I was looking at getting a chipper (not a chipper shredder). Saw a DR chipper for about $1K which is about my limit for a small ten acres. Looked like it got good reviews, and before anyone says it I need chips for landscaping and such so burning the branches is an option just a wasteful one. Just seeing if anyone has a good recommendation on something . So I ask ... WHAT SAY YOU?
find a tree service in your area and have them dump a couple loads there for you...for free it is better if you get the loads in the winter when there's no leaves. what you don't use will turn to topsoil in a couple years
Don't have any experience with the DR Chipper, but in my world, if it's not at least 35HP 4cyl engine it's not a real productive machine. Depends on how big of stuff you wanna chip. DR equipment in general seems well built for the price range.
I bought a used chipper a few months ago, and love it! Mine is a 16 hp Woodpro, claimed to eat a 4 inch branch, it handes 2-3 inch pine fine, but 4 would be a chore. I would be reluctant to buy anything smaller.
Coming from a professional arborist background anything less than a 35ish hp 6" chipper is a waste of time. However, for the average firewood Joe many of the 10-20hp 4" units work alright. So the larger DR chipper vs. Their smallest one. These small units usually bog down pretty easy and also clog easy. Dr does a good job of not letting you see the motor bog by only showing you small branches being chipped or just showing the start of the branch and not the end. The Dosco is also an example of this type of chipper: 4 Inch Brush Chipper - 13-21T-13H | Dosko My advice if you want chips for landscaping, pile the branches up for a period of months and go rent a 6" chipper. They usually run around 150 for 24hrs. Also a lot of rental places will let you pick it up Saturday afternoon and return Monday morning for the same price. You could make a ton of chips in that time period:
I was going to suggest a PTO chipper if you had one. I have a 4'' PTO chipper and it is used on a tractor with 18hp. It does good but it is slow. One with a gas engine would not have the power that my tractor does. These smaller chippers are more for maintaining your property, not getting it in shape. The chipper in the post above could probably chip in 5-10 minutes what would take me an hour. If you have very much chipping to do, I suggest renting. I can rent a small chipper with a 30hp gas engine and hydraulic feed for around $300 a day. Like the guys above have said, if you pick up on Friday afternoon, you get it til Monday morning for one day. The catch with my rental place is, if it has an hour meter on it, 8 hours is a day. So if you run it 9 hours, they charger for a day and an 1/8. The chippers with hydraulic feed are so much more productive than a self feeding. If you decide to rent, have all of your brush ready so you can back the chipper up to the pile and go. Stack the brush so that you can grab it by the big end. If it is all criss crossed it is a mess to deal with. IMO the chips/ "mulch" that come from a chipper are not any good for landscaping. The chipper chips them so they rot up pretty fast. You will be surprised how fast they rot up.
Never been a pro arborist, but have worked as a "groundie" so I have some experience. Way better to rent a real chipper. If you really want a homeowner class chipper by all means get one, they have there place for the odd little branches that fall from the wind etc. If you have chainsaw addiction like me you will enjoy using a commercial size chipper.
I would suggest rentals if at all. I have a smaller chipper and it is a waste of time. The amount of work to haul, chip, and then spread what teeny, tiny bit it makes is just not worth it. A big chipper worth its keep costs considerable money and honestly, how much are you really going to use it to justify the cost? If a person is doing a lot clearing, then a pile of brush and a match is the best way.
I think this makes the most sense for me. Renting something for 150, I would have to rent it ten times and I burn a lot too. There is a rental place by me and once I get my landscaping chips that I need I don't truly need the chipper until the next year or so. Beating up someone else's stuff might be the best idea. Thank you and thank you all for the information and ideas.
have a 5" Echo bear cat 20hp- but for what they run new now, I can get any number used small 6-8" commercial units.
