I am accumulating large amounts of "slash," and am wondering whether a chipper would be useful? Does anyone chip their small branches? If so, what do you recommend? Most of my branches would be pine or douglas fir, up to 2 inches. Greg
I would not really recommend one of the small ones that you see at Lowe's or home Depot. I have one and it will do the job, but takes a while. If I cut a tree in the yard I usually burn the branches or push them down in the woods. Do you have a tractor with a pto? I've also rented on before when taking down a big pine in front of the house. If the branches are laid right you can chip through a lot of them in little time.
Greg- any of the homeowner units are a waste of time/money for you. Rent a full size chipper - 6" or larger( 10"-12" ideal) with hydraulic feed ( this is important as other wise you will be doing a lot of trimming to feed branches). That is a controlled feed vs the old chuck & duck which dangerous particularly for the inexperienced. Have the rental place show you how to clear a jam and while in there look at the knives- if they look beat and rounded on the edge it will be a nightmare ( rental firms are notorious for not changing out dull knives- if they won't install a good set go somewhere else if possible) Take some material with you to run through unit before you leave rental yard- that way you know it is working. I have a 5" Echo /Bearcat which would be considered semi-pro or light farm duty $8k when new a few years back and that is about the minimum for pro used one ( but I do not recommend that route unless you routinely need a chipper on the job) Even with mine it would take forever to clean up a big slash pile.
I bought a smaller unit that is PTO driven. It is hydraulically, roller fed which is super nice. I have been very pleased with it. I did quite a bit of research and for my situation, it was the best option. Review of it is in the links below.
Wow, I need to start rethinking. I was thinking of spending around $1,000, maybe more, hopefully less. I do not have a tractor with PTO. My land is 10 acres, mostly pine and douglas fir. It is overgown, and needs a lot of small trees removed. I use all I can, but the small stuff is getting to be a bit much. Watching a few vids of homeowner chippers, I see where you guys are coming from, it will never get the job done. The wife is resistant to burning, but perhaps I need to look a little more at the permit process for that. Greg
I have used smaller chippers and they are a royal pain. You spend more time hand feeding or getting them to feed the limbs through than it is worth. You have to get something that will power feed in. That way you can throw some in and while you are getting more, it is chipping. Like suggested above, renting a bigger one may be a good option for you. Line up some help and in 8 hrs you can get a lot done. I weighed that option with mine but I find I use it quite a bit and not having to run back and forth is a factor. Do it at my liesure if you will. The other thing is I would have had it half paid for allready if you figure the rental fees. A buddy of mine bush hogs all his smalls and does a good job. But you say you have no tractor so that is out. dad was given a small chipper and he even gave up on it.
I have kicked around the idea of a chipper for quite time. I like the Wallenstein units- they have both 3 point hitch and stand alone models- but I am afraid pricing starts at $2500 and up. I used a friend's chipper to do some storm cleanup several years ago. If I remember right, it was a Bearcat, with a 8 hp motor. It handled wood up to 3-4 inches fairly well. It was a time saver for sure.
Before you buy anything BP, I think Chris has the best plan... rent a full size chipper you can pull home for a weekend. Low $$ and you'll prolly see that the bigger rentals can reduce tons of branches so fast it's nuts. If you had 2 guys bailing branches at a big chipper, you'd be hard pressed to have it running all that long... blowing thru a h*ll of a lot of branches. You'll be worn out long before those rigs run outa gas. I've rented 2 and helped my BIL with one. They're awesome, but very expensive to buy... and swallow a rock or a steel pin and it just goe$ up from there.
The BearCat units are the best 3-5" units I have seen. Especially if they have the Honda motor and the dual belt drive. Just like a saw, the key with any of these units is sharp knives. Especially the gravity or "chuck and duck" variety as their ability to feed is highly dependent on how sharp the knives are.
If all the usable wood is cut out and I have just a huge pile of brush, I can fill that truck in about 2 hours. And you're right. The big ones are wicked expensive. In 1998, I bought the one pictured above for $27,000. They're going for nearly $40,000 now.
If yo just have it in a slash pile it may be more pain in the but to try to chip it. It makes a lot of work to drag it out of a jumbled up mess. If its laid in right you can drag it easily. May be better to take time to arrange it first if you do rent a chipper just to maximize chipping time.
I made the mistake of getting a used 6" high flow bobcat chipper. To small. Above advice is good. Rent bigger.
