Chipper Chipper / Shredder

[dullpain]

Anybody know of manufacturer of a PTO driven 3 PH mounted chipper/shredder.

thanks

 

[Bird]

McCallum, did you try the search feature on this forum. I know the topic has been discussed a good bit in the past, but the only brand name (and there were several) that I remember right now is the Bearcat that my dealer sells.

Bird

 

[Rowski]

McCallum,

I have a Valby CH160 chipper. It is made in Norway. My dealer only carried this brand. He told me that after the bad ice strom in northern NY and VT (a couple of years ago) he sold about a dozen and has not had one come back yet. I have only used it to chip up 4 apple trees so far and it works great. A little on the pricey side but beats dragging and burning brush.

Derek

 

[Harv]

McCallum -

The Gearmore catalog shows a nice Danuser unit, available in 4" or 6" models.

 

[Chris in IN]

I have a Befco 6" Chipper / shredder It has power feed & works very well. www.befco.com

 

[TomG]

There were a couple of used Apatche 3" units around here. No power feed. I think they're manufactured by 'G & something- or-another' Grinder Company. I don't know if it's the same company that makes Apatche sprayers.

The hammer mills in the shredder unit have static, as opposed to flail something-or-anothers. I don't know if this is good or bad. They also are triple belted. Guess that's good. You can tell I really know what I'm talking about. Maybe somebody will fill us in. I have been thinking about getting one of the used Apatche units.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Have you looked at www.easternfarmmachinery.com

 

[hayden]

First, you need to decide if you really wnat a chipper/shredder, or just a chipper.

As you might expect, you can spend as much money as you could possibly want.

Here are some suggestions:

Chipper/shredder: If you really want a combo, look at the woods or Bear Cat. They are exactly the same.

Chipper: This really kick but for chipping.

Smaller with manual feed: I highly recommend the Patu DC 40 or DC 60. They are 4" and 6" respectively. I have a DC 40. Will cost $2500-$3000

Smaller with hydraulic feed: I've never priced one, but after chipping a ton of stuff, the hydraulic feed sounds pretty nice to me, but I'm afraid to price it.

Some of the other mentioned units have received top praise too.

You really need to decide if shredding matters, and then if hydraulic feed matters or is worth the extra $$ to you.

DO NOT GET the thing in Northern Hydraulics catalogue. I almost got one and talked to the manufacturer (Mackissic). Ended up speaking with the owner/designer and told me NOT to buy it for use with a 540 PTO because it's designed for faster operation. He groussed about Nothern advertising it for use with 540 PTO.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I posted this a while ago, but here it is again.

Andy

PTO Woodchipper Report

Last week I purchased a PTO woodchipper for use with my B2400. I had been looking at different brands for a couple of years. I decided on the Danuser model 18P. This is a 4 inch chipper with power feed. Even though it is rated to take 4 inch diameter wood, the actual infeed opening is 6 inches square. This aids in fitting branches through the opening without getting jammed. The power feed is gear driven off the chipper power shaft and feeds at 55 feet per minute. Many other brands have hydraulic power feed. The gear drive does not allow the feed to be reversed in the event of a jam, however it does not require a hydraulic connection to the tractor.
The chipper is built of heavy gage steel with hefty bearings and shafts. The 106 pound flywheel turns at 1280 RPM with 540 RPM PTO speed and there are 2 cutting knives. Most of the other brands have the flywheel turn at 540 RPM. A slower flywheel stores much less energy than a faster turning one. The higher speed also results in more cuts per minute even though some of the other brands have 3 or 4 blades. The speed increase is accomplished with belt drive. These pulleys have 8 belts side by side to handle the torque load. The belts act as a mechanical fuse if things get jammed, preventing damage to either the chipper or the tractor.
The chipper is rated for 18 to 45 HP. My B2400 is on the bottom end of this rating producing 18 PTO HP. I did succeed in stalling the tractor on a piece of 3 ½ inch dry maple. The tractor stalled after about 7 feet and yes the belts did squeal when this happened. I guess I should have disengaged the power feed. Interesting enough the tractor RPM never even never dropped on anything else I chipped all weekend including some 4 inch oak.
The chipper has a built in fan on the back of the flywheel that lifts the chips up and discharges them out a chute. I built a plywood extension and top for my trailer and shoot the chips into it.
I am satisfied with the quality of construction and ease of operation. The power feed is great. I decided on the power feed because it will pull small branches and vines as well as the large stuff right into the chipper. It eliminates kickbacks which can happen with the last foot or so of the branch without power feed. It is also rated as quieter than many other chippers.
I paid $3475 for the 18P, the model without power feed (18G) was $1000 less but is being discontinued. The first dealer raised the price $600. since I priced it with him last fall. I contacted the manufacturer and was told the list price had increased $100 during that time. I found another dealer that sold it to me for $75 more than I was quoted last fall.
The company web site is at: http://www.danuser.com/chippers.htm#specifications

Other chipper web sites are:

Roberge http://www.comsearch-can.com/cpe5.htm
Bear Cat http://www.crary.com/bearcat/index.html
Vermeer http://www.vermeer.com/eq_brush_chippers.html#Anchor-BC625
Chippit http://www.entectradingltd.co.uk/chippit_pto/chippit_pto.htm
Gravely http://www.gravely.com/index.phtml?pg=Xherochipper
KwikChip http://www.fletcherstewart.co.uk/ptochip.htm
Ram http://www.rampower.com/products.htm
Befco http://www.sledmaine.com/dealers/whittemr/befco/buschip.htm
Woods http://www.woodsonline.com/

 

[ejb]

Woods makes a few of them...I have the Woods 8100, PTO driven, hydraulic feed and its great. Will take an 8inch log, with branches no problem. Very heavy however, so you'll need a beefy tractor to move it around safely. Even with my JD5410 it sometimes feels a little top-heavy when I move from one place to another...good luck.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

After much research I recently purchased a Valby model CH 140 from the Northeast Implement Corp. which imports them from Finland. It only took 4 days to ship it from New York to central Texas. I have set it up but haven't even had time to use it. I will use it with my John Deere model 670 (18 HP; 16.5 PTO HP).

The Valby is built like a tank with heavy guage metal, massive roller bearings, and a 220 pound disc. The blades are larger than on other makes of chippers. I suspect that my great-grandchildren will be using this machine. I paid $2890 for the Valby; it does not have either a mechanical or hydraulic feed. It weighs 585 pounds and my tractor is a little light on the front end even with 200 pounds of suitcase weights. May have to mount the wife on the hood. So far, the chipper looks great--massive and carefully constructed. Obviously built for commercial use.

The CH 140 does not have a belt drive to increase the RPMs; other Valby models do. This means that the disc will only rotate at 540 RPM instead of 1,000 to 2,000 RPM, as do chippers with belt drives. I chose to substitute a big, heavy disc turning at a low RPM for a smaller disc turning faster. This may have been a mistake; time will tell. Also, a slow turning disc will not throw the chips very far and this could be significant if you want to load the chips in a truck. I may also be sorry that I didn't invest $1,200 more and add a hydraulic drive. Although the disc is supposed to be somewhat self-feeding, I suspect that I will wind up spending quite a bit of time pushing in branches. Fortunately, the Valby CH 140 is constructed in such a way that it is easy to add a hydraulic power feed later. Another nice feature on the Valby is that the top part of the cover over the disc is hinged so there is plenty of room to take off the blades for sharpening. By the way, I purchased an extra set of blades (two) at $65 each.

My second choice was the Crary BearCat Model 73454; I also considered the Patu model DC40MF and the Danuser model 18G.

Good luck. This is not an easy decision to make.

 

[Rowski]

Mcallum,

I gave some wrong info. The chipper is made in Finland. Here is a link to to the corporation in finland:
http://www.normet.fi/forest/Chippers/chippers.html

This is the distrubutor for USA are Northeast Impement Co.:
http://www.valbysales.com/

One thing I found out is that on Valby chippers you can adjust the hydrualic feed speed. Also you can remove one of the knives so the wood doesn't get pulled in as quick if you don't have hydrualic feed. I beleive the hydrualic feed is safer than self feed but more $$$.

Valby also make some other interesting foresty products.

Derek

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Rowski on 10/8/00 10:32 AM.</FONT></P>

 

[GlennT]

Rowski--Like you, I read in the owner's manual for my Valby chipper that an operator can reduce the rate of speed at which the chipper pulls in material by removing one of the two blades. Actually, as I understand it, you reverse one of the blades; if a blade was removed it would throw the disc off balance and cause severe vibration. I've wondered about this. Because my disc turns fairly slowly (540 RPM), the material being fed in jerks around quite a bit--enough so that the operator's hands become tired after a few hours and it is necessary to wear a long-sleeved shirt to avoid having your arms beat up. If one blade is reversed, wouldn't this cause the material to jump around even more violently?

 

[hayden]

For what it's worth, the Patu chipper has adjustable cutting depth for the blades. Smaller cuts of course pull the material in slower.

Does the Valby have such an adjustment that could be used?

Peter

 

[Rowski]

GlennT

I'm not sure if it would or not. Like mentioned I have a hydralic feed. I have my manual at work. I will look it up next week and let you know. (I'm on vacation). It does make sense by removing the blade it would cause it to be out of balance.

Derek