BX 2660 & PTO chipper

[AHNC]

Am considering an SC5540 Bearcat chipper to drive off the 2660. The BX has 19.5 pto hp and Echo is saying 25-45 hp is the right range. I would not be doing the 5" material they say it can handle, as that would be firewood. I have no experience with chippers. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also, pricey little things at $2979

 

[Pepsiboy]

Am considering an SC5540 Bearcat chipper to drive off the 2660. The BX has 19.5 pto hp and Echo is saying 25-45 hp is the right range. I would not be doing the 5" material they say it can handle, as that would be firewood. I have no experience with chippers. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also, pricey little things at $2979

AHCN,

In my experience with PTO implements, you would need a MINIMUM of 25 hp at the PTO for this to work correctly. UNLESS you are going to put nothing LARGER than 1 1/2 inches or LIGHT brush through it. INHO, I don't think you would be satisfied with this unit for YOUR tractor. I would suggest a smaller unit, if possible. :2cents:

Dave

 

[Code54]

Check out Woodmaxx chippers, they have a newer model that is rated for the BX. Looks pretty nice form what I have seen

 

[oosik]

I agree with Code54 & Pepsiboy. Without adequate horse power the chipper may bog down enough that it won't blow chips out the discharge chute. Its also going to put quite a strain on your tractor just to do a mediocre job. Get a chipper that falls within the power range of your tractor. There are many brands that have great chippers that fit your tractor.

 

[David_Kb7uns]

Get a bigger tractor or small branches.

Bearcat 73554 now known as SC5540B

David

 

[wawajake]

You are asking for trouble if you put that unit on your BX , you will have many a sudden stop to your unit and engine when it hits something the 19.5 hp can't handle ..........I have the Wallenstein BX42 on my BX2660 that is correctly rated for my 19.5 hp...and even that at rare times has shut down my machine when it hits a knot in a 3 or 4 inch maple for example . I doubt that those rare sudden stops are good for my drivetrain. So even though you think you won't be putting 5 inch stuff in it, you will , or your helper will. I also suspect that the flywheel will be very hard to first get up to speed if you are shy by 5 or 6 hp, and that regular startup strain will tax your engine also.

 

[roadhunter]

I actually purchased a used SC5540 earlier this week from out of state. I chose this unit because I am looking for a specific chip size to burn in a boiler. The shredder part is just a hammermill which gives the ability to make a certain size chip.. I have a 75 hp tractor to use if necessary but I am planning to give it a go on my old Farmall H which is probably going to be below the recommended HP range at the PTO. I have faith that the old girl can power through it like she always does. I won't be using the chipper much, just resizing shredded wood and wood chips in the hammermill but I will test it to see what it does. It will probably be a couple of weeks before I get a chance to hook it up and run but I will give you some feedback on how it runs on the Farmall.

If you are just running small stuff the little gas powered units can be found for quite a bit less and lets you use the tractor to move the brush around. Something like this.
Bearcat Model 85 Chipper Shredder 3" Branch Briggs Stratton 8 HP Engine | eBay

 

[roadhunter]

I'm curious why this Woods machine (which appears to be the same as the Echo) only requires 20 hp and is priced almost $2,000 more.
Woods W5000 3 PT Hitch Chipper Shredder for Tractors | eBay

 

[David_Kb7uns]

I wonder if they may of changed the size of the pulleys for the belt, run my 73554 with a MF35 and it can pull it down with a larger size branch.

David

 

[5030]

I'd take a good look at the Wood-Max economy mechanical drive chipper. It's similar to the Jinma 8", actually it is a Jinma. You can vary the output chip size by varying the knife angle.

I have a Jinma 8" that I bought used for 1000 bucks. It was on Craigslist last year and I have to say it's a helluva chipper. Having said that I drive mine with a 84 horse pto tractor but it's rated for 16 pto and above. The ability of a chipper to chip lies in the flywheel weight and the infeed rate and the Jinma/Woodmax has a heavy flywheel with twin knives.

Mine will handle 8" hardwood logs no issue. Your cannot do that of course but I'm sure even with your limited power, once you get the flywheel spinning, it will handle 4" no issue. It's all in how you feed it and with the controlled infeed mechanism, if it starts to slow down, you can release the infeed to allow the reactor to recover, much like commercial chippers that handle whole trees do. The have speed sensing mechanisms that stop the infeed to allow even the big engines to recover.

When I stuff in an 8' log, I have to stagger the infeed kanually, not that my tractot slows down but I installed a twin plate slip clutch on the PTO input so I wouldn't destroy the chipper in as much as I'm inputting about twice the rated power.

I use the chips as fuel as well and I found that by changing the knife angle, you can alter the chip size.

Just my 2 cents

 

[5030]

I agree with Code54 & Pepsiboy. Without adequate horse power the chipper may bog down enough that it won't blow chips out the discharge chute. Its also going to put quite a strain on your tractor just to do a mediocre job. Get a chipper that falls within the power range of your tractor. There are many brands that have great chippers that fit your tractor.

Thats not entirely true. It will depend on how seasoned the wood is. If it's moist it won't discharge well, even at rated rpm. If it's dry, it will discharge fine even at low flywheel speed. I can run my tractor well below 540, like 200 pto and it blows chips from seasoned logs just fine. The ability to blow chips also depends on how much intake air is available to the flywheel. To that end (and some chippers are already modified from the factory), I drilled multiple air holes in the knife access plate on the frontside of the blower housing (input side) to allow more air into the housing. The more air going in, the more air going out the chute, the better chip flow.

 

[RoyJackson]

I have the Woods 5000 which is the same as the Bearcat...just sold under another name.

Good chipper/shredder. You don't have to worry about the chips not flowing through the chute since it has no chute (a chute is an option). The chips fall under the chipper/shredder. By the way, if you're a residential owner, good chance you'll use the shredder more then the chipper.
I ran mine with a 24 PTO HP tractor and had no problems chipping 5" material. I think you'd find 3" easy to chip...larger might be pretty slow or might smoke the belts (it's belt driven, obviously). I like the belt drive...if something does clog the chipper, less likely to damage anything but the belts.

The video shows a Bearcat on a 17 PTO HP Kubota B7510:

As far as the chips under the unit...no problem. Just throttle down your tractor, raise the 3PH a bit and use a fire rake to pull the chips out.
As I'd written above...great chipper/shredder for occasional yard clean up!

 

[AHNC]

Thanks all for the education. I think I'll take my time and study the options for smaller units.

 

[5030]

Rge only thing I don't like about that style is you have to load them vertically. With the Wood Max and the Jimna, you load them horizontally and thats much easier on your back in the long haul. I know. Usually when I'm chipping it's a big pile.

 

[wawajake]

Other advantage of one with a chute is that you can blow right into trailer . I made a hitch on back of my Wallenstein, and with a slight turn of the wheels when you park you can access the chipper inlet with trees (horizontal or maybe 15 degrees up) and you can rotate your outlet chute right into your trailer and haul it where you deem it best use

 

[5030]

My personal opinion is the Wallenstein is overpriced. They all do the same thing so why the wide range of prices? I imagine the one thing that owners neglect are the knives because most owners really have no practical way of sharpening them to the correct angle and obtaining a razor edge other than sending them out to a commercial knife grinder.

No issue here, I own a large surface grinder so it's a simple matter of jigging the knives and grinding (thats why I know changing the angle impacts chip size). Mine are always razor sharp, I change out knives every year.

 

[ryan08]

I run this GME 18P chipper that will easily do 4" material with my BX25. I have had no problems with it bogging down.

 

[Couple of Achers]

My personal opinion is the Wallenstein is overpriced. They all do the same thing so why the wide range of prices? I imagine the one thing that owners neglect are the knives because most owners really have no practical way of sharpening them to the correct angle and obtaining a razor edge other than sending them out to a commercial knife grinder.

No issue here, I own a large surface grinder so it's a simple matter of jigging the knives and grinding (thats why I know changing the angle impacts chip size). Mine are always razor sharp, I change out knives every year.



I guess my personal opinion would be that the Wallenstein is worth every penny I paid. For both of them. I had a BX42 on my BX23 then sold that one and bought the BX62 for my L4740. They are top quality with very few moving parts, no belts or idler pulleys and they are self feeding even without the hyd. option. I am not concerned about the size of chips coming out of it. I just want what ever I put into it, to come out smaller than it went in. They have given me years of trouble free service. If you are not going to be chipping larger diameter logs, they now offer the BX32S. It chips logs up to 3" in diameter and would fit your BX perfectly.

 

[5030]

It's your money, not mine. I was tickled to find a used Jinma on CL for a grand and I bought it, like right now. You never see used units for sale. Is it perfect? No. Is it workable....Certainly. Is it easy to work on....sure is.

Yesterday I chipped a big pile and feeding multiple branches was easy because it's horizontal feed, I stick them in and walk away and let the machine chew them up. I plan on adding a lower roller (like the wood max) to allow easier feeding and a modified infeed drive shaft but other than that, it's a good chipper....cheap.

I bet if I put it on CL or Flea-Bay it would be gone in a flash. I see Wallensteins languishing on Flea Bay all the time.

 

[RoyJackson]

I bet if I put it on CL or Flea-Bay it would be gone in a flash. I see Wallensteins languishing on Flea Bay all the time.

I'd guess most chippers (or any other implement) advertised on CL languish because the seller over-prices them. Here in Vermont, that's pretty common....rusted out old junk for an unrealistic price.

When I bought my Woods 5000 chipper/shredder, it was advertised on CL for $1000.00 (still lived in PA then). I carried a grand split between two pockets ($800 in one pocket, $200 in another) with the expectation to offer the $800. However, the unit was in such good (great) shape, I had no problem paying the grand. Good price for a good implement.
Still got the machine after 5 or 6 years...and still works great. One of these days I'll get the chute option kit, but since I don't use the chips as much as I used to, I mostly leave 'em where they lay.