Chipper Large wood chipper

[GreatWhitehunter]

I know it's not really a tractor thread but I think fellow TBNer's will have the answers I seek. I recently rented a 12" cap vermeer wood chipper. I was amazed at the versatilaty of this machine. I was thinking on getting a pto chipper but after the trailer model I wouldn't consider the later. Does anyone here own one of these units? I know there $$$ when new,but I was thinking of buying a used Vermeer unit. It's around 5k and I plan on building a new home in the very near future. I think the chipper would be a good toy, I mean tool to have around. I was able to send entire tree tops through this machine and end up with useable chips instead. My question is where to buy and what to look for. I was planning on renting it to a few friends also. Should I inquire about insurance? And info on this purchase would be greatly appreciated. Also what brands are better than others? I really liked the Vermeer but the Morebarks look rugged also.

Matt T.

 

[ToadHill]

It's a very dangerous toy!

 

[mcruc]

I'd suspect that $5k won't buy you much other than
a used 6" capacity. We have a Gravely 7" trailer mount
(Kohler 25hp) which is probably similiar to what a 30 hp PTO can do.
Paid $9k in 1998 for it. Almost all in this 6" class are
disk chippers. Depending on the wood, the chips may
be usable but with dry oak which is what we run through
mostly, the chips are really almost dust (still useable for
edging, etc)

A 12" vermeer could likely be a drum chipper which will produce
much better chips. Check the used machinery trader
sites. If you had one lined up at the $5k price I'd say you couldn't
go wrong. I did a quick check and didn't see anything under 16.5k
or 1000 hours.

We don't rent out anything we own due to liability. Of course
your milage may vary but our homeowners covers it on our
property and our insurance company was _very_ concerned
about the chipper vs. other machinery. Basically, we left it
that if there was ever a liability claim off the property, it had
to be operated by myself for no fee. Insurance Co's underwriters
pondered this for _two weeks_

There are a bunch of good ones based on where you're at. Vermeer/Morbark/Bandit. As always, parts and service are
the key. When I was shopping I didn't see too many differences
between the brands. Dual wheel hydraulic feeds and a big engine are
what you're looking for.

Having your own vs. renting is certainly nice. We mostly run branches
up to 4" through it. Found that anything larger than that goes
for firewood.

Hope this helps.
Mark

 

[Kendall69]

Vermeer sells used ones
http://www.vermeerused.com/

 

[BarryinMN]

I bought an ancient 16" drum type powered by a Ford 330 V8 back in 2002.

Very fast feeds about 100' per minute (10x) the hydraulic feed rate.

It eats whole trees - anything I can lift into it's tray, no trimming as it busts the branches on the way in.

Never was overly concerned with safety until one Spring I fed a 30' pine overwinter blowdown into it, turned around to go back & lift the top & it was gone - devoured by the machine.

That caused my to look on forestry & arborist forums for advise & found out this thing is lethal. It is the one thing I do not borrow out.

Do some research & treat it with extreme respect.

I paid about $800 for mine, had to rewire the gauge panel before it worked.

 

[HomeBrew2]

Ditto Barry. I have a ~1960 Fitchberg "chuck-n-duck" w/ an I-6 Ford, maybe 8" capacity, probably 6". Got it in xlnt running condition for $2500. Bought it from an arborist, and machinist, it throws 0.030" thick chips, solid oak, by design. No need for power feed. It's the only machine I have that I'm afraid of. No one borrows it

 

[Skerby]

My brother is supposedly inquiring about a vermeer chuck and duck w/ a ford v8... thinks i can get it for about $1000 off his friend... these are scary beasts! if i can get it, i may weld a rebar grid to the opening such that my arms can't reach the drum (if that's possible, not sure on the length of it) but i think i'd have to fabricate something...

 

[BarryinMN]

My brother is supposedly inquiring about a vermeer chuck and duck w/ a ford v8... thinks i can get it for about $1000 off his friend... these are scary beasts! if i can get it, i may weld a rebar grid to the opening such that my arms can't reach the drum (if that's possible, not sure on the length of it) but i think i'd have to fabricate something...

Input tray is about 3' long from lip to drum knives on mine.

Not sure about rebar, accident happens by arm or leg snagged by tree & pulled in, shoulder bones may stop, but leg is large enough you get pulled all the way in. Clearing a jam is particularly dangerous.

Hydraulic feed has e-stops & power reverse bars around input.

No gloves, no loose clothing, no distractions when feeding. Massive flywheel/drum assy spins the engine for several minutes after shutoff.

 

[bgWI]

We shared a Vermeer 6" - 20 hp trailer model chipper for several years with a friend. Since everything above 3 inches is firewood for us, it worked fine. The chips were more like grindings, not suitable for landscaping. Since we are in "hill" country on the west central edge of Wisconsin, we decided on a 3 point mounted 6 inch Valby chipper with hyraulic feed. I did not like trailing the Vermeer chipper around our terrain. The Valby gives nice sized chips for paths and garden areas. Good equipment is never inexpensive, but given consistent maintenance it will last and have good resale value. Good luck.

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

The Vermeer used site is where I was looking. I also looked on ebay. There's a tree co near me thats always selling items,I may try them. I have no fireplace so I want to chip as much as possible. I know that will change when I build so I suppose a smaller capacity would work. I rented a Vermeer bc 1000 it had hydralic feed and safety up the ying tang. I learned to clear the feed fast after the trees in the rollers. I can see getting hung up quite easily. I noticed the large cap models are all in the 100hp + range so I think that's the direction I'll head. What type of routine maintence is needed for these units?

Matt T.

 

[mcruc]

Other than the standard engine stuff, the chipper parts are
fairly maintenance free. Knives (if a disk chipper) occasionally
need to be flipped or sharpened. Bed knife clearance (distance from
the infeed bottom to the knife) needs to be kept intact and every 4 years
I change the hydraulic filter and put a fresh 8 gallons of 10W-30 in the
hydraulic system.

No doubt the bigger ones are useful if you've no need for firewood. We had
an 18" drum when we built the house and it was amazing as long as you
didn't need to move it around much Wow was that ever heavy.

If that's not enough power, check out the Vermeer TG9000:
Tub Grinders - Tree Care and Landscaping Equipment and Machinery

 

[Kendall69]

I would leave chipping to the professionals no matter what it cost - those things scare me.


++++++++++++++++++++++

TUESDAY, Aug. 15, 2006, 9:32 p.m.By Bob Purvis
Man killed in wood chipper accident

A 30-year-old man was killed this afternoon when he was sucked into a wood chipper while trying to shake loose a piece of wood that had jammed it.The man owned a tree service company working in the 8900 block of 26th Ave. in Pleasant Prairie, according to a Pleasant Prairie Police Department press release.The man was using his foot to clear debris that had jammed the wood chipper around 5:20 p.m. when his foot became entangled in the machine, witnesses told police.His coworkers tried to rescue him from the intake, but he was pulled into and through the wood chipper, according to the release.The incident remains under investigation by Pleasant Prairie detectives, the Kenosha County Medical Examiner's office and officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.Police withheld the man's name while they attempted to notify his family.

 

[rdbrumfield]

I'm with you bgWI. Have used both the trailer and the 3pt. Of course the trailer mounted have more power, but unless the ground is solid don't take them off the road. I have a Bearcat 9" hyd feed and find that it does the job. Like someone said above, anything over 3" is fire wood. Sure is nice to be able to back up to the material on tough terrain instead of pulling branches to the machine.

 

[LoneCowboy]

I ran a tree chipper for about 3 months in teh mid-90's after a huge early season storm knocked down tons of trees. We had the vermeer one for about a month (company rented it), I always thought it was slow and it was. Then we got one of those V-8 gasoline ford ones. Now that was FAST. As someone said, you can throw huge trees in, as big as two guys can carry and it will suck it up in about 30 seconds. We were NEVER able to stall it out. (we did slow it down a couple times). You would shut the motor down, drive back to the shop and the flywheel would still be turning, 30 minutes later.
We could do a couple truckloads a day.

BUT

Let me tell you, I'm not scared of much. I'll drive tractors up things no one else will think of. I've trenched along slopes so steep I had to use the 4 wheel steering and a rope by the guy at the top of the hill. and this thing SCARED THE ***** OUT OF ME. (still does, 10+ years later)
On my 2 or 3 man crew (depending on the day), we had rules.
1. always throw the branch in from the side, that way when it catches you (and it will) you get thrown to the side by the panel.
2. If anything landed on the table, it stayed there. NO ONE touched the table until the motor was off and the flywheel was stopped.
Even with this, we lost two pagers and a radio. (two way, that was spendy I'm sure, glad it wasn't mine).
I would NEVER rent one out, or even lend it out. You would lose everything when someone screwed up.

True story, this summer, in Longmont CO, a professional crew was cleaning up some 100 year old elms (huge trees), guy was in the ropes cutting and his helper was feeding them into the chipper. Long time experienced crew. and the guy in the rope didn't hear the thing change at all for like 5 minutes, so he comes down and finds...........

that his helper of years is well, no more.

As the one above, he went to kick in a stuck one, lost his balance and it sucked him in. It didn't even slow down.


Don't screw around with these, truly deadly machines.