PTO Chipper, Victory vs Woodmax

[747driver]

Its like Christmas when we get new 'Big Boy' toys ! Hope everything goes good for you and will be looking forward to your reviews. I Swapped my dull blades on the WM8H yesterday. I have had it a year with 25 hours on it now. I should be more careful feeding limbs with dirt on the roots etc....really dings the blades up !!

 

[ericm979]

Wet material chips fine. I'm careful about rocks and dirt but have been chipping a lot of dead stuff. That dulls the blades faster. I got 20 hours out of the first side before the chips got all stringy. I could tell they were dull as the chipper was laboring a little. I'm up to 45 hours and the second side is doing fine, but I put a lot of that time into chipping up a freshly fallen madrone. Even though I was chipping everything up to 8" because it's wet it doesn't wear the blades as fast.

 

[RyeThomas]

Thanks guys.
I did some reading and video watching on some pro chippers and they were saying if you put about a 2 degree back angle on the back of the knife it will stay sharper up to 50% longer. There is a term for it but I can’t remember. Seems like most swear by it.
Not sure how I’m going to sharpen mine, I really enjoy sharpening my chain saw chains so I’d like to do it myself. I’d like to buy or fab up something and try this 2 degree back deal

 

[ericm979]

Some people use these: Makita USA - Product Details -9822 but the street price is about $330. When I have to sharpen mine I'm going to try this: How to Sharpen your Chipper Blades (yourself!) - YouTube

Like hand filing chain saw chains it's probably better to sharpen them frequently than to wait until they're in bad shape to do it.

 

[RyeThomas]

Great, thanks for the links!

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Ok so I lost out on a WoodMaxx PTO chipper on Craigslist, so I started shopping around for a Hydraulic fed PTO chipper. I found much to my surprise all of these chippers are clones of each other made in China. The Victory and the WoodMaxx spec out the exact same and while WoodMaxx has a better web site the Victory unit looks the same with a few minor changes.
I知 all for saving $650 to get the same machine, but I cannot find much info on the Victory. I contacted them and they said all the right things but I壇 like to hear from owners of any of their equipment. Thanks, Rye.

WoodMaxx WM-8H $2799
Victory WC8H $2145

I have a wood max 8 hydraulic feed. Only used it about 8 hours, PM me if you are interested.

 

[RyeThomas]

I purchased a Victory already. But I will say if your willing you can be my back up plan, If this one doesn’t work out I can sell it and buy yours, I should have a good idea within 2 weeks. Thanks, Rye.

I think it’s going to be just fine after checking it out though.

 

[RyeThomas]

Patiently waiting, not.
Excuse my mess I need to clean up and paint that darn garage door. For size reference that is a pretty good size Yamaha 250. This chipper at 1000lbs looks pretty stout. If you click on it it is not sideways, not sure what happened.

 

[flingwing1969]

Well she arrived in a nice metal framed box yesterday, . . .
I assure you I will be critical of the machine and I知 sure there will be a few bumps along the way. Stay tuned...

Looking forward to your evaluation.

 

[RyeThomas]

 

[RyeThomas]

Looks like they changed the feed valve. Those of you with other chippers, I wonder if the hydro motors and parts are the same?

 

[BLSXJ]

I'll let you know in 3 weeks when I pick up a WoodlandMills WC68

 

[RyeThomas]

Cool, let me be clear I have nothing against the big guys. Heck see my sig, one is Veteran owned and I respect the heck out of that. At the end of the day I am all about getting the best product and deal for my family. I am not associated with Victory, I paid the full $2145 and it may all blow up in my face. I did save $650-700 dollars vs others.
The only thing I see different this far is the top link hook up, no $30.00 hour/tach and the legs being legs vs skids. None of which concern me.

 

[RyeThomas]

Ok so I got the Chipper assembled in about 4 hours. I was in no hurry, with two people you could have it done in no time. I of course like always was solo so it was a bit more challenging. Directions were good with pictures until I got to the hydraulic control lever and valve. They have updated the valve and it is more like the Woodmaxx (different part number but the same type) Instead of simply reducing flow by a set screw, it is a valve that sends extra fluid back to the tank via a return line. Like the Woodmaxx though the valve is probably oversized so you get 100% or probably 30% not much between.
Next the control bar (for the infeed rollers Fwd/N/R) is under the chute rather than over. I like it under but I have no experience with the bar that’s over either.
Putting the control and hydraulic valve and setting the linkage was not covered in the directions (the older style was still in the instructions). I got her figured out but sent them an email about the instructions not being complete.
The last difference is due to the mounting or hook up design my quick hitch won’t work. Not a huge deal as my John Deere 4510 has the easy adjustable bottom links with the pins. But if you have the turnbuckle style I could see this being a big pain.

 

[RyeThomas]

Ok so operation wise the machine has exceeded all my expectations. It has handled much larger material than I expected with ease and very little rpm drop. My tractor is only 35 pto hp but it doesn’t seem to be an issue.
The quality, fit and finish seem to be of similar HD construction as my other more expensive big name implements. I am very satisfied with my purchase and if I need another implement I will be using Victory Tractor Implements again.

 

[ericm979]

Glad to hear it's working well. What does the three blade setup look like? How large are the blades?

On my Woodmaxx I found a part number on the flow control valve and was able to find a spec sheet in english for it. That's how I determined it was a 16 gpm unit.

 

[RyeThomas]

It’s a 2 knife machine just like all the rest, USA made reversible knives.

 

[RyeThomas]

If anyone has any questions, wants specific photos or info let me know and I’ll do my best. I will assure you I will give you an honest answer. I plan to put some hours on her over the next few weeks.

The one thing I find odd is I have seen some pictures of this model Victory Chipper with an extended top link attachment (identical to the Woodmaxx) and wider lower attatchments to be compliant with a quick hitch.

It’s too late for me without some modification but if your looking at these it may be worth calling and asking about if you need it to hook up to a quick hitch

 

[RyeThomas]

D1776DCC 8DE0 4774 AB66 F7D1154F290F - YouTube

 

[RyeThomas]

5E9034D9 21A0 4A34 8FC6 E3E3AB378B4C - YouTube