your best bet cost wise. If you have the room a burn pile is the cheapest route, best done in winter when snow on ground and not windy, course got to check with locals for ordinances concerning same, don't want to start some crazy out of control fire like Texas. Think I read it was a downed electric line that may have started that mess. The pto units work well, although not particularly convenient. Most are manual feed, so have to be a bit careful there . ( back in the day we called those chuck and duck units because you some times get kick backs). Another thing about buying one is storing it- not something you realy want to let sit out in the weather. Maintenance and repair parts are another issue that needs to be addressed. Add hydro or mechanical feed and that becomes very important, not to mention the additional cost up front.





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[Eman85]

I've had a chipper I think it was a Troybilt, total waste of time. Go rent a real chipper and you'll be done in no time and not have to store and maintain and or sell it.

 

[peakbagger]

I borrowed a troy bilt and definitely do not recommend buying one.

 

[Mutineer]

My buddy has one of the Bearcat 20 HP ones like Blades mentioned above, he and his wife bought it for each other as 30th anniversary gifts 20 or so years ago. The 20 HP Honda engine on that beast handles up to about 4" branches with ease, I believe he paid in the mid-$4k range for it so Blades approx $8K sounds right in today's inflated world. I help him out with things and he lets me borrow the Bearcat, which is ideal, like having a buddy with a pool.

 

[sloeffle]

I have a woodland mills 6” ( wish I’d gotten the 8” now ) three point chipper for my tractor. I’ve had zero problems with it since I got it a number of years ago. It will chip pretty much anything you throw at it. I’d highly recommend getting a chipped that feeds itself.

The tree in the video was about 4” in diameter and my tractor has roughly 40 PTO HP.

 

[cahaak]

I would stock pile your trimmings in and area and rent a large chipper for a day. Around here, you can rent a 35 hp 8" chipper for about $240 for a day. I can process eight years worth of trimmings in a day with it and have enough wood chips for the next two years and plenty for the neighbors too. It's much faster and more efficient.

 

[xman23]

I do know it takes a big chipper to do anything, except break shear pins.

 

[Den69RS96]

I have a newer version of the green Mackissic with a 10hp engine. Its decent. The shredder has reversible hammers that can handle up to 1-inch branches and the chipper up to 3.5. I can't stress enough that you need to keep the blade sharp and set the gap between the blade and wear plate. Obviously you have to trim the branches down so they fit which is the biggest pita and most time consuming part of using the chipper.

 

[Dieselhead]

I have a valby PTO chipper ran by my 35hp tractor. It’s manual feed. There will be a learning curve to feed it efficiently. Some of the branches with stiffer offshoots like cedar for example are a bit more difficult than pine or spruce. The branches that the offshoots grow off in a “Y” shape are easiest. Cedars come off more like a 90 degree. Chipping fresh cuts is best. Older they are the stiffer they become. For a homeowner I don’t mind the manual feed, and its cost savings. I’d never think about going out and trying to make money with it though.