clarksvilleal
Bronze Member
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2007
- Messages
- 74
Well, I finally got the chipper/shredder of my dreams :thumbsup:. (OK, I don't usually dream about chipper/shredders, but until now I did have nightmares about doing the work :shocked
I have 5 acres to maintain with lots of chipping & shredding -- most recently a lot of large pine branches that came down in a storm last winter, and about a dozen good-sized apple and pear trees that I knocked down (to be replaced with dwarf trees) to make room for a large out-building. I also shred prunings from a number of large maples trees and various small fruit crops. And I have a couple of acres of woodland that I have wanted to clear of brush, briars, vines and small trees for some time but had been too intimidated by the size of the task. I can't believe I ever got by with my wimpy little 5 HP MTD toy. Since I have a Kubota B2910 compact tractor, I decided to take advantage of it's 29 HP diesel engine and beefy 3-pt hitch, and finally get a *real*, man-sized chipper/shredder.
After doing much research and reading numerous reviews on this and other forums, I finally settled on the Wallenstein BXM32, just introduced last year. Man, am I glad I did. This is one great machine. It weighs over 400 lbs., has a true 3" capacity chipper and a large shredder hopper to funnel the smaller branches down. The rotor is a hefty 70 lbs., and the shredder has 27 knives that instantly (and I do mean instantly!) turn anything you put into it into a fine mulch. The chipper is pretty much self-feeding, though you sometimes have to push a bit when there are side branches on the limb you're feeding it. But the shredder, which is spec'ed for up to 1" branches but seems to do fine up to 1-1/2" or so, is truly amazing. The first time I put a good-sized branch in the shredder hopper it almost scared the living $#@! out of me, as the shredder instantly (literally) sucked that branch (with a number of smaller side branches) in like a giant vacuum cleaner, with a loud WHOOSH!
Before I got the BXM32, shredding was my most hated outdoor task. Now it is almost fun . OK, chipping and shredding will never be truly enjoyable, but this machine really does make it so much easier than what I was using (a small 5HP MTD) that it at least is not the torture that it used to be, gets the job done in a fraction of the time it used to take, and really is almost fun to use :thumbsup:. One of the best features of the machine is the discharge chute, which rotates 300 degree and accurately blows a focused stream of chips & mulch 15 or 20 feet, into a dump trailer in my case. My first day using it I took about two hours to do what would have taken me at least a full day, and of course I can now chip much bigger stuff instead of having to cut it up with the chain saw. (Yeah, I could have saved some of it for firewood, but IMO it is just not worth the time for anything 3" or under, except maybe if it was oak or rock maple.) It took everything I threw at/in it without skipping a beat.
Now I know there are some of you "real men" out there that think even a 400 b. chipper/shredder with a 70-lb. rotor is a little too wimpy. I had looked hard at the Wallenstein BXM42, but decided it was overkill for my needs, and the cost was about $1000 more. And at almost 800 lbs it didn't look like an optimal match for my Kubota B2910, which also is a little light in the HP (~23 PTO HP) for the BXM42. I have had the BXM32 for almost a week now, and put it through its paces with a mountain of stuff that has been accumulating. The only thing I regret is not having gotten it much sooner. I'm now convinced that this is really the optimal chipper/shredder for my needs, as well as the optimal match for my B2910.
I did have one significant setup problem that I should mention, regarding hooking it up to my 3-pt. hitch. The BXM32 cat. 1 hitch pins are pretty low to the ground, and the lower lift arms on the B2910 initially did not drop down low enough to slip over the hitch pins: the ball sockets were almost 4" higher than the BXM32 pins. After calling Woodward Crossings, where I got the BXM32, they pointed out that there are usually 2 or 3 sets of holes on the lower lift arms for attaching the lift rods (turns out there are 2 on the B2910), and suggested moving the lift rods to the other set of holes. When I did that it allowed the lift arms to get close, but still not quite low enough. Actually, the right side lift rod on the B2910 is a ratcheting adjustable rod that, after moving it and lengthening it to its full length, did allow the right lift arm to go low enough. But the left side lift rod is a fixed length, and the left lift arm is still about 3/4" too high at its lowest point. So for now I am putting a 1x4 board under the front of the chipper when I am using it, and setting on a pair of 4x4's when I park it. Eventually I'm going to try to find an aftermarket adjustable lift rod to replace the fixed one to solve the problem. (Kubota wants $500 for a replacement ratcheting lift rod - highway robbery, IMO.) Another option would be to bolt 2x3 wood skids to the bottom of the BXM32, but that would raise the shredder hopper a bit, and it is already pretty high, so I'd rather not do that.
BTW, last year I looked at a used Bearcat 73554 chipper/shredder, which looked almost new. I mentioned in a post last October that the owner had to force branches in when he tried to demo it to me, both in the chipper chute and the shredder chute. (And he said the blades were sharp.) Well, based on that demo, I would have to say that my Wallenstein could run rings around that Bearcat, at least up to its 3" max chipper capacity and 1+ inch shredder capacity.
Al
I have 5 acres to maintain with lots of chipping & shredding -- most recently a lot of large pine branches that came down in a storm last winter, and about a dozen good-sized apple and pear trees that I knocked down (to be replaced with dwarf trees) to make room for a large out-building. I also shred prunings from a number of large maples trees and various small fruit crops. And I have a couple of acres of woodland that I have wanted to clear of brush, briars, vines and small trees for some time but had been too intimidated by the size of the task. I can't believe I ever got by with my wimpy little 5 HP MTD toy. Since I have a Kubota B2910 compact tractor, I decided to take advantage of it's 29 HP diesel engine and beefy 3-pt hitch, and finally get a *real*, man-sized chipper/shredder. After doing much research and reading numerous reviews on this and other forums, I finally settled on the Wallenstein BXM32, just introduced last year. Man, am I glad I did. This is one great machine. It weighs over 400 lbs., has a true 3" capacity chipper and a large shredder hopper to funnel the smaller branches down. The rotor is a hefty 70 lbs., and the shredder has 27 knives that instantly (and I do mean instantly!) turn anything you put into it into a fine mulch. The chipper is pretty much self-feeding, though you sometimes have to push a bit when there are side branches on the limb you're feeding it. But the shredder, which is spec'ed for up to 1" branches but seems to do fine up to 1-1/2" or so, is truly amazing. The first time I put a good-sized branch in the shredder hopper it almost scared the living $#@! out of me
, as the shredder instantly (literally) sucked that branch (with a number of smaller side branches) in like a giant vacuum cleaner, with a loud WHOOSH! Before I got the BXM32, shredding was my most hated
outdoor task. Now it is almost fun . OK, chipping and shredding will never be truly enjoyable, but this machine really does make it so much easier than what I was using (a small 5HP MTD) that it at least is not the torture that it used to be, gets the job done in a fraction of the time it used to take, and really is almost fun to use :thumbsup:. One of the best features of the machine is the discharge chute, which rotates 300 degree and accurately blows a focused stream of chips & mulch 15 or 20 feet, into a dump trailer in my case. My first day using it I took about two hours to do what would have taken me at least a full day, and of course I can now chip much bigger stuff instead of having to cut it up with the chain saw. (Yeah, I could have saved some of it for firewood, but IMO it is just not worth the time for anything 3" or under, except maybe if it was oak or rock maple.) It took everything I threw at/in it without skipping a beat.Now I know there are some of you "real men" out there that think even a 400 b. chipper/shredder with a 70-lb. rotor is a little too wimpy. I had looked hard at the Wallenstein BXM42, but decided it was overkill for my needs, and the cost was about $1000 more. And at almost 800 lbs it didn't look like an optimal match for my Kubota B2910, which also is a little light in the HP (~23 PTO HP) for the BXM42. I have had the BXM32 for almost a week now, and put it through its paces with a mountain of stuff that has been accumulating. The only thing I regret is not having gotten it much sooner. I'm now convinced that this is really the optimal chipper/shredder for my needs, as well as the optimal match for my B2910.
I did have one significant setup problem that I should mention, regarding hooking it up to my 3-pt. hitch. The BXM32 cat. 1 hitch pins are pretty low to the ground, and the lower lift arms on the B2910 initially did not drop down low enough to slip over the hitch pins: the ball sockets were almost 4" higher than the BXM32 pins. After calling Woodward Crossings, where I got the BXM32, they pointed out that there are usually 2 or 3 sets of holes on the lower lift arms for attaching the lift rods (turns out there are 2 on the B2910), and suggested moving the lift rods to the other set of holes. When I did that it allowed the lift arms to get close, but still not quite low enough. Actually, the right side lift rod on the B2910 is a ratcheting adjustable rod that, after moving it and lengthening it to its full length, did allow the right lift arm to go low enough. But the left side lift rod is a fixed length, and the left lift arm is still about 3/4" too high at its lowest point. So for now I am putting a 1x4 board under the front of the chipper when I am using it, and setting on a pair of 4x4's when I park it. Eventually I'm going to try to find an aftermarket adjustable lift rod to replace the fixed one to solve the problem. (Kubota wants $500 for a replacement ratcheting lift rod - highway robbery, IMO
.) Another option would be to bolt 2x3 wood skids to the bottom of the BXM32, but that would raise the shredder hopper a bit, and it is already pretty high, so I'd rather not do that.BTW, last year I looked at a used Bearcat 73554 chipper/shredder, which looked almost new. I mentioned in a post last October that the owner had to force branches in when he tried to demo it to me, both in the chipper chute and the shredder chute. (And he said the blades were sharp.) Well, based on that demo, I would have to say that my Wallenstein could run rings around that Bearcat, at least up to its 3" max chipper capacity and 1+ inch shredder capacity.
Al
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