Which woodchipper for strictly evergreen diet?

[sixdogs]

We're thinking of buying a chipper that would be used almost exclusively with evergreen--Norway Spruce branches. Some branches are pretty long. Anyway, I've owned PTO chippers in the past and all of them plugged up when used with evergreens since the pitch that would gum up the works and cause the feed to bind. It was a frustrating experience. I'm just looking right now but is anyone aware of a PTO chipper that would not gum up and stall on a steady diet of awkward and up to maybe 3" to 4" spruce branches? Thank you.

 

[BLSXJ]

I'm a fan of the woodland mills WC68. I'm currently writing a review of it int he attachments section. they have a new discharge chute design that is less likely to clog.

I've put a few fresh green pine branch's through and it did not complain one bit.

it might be worth stepping up to a chipper that spins the flywheel at twice the pto speed.... in order to get more air flow.

 

[ericm979]

I've run a good amount of Doug Fir through my Woodmaxx 8H. It handles it fine. I have never clogged the chipper, and I make it chip stuff as large as I can get it to feed. If the branch is over 6" I have to set the feed speed really low or it drags the tractor engine down. I have 32 pto hp and could use a little more for the larger material. I changed the Woodmaxx flow control valve for a smaller capacity US made one and it makes setting the feed speed much easier than the too large valve it ships with. But if you have more HP and are chipping 3-4" stuff you can probably leave the feed control on max speed.

 

[oosik]

I chip 100% Ponderosa pine. I chip 750 to 900 small( 6" base diameter or smaller ) pines every spring as I thin and maintain my stands. Initially I had a Wallenstein BX42S. Chipped pines up to 4 and a half inches - diameter. I DID experience chute plugging from pine pitch in the chute. My solution - identify, fell, pile and wait a year to chip. The little pines would dry out and no longer have pitch problems.

I got a bigger tractor and moved up to a Wallenstein BX62S. This unit has a larger chute and a much stronger air blast thru the chipper. I can now immediately chip the pines and do not have to wait.

I chip all my pines "in the round". No limbs removed - butt in first - gulp, gulp - its all gone.

When I upgraded from the BX42S - I looked at the BX92S. My tractor would handle the "92". The dealer told me - go back to your place - cut a 9" diameter pine - see how far you can drag it - if you even can. I tired - thats why I bought the BX62S. Some times a 6" x 30' pine is more than I can handle. No way I could drag 9" pines.

 

[sixdogs]

Good advice so far. Thank you.

I would chip relatively small things with a branch at 3" or 4" on the butt end maximum. It's those fluffy fine green ends to the branches that I think will cause me trouble.

 

[oosik]

You know there - six dogs. There just may not be a chipper or shredder that can handle a lot of green spruce branches without plugging. That's a lot of green pitchy material for not much bulk. I looked up Norway Spruce. There was another "procedure" I used when I had the smaller Wally. A couple two or three shop rags - attached to a broom handle - soaked in diesel fuel - douche down the discharge chute. It was a nasty, messy operation. Thats why I went to piling the trees and waiting a year before chipping.

I would also collect and keep close at hand - dead, ultra dry branches. When things started getting sticky and looking like the chute would plug - a couple two or three dry branches would help clear out the pitch. But with the BX42S - if I got anxious and began chipping as soon as the little pines were cut down - I knew, sooner or later it was going to be the shop towels and diesel fuel.

I tried everything I could think of to "slick up" the discharge chute. WD-40, diesel fuel, silicone spray, new coat of paint. It all helped - to a limited extent - but pine pitch would always win out and I'd be back to the shop towels soaked in diesel fuel.

I would imagine that you would have no problems with most any chipper if you could pile the cut material and wait a year to chip it. I could chip the entire spring worth of small trees without a single plugged chute problem when I waited a year.

 

[sixdogs]

You know there - six dogs. There just may not be a chipper or shredder that can handle a lot of green spruce branches without plugging. That's a lot of green pitchy material for not much bulk.

..

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You might be right and that's what I'm thinking. I've tried the wait a year plus the alternate materials thing before and it didn't work. I can't let them dry because farm land here is precious and rents for lots of money. No can do.

My thought was to get a chipper, perhaps used and then at my leisure I could chip the bottom 4 ft of branches off of 500 Norway Spruce trees. It takes a while to cut so that works best. Absent that, maybe I'll just cut over the winter and rent an industrial 10" motorized chipper that I know will chip them. Hire an army of kids to drag brush and adults to feed it into the chipper. Sure would like to find a PTO chipper to buy, use slowly over the winter and sell when done. Maybe not.

 

[oosik]

There must be a REALLY GOOD reason you will be giving 500 Norway Spruce trees a hair cut so they all look like they have a Mohawk.

Another thought - rent a chipper that can operate at 1000 PTO rpm. Either by running your alternate 1000 rpm PTO on your M7040 - if it has it OR get a chipper that has a 2 to 1 step up system to get it to 1000 rpm.

Reason behind this thought - there was a VERY significant increase in "pass thru" air volume between the BX42S and the BX62S Wallenstein units I had/have. I think this may be a significant reason I'm not seeing plug ups in the '62.

 

[sixdogs]

The reason for taking off a few branches on the bottom is multi-fold. First, it allows me to mow under them with a front mower. That keeps the grass down and lessens maintenance so they look better. Also, the Norway Spruce is a magnificent tree with drooping and hanging branches that need some room at the bottom to "hang" enough to clear the ground. The wife likes this look. Finally, those bottom branches interfere with field work and farming and can upset a planter and make life harder. Trimming is good. I should have been trimming along the way while they were growing but I wasn't paying attention.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I just got a 12" PTO Brush bandit for almost exclusively Dead Pine. So far, I have not encountered any build up of resin. Is dead pine different from living? I'm thinking probably.

 

[oosik]

IT - Oh, boy - dead & dry pine versus live & green pine. The live/green stuff will give up its pitch like squeezing water out of a soaked shop towel. And if its a hot day - everything is hot - the little pine, the chipper, the chute, the sticky pitch - - ME. For all the mentioned reasons - I will start my operations before sunrise - around 5AM - and quit around 10 to 10:30AM.

By 10AM I'm beat to death and ready for my mid-morning nap. That's a solid five hours of identifying and cutting OR dragging and piling OR chipping.

A question - a chipper that can handle a 12" tree must have some form of winch to pull a tree that size into the chipper ?? With a 12" tree - you can grunt til the cows come home and it will not move an inch.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I'm working on it. I thought I had the cat by the tail, until I tried finding stuff to feed the chipper that was accessible. A winch is too slow and a hydraulic one, pricey (and slow).

The chipper blew off the hat off my lady friend (and helper) and a nice chunk nailed her in the head. So, her enthusiasm for helping me chip has been diminished somewhat. Women always want to jump ahead three steps. She wanted to spread the chips that were being blown onto a muddy section of trail, not understanding the danger.

Definitely not a one man job! Probably, I should divide the operation. Stock pile material for chipping, and chipping. The problem with that is that I hate moving anything more often then necessary, and I would probably find myself moving the piles again.

 

[Captain Dirty]

. . . There just may not be a chipper or shredder that can handle a lot of green spruce branches without plugging. . . I would also collect and keep close at hand - dead, ultra dry branches. . . .
I would imagine that you would have no problems with most any chipper if you could pile the cut material and wait a year to chip it.

I second most of oosik's comments although I have some differences with his MO (more on that later).

I have experience with only two PTO chippers, a 4" Wally (borrowed) and a 6" Salsco (now owned). I had a lot of problems with small, resilient twigs (evergreen or deciduous) jamming the chute of the Wally, but only once the same problem with the Salsco. The differences? The chute on the Wally tapered or narrowed from side to side while the chute of the Salsco was a constant width. The Wally was older so "fluff" or other debris may have restricted the air inlet ports; the friend from whom I borrowed it ran the Wally at 1000 rpm with no reported problems. It may be that a 6" chipper just has more airflow and a bigger discharge chute.

The 6" Salsco behaves well with the 32 PTO HP I have. The tractor bogs down at about 5' into a 6" eastern white pine, so my method of operation is to cut the 30' pine into 5 sections and carry or drag each 6' x 6" log to the hopper while the motor recovers. The fourth section may have dead branches that are the source of the "dead, ultra dry" material that helps clear the chute after I feed the 5th piece, the crown, with the (live) limbs still attached.

My recommendation would be to go with a 6" machine. You have the HP, the airflow will probably be greater, and the larger inlet is an advantage with crooks and forks. (The 4" x 10" on the Wally was a plus.) It may or may not be overkill for 4" limbs, but oversized is better than undersized. Also be aware of the physical size; the height of my PTO caused a 30 degree shaft angle with the 4" Wally.

 

[oosik]

Ah - I see. Well - my M6040 with 62 hp eats 6" x 30' Ponderosa pine faster than a kid can gobble a candy cane. The standard 6" x 30' P pine will go thru the BX62S in about eight to ten seconds. Not quite enough time for me to grab another and drag it to the chipper.

I've tried cutting the bigger pines into chunks. I don't like doing it that way. It means I've got to make multiple trips to the stacking pile. Chipping it whole means there is usually three feet or more at the base of the tree with no limbs. This allows the chipper to get a good hold on the tree before it starts to get to the limbs. Chop it into chunks and that advantage is no longer there. My Wally does not have hydraulic in-feed. The way I chip the small pines - I've never needed it.

 

[Captain Dirty]

Different strokes for different folks. There's more than one way to skin a cat or chip a pine tree (or chip a spruce bough). Oosik has more power in his tractor and more strength in his body than I. We have each found a method that works well for our own circumstances.

 

[aczlan]

Probably, I should divide the operation. Stock pile material for chipping, and chipping. The problem with that is that I hate moving anything more often then necessary, and I would probably find myself moving the piles again.

Sounds like you need some kind of dumping trailer to blow chips into.

Aaron Z

 

[oosik]

Captain Dirty - Thank God we DO each have our own way. BTW - MY WAY this spring - get my son out of his house, off his azz and out helping the old man. He has always found time to come and collect the chips - by golly - he can help make them. Besides - his pickup is 4WD - so he can get right out where the chipping is happening and we blew the chips right into his pickup.

If anybody ever does that - blow chips right into the pickup - may I suggest a sheet of plywood or the like standing up to protect the rear window of the pickup. Rear windows with sliding glass openings are especially $$$$$.

 

[Captain Dirty]

Oosik--I suspect you and I agree on more matters than we differ--Captain Dirty

Sounds like you need some kind of dumping trailer to blow chips into.

Aaron Z

If anybody ever does that - blow chips right into the pickup - may I suggest a sheet of plywood or the like standing up to protect the rear window of the pickup. Rear windows with sliding glass openings are especially $$$$$.

When my son took a couple of loads of chips we covered his PU from hood to lowered tailgate with a tarp (thereby protecting his rear window). After loading he ."covered his load" by taking the tarp edge on the hood back to the tailgate. At his house he tied off the top corners of the tarp at the rear to 2 trees and drove away rolling the load of chips onto the ground.

Disclaimer: Considerations of the density/weight of the chips, strength of the tarp and ropes, and speed of driving away are the responsibility of the practitioner.

 

[oosik]

Good disclaimer - funny. Good way to "do" the chips also. The chips my BX62S produces are a WHOLE LOT bigger than what the BX42S produced. The chips are about 1/3 the size of a normal playing card and all of 1/4 inch thick. And I've got the anvil adjusted down as tight to the knives as I dare.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have a dump trailer that I intend to put some more sheet metal on, to use for chips. I just don't have a spare tractor of the right size to pull it. And, I wouldn't even think about having my P/U anywhere near the operation. I was using my backhoe, with a hitch on the pallet forks, but that's awkward.