Recommendations for a Consumer-Grade Chipper?

Universe of Minnesota Extension office put out a Woodlot management book that became the website in the video I posted.

reading that book has changed my approach to so much of what I’m doing right now in the yard.

And in the end as well, it’s saving me a TON of work and money.

I’ll post a comparison video some time soon of what it looked like in fall of ‘22 when we bought the place versus now.

And I’ve only mowed it 5 times with a brush hawg. weed control too. Yard isn't drying out it seems as much either.

lot of folks have made comments that have gotten back to me how much nicer it looks driving by.



ETA -

One aspect that is often overlooked...

Changing your wood lot can make huge impacts not just to the ground cover, but the canopy as well. The ecosystem is huge just in that one little part of the world.

Changing from underbrush can totally change your wildlife as well. From a deer woods to a squirrel woods etc. Changing the trees can impact all of this as well.

So for me, I am trying to impact the wildlife as little as possible, but I know I've moved deer off the land that used to have it as a safe haven.

 

Seems like if you do a little work often it is a good fit to have a chipper around, especially if you don't want to stash big piles waiting for a rented unit. That's my situation and it's very convenient to fire up a machine for an hour and get rid of branches and have fresh mulch to use also.

For most of the HD residential/light duty commercial models the max limb diameter is based on the opening size, not what you can reliably get it to eat.

I have a Crary Bearcat chipper that I'm very happy with. It has a Honda GX390, strong motor, towable up to 45mph and as long as I keep the knives sharp it easily eats up to 2 inch branches. Got it used for $350, but they are a few grand new. But a machine that size is very useful IMO

 

Fired up my chipper because my planters in the front of my house got out of control.



You need pieces like this for premium mulch. I've removed all the moss and greenery from these. The chipper ended up not feeding the larger logs. Always take any claim from a chipper manufacturer and subtract 30%.

Result:



The equivalent to about 10 bags of mulch. Absolutely top notch premium mulch, however this represents about three hours of labor, from cutting the trees, sorting the pieces, trimming them for the chipper, and then chipping.

You're generally better of just buying mulch, however there are some benefits to doing it this way.

 

Question for you chipper owners…..Son has a PTO mounted chipper but says he’s disappointed that it will bog with limbs with green leaves, mostly hardwood….pecan, oak, etc. Don’t know the make and model offhand but could this be a matter of dull blades, improper adjustments? I can get the details on the make/model when he’s back from a trip. Thanks!

 

So I've been chasing a "stall" or "bog down" issue on mine. Turns out the shaking vibrations from the machine itself is turning down the throttle.

 

My chipper will bog down my tractor with an 7” dia dried red oak log. The kind that lose the bark still on the tree and fall off the tree years later. That’s about all that I’ve found that will really bog down my chipper so far.
A buddy who had a similar Woodland Mills chipper mentioned that hemlock needles get trapped in the bottom of the fan part and will clog his chipper. Haven’t done enough hemlock or spruce myself to see if mine does it as well yet.

 

Wet wood is a possible clog--not un-seasoned but physically damp wood. I never run my chipper after a rain because it clogs so bad I have to open it up and manually clean it.

 

Ran my chipper all day. I think I've made up my mind to sell it. I can use the proceeds to get a forestry mulcher out to my property and clear enough space to do a burn pile which will be far more efficient. I think if I had less wooded land it might be alright but its a bit of a bottleneck in my process versus just burning stuff.

If anyone is interested it's a WoodMaxx MX-8600 with maybe ten or twenty hours on it.