Chipper Advice on PTO Chipper

[N80]

Thanks guys. That helps me understand the difference but not sure what the actual practical, every day use advantage is.

Also, not sure what the disadvantage of the lower priced mechanical infeed system is.

Finally, not sure why no one seems to make one to run off of a set of remotes on the tractor. That would seem the most economical way to do it for those who already have remotes.

 

[dlctcg]

Finally, not sure why no one seems to make one to run off of a set of remotes on the tractor. That would seem the most economical way to do it for those who already have remotes.

That is exactly how my Wallenstein Chipper works.... connect the 2 hoses to one of my remotes & it runs the Hydraulic feed.... never an issue, simple design... works great....

 

[ericm979]

A lot of the "does not work at slow speed" problem of the 8H is because they use a flow control valve that is too large. It's a 20gpm unit but the system is 3 gpm. When I replaced it with a 4 gpm valve (per textbook and advice here) it performs much better. I can slow it down to a crawl and set it easily for any speed in between that and max. Unlike the original one which was either max or kinda slow but not really slow, and very difficult to set to anything in between.

Woodmaxx knows the problem with their unit but I think they can't get the lower flow valves in China.
Admittedly it's not a problem for many users, so maybe they feel it's not worth the extra cost to them.

 

[oosik]

The advantages of a chipper with hydraulic in-feed. You can chip twisted, angular limbs & trunks without having to cut them into smaller pieces. The hydraulically powered in-feed roller will pull the material into the chipper. Also - you can control the rate of in-feed. There is an advantage to feed slower if you are chipping very hard, dry material or max size material.

If you will be chipping straight, soft material - pine, birch, alder, cedar, etc, etc - it may not be necessary to have this hydraulic in-feed system.

I have never found a need for anything beyond mechanical feed. All the pines I chip are young, straight as an arrow and soft.

There is an advantage to a larger chipper - larger flywheel, higher air flow, larger input and output openings. This has a limit - generally, don't go beyond the recommendations of the chipper manufacturer regarding required Hp.

Another consideration. Larger chippers can handle larger material. That has a limit also. I chip my pines "whole". Butt first - no limbs removed. I chose the BX62S because it was larger but it has a 6" limit.

That is MY LIMIT also. A green pine - 25 feet long -6" on the butt is all I can manhandle. When I finish thinning a stand of young pines - it looks like a gigantic game of Pick-Up-Sticks. There can easily be 120 to 150 cut trees lying all over each other and lying in all directions.

So...... I grab a pine at the butt end and try to weave my way thru this pile without falling. I drag this pine to a growing pile from which I will eventually back the chipper up to and chip.

Dragging to a pile is the PITS. Actual chipping is fun.

 

[Whitbread]

Keep your eyes peeled on searchtempest and Facebook marketplace. I just picked up this woodmax wm8m with 1.0 hours on it for $1400 in Wisconsin.

Gave it a quick test and it chewed a whole 6" butt poplar like nothing. I'm running it on my turbo 1620. Not sure of exact pto hp, but has to be over 30 now.

 

[grsthegreat]

Good find there. They sold it way too cheap

 

[Whitbread]

Good find there. They sold it way too cheap

I had been looking for good a bit and missed 3 used units, but I got lucky on this one! The owner got a short notice transfer for work so they were liquidating the estate.

 

[Dave126]

We use a lot of mulch. Until recently mulch was free from the county. Unfortunately they stopped their mulch program (backwards rural county can't get anything right and when they do they eventually mess that up). Purchasing mulch at the volume I want is very expensive.

Anyway, looking into pto driven chippers. I have a 45 hp tractor (about 40 hp at pto).

I don't really need one for material disposal. I need it specifically for mulch production. Material supply is not an issue. I cut my own firewood and there are always downed trees on my property.

So I guess my question is this: Will a pto chipper fill that need? If so, I am interested in recommendations on brands, models, features, things to avoid etc.

Thanks.

If you are using the larger trees for firewood. Have you looked at the Wallenstien BXM42. I just purchased a BXM32, mostly because of the shredder part. It doea a great job and the BXM42 will shred a 1 1/2 in branch into mulch and chip a 4 log without any problems.
Here is my BXM32 on a 19hp PTO.

 

[N80]

Update:

My Woodland Mills WC68 arrived today along with my Woodland Mills HM126 saw mill and the 16' trailer.

My wife and I assembled the chipper in about an hour and a half which included cutting the PTO shaft and filling the 5 gallon tank with hydraulic fluid. That part took a long time. It was cold and the fluid was thick and the filler hole has a wire screen in it that made pouring go very slowly.

Anyway, we got it running and ran some brush through it. Works very well. No real issues to speak of. Agree, it makes wood chips more so than "mulch" but the wood chips are what we need.

I had actual decided to buy the saw mill before deciding to buy the chipper. The clincher was that a great deal of the scraps from the mill can go into the chipper.

My daughter and her husband (they are half owners in the saw mill) will help my wife and I assemble the mill and trailer this weekend.

Side note: My Kubota L4400 (with pallet forks on the bucket) was adequate for lifting and moving the chipper (800+ lbs) and the trailer pallet (500+ lbs). It was not adequate for lifting the mill which was about 1000 pounds. It did it but it was dicey and I had to go super slow and barely breath on the joy stick inputs. I had a box blade (maybe 400 pounds) on the back and loaded tires. I think this showed the weakness of bucket forks. The loader is rated at about 1700 pounds at the pins but forks on the bucket are way out there.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Congrats on the new equipment N80 !!

gg