Chipper Bear Cat Chipper Questions

[bobnewjersey]

Does anyone own the Bear Cat PTO chipper model 72854 hydraulic feed or the 71854 manual feed? My local dealer carries only Bear Cat (in PTO versions), so I am giving both of these machines a hard look. Please share your experiences with these machines.....positive or negitive. Many thanks!

 

[DavidInNH]

I looked at these models last year and ended up buying a Salsco 826 a couple of weeks ago. I didn't have overpowering reasons for preferring the Salsco:
1) It was available at two of my "preferred" dealers
2) One of them runs a rental business. They ran them for a year in the rental business before picking the line up.
3) I liked the Salsco feed setup - it has a 6"x12" throat. Crooked stuff and limbs go through with no problem. Every other blade on the feed roller is a cutter (available with all cutters). This works well for feeding trees with limbs still attached (it saves the delimbing and a lot of bending over). It is supposed (I haven't tried yet) to work well with stock that has vines on it.
4) The discharge chute seems munch longer than the Bearcat. I can blow stuff a long way from the chipper. Just don't walk in front of it - I'm glad I've got a hardhat with a face screen.

It appears that you are in New Jersey. Salsco's factory is in CT.

 

[Redfisher]

Bear Cat just opened a new plant 15 min from my house,I'll have to go check it out/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[bobnewjersey]

Thanks, David. I never heard of Salsco. I'll check them out.

 

[DavidInNH]

I ran the Salsco for a while today and found out the very best feature - My (almost) 18 year old son admitted that "it wasn't so bad" to chip with the L48/Salsco. It is really nice to have him for company - so much so that I let him do most of the driving.

My old chipper was a 10 HP Troybilt and it was REAL work to use. We chipper more in 3 hours than we could have chipped in 3 weekends with the little machine.

 

[edt]

Hi David i'm also from N.H wondering what you paid for chipper and if there is a web sight or name of dealer in area
Thanks edt

 

[DavidInNH]

I paid $6,500 at Chappel Tractor in Milford. RN Johnson in Walpole also carries them, but at a much higher price. Salsco just came out with a smaller 3 pt version this year, its not even on the web site yet. Chappel normally keeps both in stock.

Salsco's web site is www.salsco.com. Be warned, it is even worse than Deere's and Kubota's site. For instance, to find the 826, go to "Products, then "Tree", then "Chipper, Models 8625, 8630 & 8633", scroll to the bottom and them click on "3-Point Hitch Chipper". Your best bet is to take a look at one in person - everything on it is very heavy duty.

The problem I had with looking for chippers is that none of the dealers will demo them. I had previous experience with a little one, but none with anything like this. I called Salsco directly last year and they invited me to a farm show where they were giving demos. I had a schedule conflict, but I think that would have been worthwhile.

 

[edt]

Thanks David that helps out a bunch I have a chappel dealer
by me in kingston will check thans again edt

 

[Knight9]

I've priced out Bear Cat in my area. Very $$$!!! Wow!!! I'm now going to see if I can track down a local dealer for these guys <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.gmeidaho.com/>GME</A>. Their product may be worth checking out too.

Kevin

 

[DavidInNH]

I finally remembered to grab a picture...

 

[DavidInNH]

OK, one more time with the picture.

 

[Knight9]

Wow David!! Great looking chipper (and rig)!

Kevin

 

[DavidInNH]

Thanks!

I'll have to get a picture of it eating - that is a really interesting sight...

I'm finding that most of my colleagues just don't understand - now I know why you guys hang out here...

 

[pajoube]

DavidInNH
I assume they probably make a hydraulic model?
PJ

 

[DavidInNH]

pajoube,

I'm not quite sure what you mean, but:
This model has a hydraulic power feed. It is driven from its own pump, so you don't need any remotes. This wasn't an issue for me since the L48 comes with remotes for the backhoe, but it could save you some money if you don't have them. I've really come to appreciate that the power feed is reversible. When your eyes are bigger than its mouth, its really handy to back the piece out. You can often just rotate the piece and run it back in. I think that the hydraulic feed is a lot safer than a mechanical feed. I don't want my hands anywhere near that opening. I'll have to post a picture of the warning labels - they are very graphic and make most people shudder.

 

[pajoube]

Your unit is PTO driven, do they make one that is driven by hydraulic power? Not sure if I'm saying this correct or not. Thinking of the PowerTrac and mounting on a quick attach plate with the hydraulic power supply.
PJ

 

[DavidInNH]

I don't think they make one that is driven by hydraulic power. I just took another look on their web site and didn't see anything. I never noticed one while I was doing research either. Chippers need a LOT of HP - I wonder how they would match up with the hydraulic supply on a PowerTrac?

BTW - somebody pointed out to me that the capacity of the chipper goes up proportional to the square of the diameter (area=PI*D/4), so a a 6" chipper is doing over twice the work of a 4" chipper.

 

[DavidInNH]

I just stumbled on this posting in the Lawn & Garden forum about converting a standalone chipper to hydraulics. It might be interesting...

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=lawn&Number=119092&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&fpart=>http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=lawn&Number=119092&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&fpart=</A>

 

[pajoube]

Thanks for the link, I had not seen this one.
PJ

 

[bobnewjersey]

Any comments on the Bear Cats?