Best PTO Chipper for JD2520

[RoyJackson]

I have the small BearCat (probably the one Roy says is the same as the Woods). It is a nice chipper with a pretty hefty flywheel. Only complaint is that it dumps chips underneath so you need to move periodically.

Do you use the shredder much? I didn't expect to use mine much...but I'd estimate 30-40 percent of the use is the shredder (almost everything smaller then 1" diameter goes in the shredder). That shredder pulls in so fast, it's scary!!
Bearcat and Woods sell a blower unit for our chipper/shredders. Cost (from Messick's) is about $1000 (ouch!!). I can rake a lot of chips for that!

 

[IslandTractor]

Do you use the shredder much? I didn't expect to use mine much...but I'd estimate 30-40 percent of the use is the shredder (almost everything smaller then 1" diameter goes in the shredder). That shredder pulls in so fast, it's scary!!
Bearcat and Woods sell a blower unit for our chipper/shredders. Cost (from Messick's) is about $1000 (ouch!!). I can rake a lot of chips for that!

I don't use the shredder much partly because it is so aggressive. I agree with you it is scary. I would probably use the shredder more if it was horizontal feed at waist height but lifting stuff up and then having it ripped out of your hands is rather disconcerting. My main use is for the too small for firewood stuff from 1-3 inches. The brush I just pile in an old foundation to compose or rot.

I just move the tractor a tad when the pile is too high. I then come back later with either bucket or rake to redistribute the chips.

I do think it is a very well made chipper that is a size above the DR and yet not hugely expensive. I got mine nearly new from CL for about $1200.

 

[BethesdaEC]

I got the chipper on Monday and here are my comments.

The custom pallet they deliver it on is too narrow. The pallet jack would not fit between the slats. The delivery guy had a devil of a time getting the 760 lbs pallet to back of the truck so I could pick it up with my pallet forks.

I told Wallenstein that I had 5 GPM power beyond and they thought that it would be fine. I knew I would have to get the right fittings, but how hard can that be? I know more about ISO quick connects and hydraulic hose thread standards then I ever wanted to. The Wallenstein has 1/2 NPT and TSC carries a ISO-B 3/8 male and female connector which is what the power beyond uses. Of course the first TSC only had the female so I had to go the the other TSC to get the male. 1/2 NPT looks a lot like 3/4-16 ORB when you are looking through a plastic retail package. I found a M-F adapter for NPT to JIC which seems right at first glance but it wasn't. I finally found the real deal hydraulic supplier in the area and was able to get the right adapter. Hydraulics done.

Meanwhile while I was waiting for the wrong adapter to arrive, I decided to get the PTO hooked up. The shaft Wallenstein provides is far too short. I do have a quick hitch which adds a couple of inches but when I had the shaft connected there was only 3 1/2 of overlap on the shaft. Off to the TSC again to buy a longer PTO shaft. Mechanical power check, hydraulics still pending.

Wallenstein said the lines would be primed, they weren't. Off to get Hy-Gard.

I have a question about the flywheel, the manual says that it is 110 lbs and the website says 74 lbs. Which is it? They have not responded yet.

OK now that I got through all of this, I actually ran it tonight for 45 minute or so:

It did very well on the 2 and 3 inch stuff, when I fed in some 4 inch maple I had to slow the feed speed down so I wouldn't stall. Very easy to do, there is a controller on the left side of the hopper. Overall I am very happy with the performance, the feed rollers do a very good job squeezing the branches and feeding it forward. I can take a 12 foot long branch with a large canopy, start feeding it, step back and watch the whole thing squeeze and feed.

It was a rocky start, but I will give it two thumbs up at this point.

 

[JimP]

Hi BethesdaEC,

I have a BX42R I bought used. Since I don't have power beyond I run it off the rear remotes with the remote lever locked in posiiton. I need to hold the chipper feed bar or the chipper feed stops. Does your feed bar stay engaged by itself once you start feeding?

The chipper does very well on bigger wood. I do have problems with twigs bridging the exhaust chute and clogging it, which backs up into the disk. I try and keep a few bigger pieces around when chipping twiggy material to blow out any twigs that build up.

My rear remotes are both females, so hooking up the attachment males to the correct remote can be trial or error. One thing I do is put a colored zip tie on the remote and the same color zip tie on the attachment fitting. At the next connection just match colors and your connected to the right remote.

 

[BethesdaEC]

Hi BethesdaEC,

I have a BX42R I bought used. Since I don't have power beyond I run it off the rear remotes with the remote lever locked in posiiton. I need to hold the chipper feed bar or the chipper feed stops. Does your feed bar stay engaged by itself once you start feeding?

The chipper does very well on bigger wood. I do have problems with twigs bridging the exhaust chute and clogging it, which backs up into the disk. I try and keep a few bigger pieces around when chipping twiggy material to blow out any twigs that build up.

My rear remotes are both females, so hooking up the attachment males to the correct remote can be trial or error. One thing I do is put a colored zip tie on the remote and the same color zip tie on the attachment fitting. At the next connection just match colors and your connected to the right remote.

My bar locks just fine, if anything it is a little stiff. Hopefully it will loosen up a bit as it wears in. I always try to mix my twigs and branches to keep things clear. I can't screw up the hydraulics, the power beyond is a loop with a fixed female and male on a short hose. When not in use, the male plugs into the female to complete the hydraulic loop.

I love throwing a big bushy branch into it, stepping back and watching it pull the whole thing in.

 

[BethesdaEC]

I worked the BX42r hard this weekend and it took almost everything that I could throw at it. Once I gave it too many twigs and the exhaust duct jammed. It was very easy to clear, one bolt holds the top half of the housing, remove it and the top hinges open.

I also fed it a 3 inch locust branch and stalled the tractor out. The locust is so hard that the teeth of the feed rollers don't bite into it very well. Once the blades start pulling it in, the wood just slips through the teeth and overfeeds the chippers. To finish off this piece I let it feed for 6 inches and slammed it into reverse. Did this 3 or 4 times until it was all sawdust.

One other thing, the feed chute is real heavy, the first time I when to lift it into the travel position, I gave it a good shove and it didn't budge. I looked for a latch figuring there must be something holding it place. Gravity is the only thing holding it down, you really have to lift hard.

If anybody needs to connect this chipper via the power beyond the part you need are Parker 60 Series H3-62-T8 male and female and two 8-1/2 F50G-S adapters.