It would be nice to have a chipper. My brother wants one and he doesn't even do firewood, he just has a garden. He has been eyeballing Harbor Freight chipper. I don't trust anything with a motor from HF but I'm open. I found a used DR chipper, never used, for $500. Anyone got a chipper, what has your experience been? Wondering if they are a pain to maintain, their 'action' is a rather violent process.
I've got an older Bolens MC 2500 that came with a mower I bought. It works well! 5hp Briggs and it'll chew through some branches up to maybe 3"? You do have to cut stuff up to it can get into the feeder on the side. I put the smaller stuff and leaves into the top. It's not going to be like some of the lighter industrial tow behind models. I've rented a few of those over the years and they make quick work of brush!
I've had a DR Power 16.5 Pro wood chipper for around 6-7 years and have had no issues. You get what you pay for (as with anything) and most of the smaller chippers (such as sold at a box store) don't seem sturdy enough for any heavy duty work (IMO). Mine is rated up to 5" diameter pieces however it really is more in the 3" range. There is some maintenance and you will have to pay attention when replacing the blades (requires shimming to maintain the balance of the flywheel). I would ask yourself how much you really plan to use it before making the investment. If you won't need it that often and have other options (such as burning or taking the stuff to a landfill), save the money and just rent one when you really need it.
I borrowed a small chipper/shredder some time ago. I always thought that if I had one I'd use it to make mulch for the garden beds, but the one i used didn't work well enough to convince me it was worth buying one. It was rated to chip up to 3" branches but 1.5" was more realistic.
Someone/a forum member ( from Ct, I think) did a review on his experience with Harbor Freight chipper(s). It wasn't a glowing review /endorsement of the experience. From my own experience, due to the violent nature of the devices, it is prudent to check often any and all fasteners that can and do loosen over time, especially, say, the flywheel to engine output shaft bolt(s).
LordOfTheFlies IME there is a good reason that you see these small chippers for sale "lightly used" on CL and FBMP for cheap...they work poorly. My FIL just sold his after got it running again...was a low hour mid grade model with an 8 HP motor...I used it for about 10 minutes and said "yup, sell it"
Yep 'twas me. Here is the thread. HarborFreight Gas Wood Chipper The quick version is I really enjoyed it while it was working....but to have 2 of them literally fall apart on me with less than 10 hours on the clock (had an hour meter on both) is just ridiculous. On top of that I had to replace the muffler twice on the first one as it just vibrated loose and literally cracked the shroud. For a homeowner who doesn't own a lot of land and doesn't have to do a serious amount of chipping, I think it's an ok investment as long as there is some kind of warranty/exit strategy. In my case I was able to exchange the first unit and then decided to purchase the extended warranty (original warranty was 90 days this extended it to 2 years) but then when it broke again well within the 90 days I decided that was enough of an experiment and returned it. I was also able to get a full refund on the extended warranty. In fact, I think I made money on the transaction because they refunded me the full price and didn't take off the 20% coupon. I'm not complaining about that! Currently using the cheapest Champion chipper Model# 200946. Got a nice $75 discount ($425 vs $499 at the depot) on it because there was a broken welded bolt and one of the wheels was totally trashed. I can definitely tell that this 224cc motor performs better than the Predator 212cc. I am still waiting (0ver a month and a half now) for Champion to send me a new set of wheels. They've already sent me a funnel and the plastic shroud that the air filter attaches to (the pin that the cover hooks into was broken in half when I bought it). I have .55 acres and do some minor trimming of low hanging/dead branches. Since I process so much firewood I do run the debris through the chipper and then mix it into my 3 compost piles. The Champion unit feels much sturdier even though it is still a direct drive unit. We shall see how this unit works out. Having purchased it from the Depot I can return it anytime.
Oh and anything really big I just use for firewood. Pushing the 3" limit is probably asking for some trouble. It works amazing well for my compost beds. I use the mulch/chips as a floor for the garden bed area as well as using it as a biofilter for the compost piles during the winter.
Not much to do maintenance wise. When I had the HF one I bought an extra set of blades and sharpened them....but they get pretty dull pretty fast. I didn't really notice that big of a difference in performance pre and post sharpening either. For $425 and the option to return it at any time, I'll play.
I have a Woodpro chipper, with 16hp. I would not want anything smaller, and if I ever blow up the engine on this one, I will look at bumping the hp up, perhaps with a 22hp Predator engine.
I share a DR Pro towable chipper with my father. Not sure of the engine size but it's over 16 hp. It will eat anything that will fit in the hopper, but it does best on stuff 2" and smaller. Anything larger is usually firewood anyway. You do need to trim the branches a bit if you've got a lot of gnarly stuff. If I were to buy a new chipper I would look hard at the Echo Bearcat chippers, they are really nice. For a PTO-driven machine, I've heard nothing but good words about the Wallenstein and Woodland Mills chippers.
I’ve got a DEK 15hp chipper shredder and an 8” hydraulic infeed Woodland Mills PTO chipper that I run with my L5460 Kubota. The smaller machines require so much work breaking down the branches to fit into the shoot, it’s not worth it to me. The 8” Woodland Mills is the smallest I’d consider after running it for the fall mulching needs.
I've never owned a chipper, but have rented the commercial size Bandit and Morbark units before. I can honestly say that those were about 400% more fun to play with than the small homeowner chippers.
I have a 4” wallenstein knockoff pto chipper for my L2501 and it’s one of my most useful implements. I paid around $1100 for it a little over 2 years ago and it’s already paid for itself in rental savings. It handles whatever I can put into the 4”x10” opening and it has no problem with tops and crotches as long as they go into the chute. If I was using it every day I would have spent the extra for a self feed unit but this makes chips as well as the 6-8” ones I used to rent. I keep everything 2-3” down anyway. There are a couple other guys around here with the same unit I believe. It’s easy to maintain when the time comes to flip or sharpen the reversible knives but it’s not there yet. I’ve chipped limbs from around 20 cord or so thus far, mostly beech, some oak, maple, hemlock, fir and pine.
