Chipper pto driven wood chippers

[murphy1244]

That is the bad thing about the cheaper chippers - they use belts. The Wallenstien chipper is direct drive with no belts or pulley which is part of the reason why they are known for having better reliability.

The Woodmaxx chippers I am familiar with seem to have much better quality control standards and if you research them it appears they do a GREAT job standing behind their product if there is a problem. Personally if I spend a bunch of money on something I do expect it to work correctly and without issue. I know my employer does not expect me to make mistakes and leave people with a product that needs repaired. To me if the fixes are simple, why not spend the extra $5 and use locking nuts and such. At that point I doubt the company will lose a lot of sales charging the extra $5 on the product and will have a lot more people happy with the product. I understand for 5030 he is pleased with his chipper and don't mind the extra time it takes and in his case that works out. In my case I rather spend a little more and have a product that works the first time, every time because I am often limited on time so a break down will cause me to not be able to complete a job.
Nothing wrong with either way, just a different way of looking at it.

My Wally BXM-42 is belt driven and I have had 0 problems with it.

 

[RPW]

I've got the WoodMaxx 8in. manual feed. It works all day without a hiccup. I've got scrub cedar (juniper) and as long as I don't let them get to dry no issues. If they are to dry then I get scratches and cuts all over. At that point I burn. I'm done clearing our land and will be selling mine.

 

[5030]

I've got the WoodMaxx 8in. manual feed. It works all day without a hiccup. I've got scrub cedar (juniper) and as long as I don't let them get to dry no issues. If they are to dry then I get scratches and cuts all over. At that point I burn. I'm done clearing our land and will be selling mine.

Thats a Jinma with a better paint job...lol You ought to experience chipping Russian Olive bushes. They have needle thorns and you get poked, it festers. I've been poked plenty, they grow wild around here and bear little berries the birds eat and then poop out everywhere and more grow....

I tend to get my parts from Woodmax when I need parts which is rarely. Last thing I bought was an extra infeed roller. I took the replacenent one I got from Woodmax and ground the welded on teeth to a point so it really grabs slippery green wood.

Is it getting time for a replacement infeed driveshaft. maybe this fall.

Put it on Craigs List and it will go in a flash.,,,for a good price. Used ones of any make are very hard to find.

 

[5030]

That is the bad thing about the cheaper chippers - they use belts. The Wallenstien chipper is direct drive with no belts or pulley which is part of the reason why they are known for having better reliability.

The Woodmaxx chippers I am familiar with seem to have much better quality control standards and if you research them it appears they do a GREAT job standing behind their product if there is a problem. Personally if I spend a bunch of money on something I do expect it to work correctly and without issue. I know my employer does not expect me to make mistakes and leave people with a product that needs repaired. To me if the fixes are simple, why not spend the extra $5 and use locking nuts and such. At that point I doubt the company will lose a lot of sales charging the extra $5 on the product and will have a lot more people happy with the product. I understand for 5030 he is pleased with his chipper and don't mind the extra time it takes and in his case that works out. In my case I rather spend a little more and have a product that works the first time, every time because I am often limited on time so a break down will cause me to not be able to complete a job.
Nothing wrong with either way, just a different way of looking at it.

Myself, I prefer a belt drive to the chipper drum / flywheel over direct drive, one it's simpler, a direct drive will need a gearbox of some sort to increase the input speed, gearbox, another maintenance item and expensive to replace and the belt drive absorbs any shock load (like a huge knot stuffed in), direct drive can not do that.

I paid a grand for mine new way back when and I bet I could get better than that if I decided to sell it today.

None will ever come close to a commercial unit in terms of throughput or cross sectional capacity, but for personal use on your land, they are hard to beat and there is a good selection of different models and feed designs to choose from.

Woodmax has a very similar business model to Grizzly. I suspect they copied the Grizzly ethic as Grizzly was around before them. Buy enough quantity from an offshore supplier that you can actually control (to a certain degree) the quality and features of the product being made. Bring them in, in shipping containers, a whole container load at a time and offer them at a reasonable price to your market. It's a good business model. It allows the domestic business to make money and the offshore manufacturer to make money as well.

Balolia, from Grizzly has honed that ethic into a fine business that made him a millionare.

 

[RoyJackson]

Buying a chipper really depends upon one's needs, frequency of use and, of course, budget.

In a lot of cases, renting makes a lot more sense if you have a large amount chipping to do once or twice a year. As some wrote, 3PH chippers aren't commercial units and you won't get the productivity out of them. Renting requires some planning...you'll want to chip the days you rent...minimal trimming or other work.

Now, I have a Woods chipper/shredder which will handle up to a 5" limb or trunk. As a shredder, it really shines!
For 90% of my yard work, it's seasonal clean up work of relatively small stuff.
For many of us just doing clean up (not chipping an acre or two of timber), the Woods 5000 chipper/shredder makes a lot of sense.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

They become a great soil builder if you let them age two or three years. We made wonderful garden soil out of worthless sand using them over a number of years. If you work them in too soon you need to add a lot of nitrogen to make up what they consume as they decompose. They are also a good week barrier and great for the paths between rows even when fresh.

Actually, the chips are "carbon" and they don't "consume" the N (nitrogen) they "bind it up" and re-release the N after the carbon is broken down... Adding N does cause the carbon to break down faster...

You also need to add lime, as the chips are acidic...

SR

 

[5030]

Actually, the chips are "carbon" and they don't "consume" the N (nitrogen) they "bind it up" and re-release the N after the carbon is broken down... Adding N does cause the carbon to break down faster...

You also need to add lime, as the chips are acidic...

SR

Best to do a soil sample, That gives you a better idea of what you need to incorporate and hardwood, especially oak is more acidic than a softwood like willow.

 

[Code54]

I paid a grand for mine new way back when and I bet I could get better than that if I decided to sell it today.

I bet you are right there - they are tough to find used and really hold their value well!!!! Plus with your improvement I bet it would be an easy sell!!


murphy1244" My Wally BXM-42 is belt driven and I have had 0 problems with it."

Yep the shredder does have a belt and seems to work really well. Always wished I would have found a nice sized one used as the shredder would have came in really handy. I do have an old KEMP hammer mill shredder I stuck a Harbor Freight motor on that works great for mixing up some compost for the wife when she wants it but yours is much handier!

 

[Utopia Texas]

I live on a sizable Pecan orchard and for 25 years owned and operated a commercial V8 powered chipper between 350-400 hours a year. Even at that mega size it was a pain in the a** picking up limbs and feeding them into the hydraulic fed intake. For the past 5 years we pile up with tractors and burn. That 350-400 hours a year chipping now takes 25-30 hours. In some cases I see their use depending on how many hours of your life you want to wear hearing protection, work in the sweltering heat and end up really sore at the end of each day. I now sit in my air conditioned cab with the AC running and stereo head phones on with a grapple on the front and huge rake on the rear. I am a happy camper now!

 

[s219]

The Wallenstein shredder models have belts, but the chipper models are direct drive. Neither has a gearbox -- so the chipper is direct from PTO shaft to flywheel with nothing in between but a shaft and bearings. Very simple and reliable.

 

[Aquamoose]

Gravelman,

Factor in what you are chipping, max size limbs, and pto hp. I got the Woodmaxx manual feed because 95% of what I chip is pine/fir and chip 5" or smaller on my 35hp Branson. With that in mind, I decided on the 8M and have been very satisfied since. If I had a variety of trees, I would have upgraded to the hydraulic feed so I can vary the intake speed.

 

[Glrret]

Look what showed up at my house today....



It may not be until this weekend that I get to try it out, but It will get a lot of use.

 

[Eric102]

Look what showed up at my house today....

View attachment 465488

It may not be until this weekend that I get to try it out, but It will get a lot of use.

Wow, shes a beaut! Have been lusting for chipper myself and Woodmaxx is at the top of the list.

 

[Glrret]

I'll let folks know how well it works out when I get a few hours on it.

 

[BufordBoone]

Nice looking chipper.

When I was shopping, I thought I looked at most everything out there. Agonized over gravity fed vs. hydraulic.

In the end, I bought a gravity fed Wallenstein that will handle up to 6" material.

I have absolutely no complaints about its performance, think I made the correct decision for me.

 

[TerryR]

In the end, I bought a gravity fed Wallenstein that will handle up to 6" material.

I have absolutely no complaints about its performance, think I made the correct decision for me.

I agree. I think for most home owner applications manual feed is more than enough.

 

[Aquamoose]

Had mine WM-8M for about a month. It has been flawless since chipping pine & fir branches and small saplings up to 6-7"!

I decided on the non-hydraulic feed model with the fact that I chip over 90% pine & fir and any hardwoods would only be small branches. It was a good decision for me.

Never needed to use the stabilizer so I took off the "stabilizer" and put a chainsaw scabbard in its place. I plan to add a mini fold-up work bench on the starboard side of the chipper stand and a place to mount my toolbox that contains my chainsaw necessities (fuel, oil, sharpener, rags, chains, face shield, etc). Along with it, I hope to find a holder for a pair of loppers.

WoodMaxx impressed me!

 

[5030]

Thats a good idea for the saw, I think I'll copy yours... Looks like an MS290 too. Don't break the handle like I did, it's 100 bucks. I dropped a limb on mine... I usually set the saw in the chute and lift the chipper so the saw stays in the chute. I use the 'stabilizer' when I take the chipper off, it wants to lean back off the 3ph. I put my loppers over the safety cut off bar. I had to fabricate some pretty long legs to get the driveline level. The chippers are built for much smaller tractors than I have.

 

[5030]

Candidly, I looked at a Wally and some clones but bought the Jinma from a Craigslist ad some years ago (while I was looking). I believe that loading branches horizontally is easier on my old back than loading them vertically, especially the bigger diameter heavy ones. I've had to fiddle with it over the years but the basic machine works just fine... and it's Chinese so while I like Chinese food, their hard goods always leave room for improvement...

 

[bcp]

The problem with a Chinese chipper is that an hour after feeding it, it is hungry again.



Bruce