Anyone find problems with their Valby CH 140HF chipper?
Will they handle green leaves of tree tops and spruce/pine/fir needles and branches?
I've read from earlier posts that there were problems with these chippers plugging up, and needing to go to a chipper that was belted to get the rpm up nearly double the 540 rpm of the PTO.
Any users or others who are familiar with 3 ph chippers?
John Deere 4052R Cab,, Deere 855D UTV, Z920A Zero Turn Mower and assorted implements
Any chipper can clog up, even the big commercial units.
My Woods 5000 (a chipper/shredder) manual states to put anything < 3/4" in the shredder.
I've never read anything bad about Valby chippers (except they're expensive), but if you have a lot of smaller, leafy brush; you might want to consider a chipper/shredder rather then a dedicated chipper.
But if you're getting a good deal on that Valby, buy it and burn the smaller stuff. One trick I did read (don't know how well it works) is chipping some small stuff (as you described in your post) and follow it up with a larger branch. That clears out the chipper, so I have read. I'd guess the main thing is to not put a steady diet of smaller leafy brush through the chipper...alternate it with more solid branches and such.
No experience with Valby but looked on it before I bought my BX42. It looks it will do what I need but just don't want to spend that much on a chipper. Anyway, on my BX42, she will clog if all you put is twigs and small leafy branches. What I learned was to put bigger stuff at the same time or after you run the twigs and leafy stuff. Just like what Roy said...
If the deal is good, take it and you'll learn what not to do... . Good luck.
Thanks
I'd like not to have to presort material before sending it through the chipper.
I've a few acres of 12 yr old mixed spruce and red oak that I need to thin (remove the spruce). I'd like to feed the spruce into the chipper, and not have to worry much about the material passing through.
Other material would be tree tops (ash, oak, maple) that I work up the larger size for firewood.
The deal is good. A unit that is 10 yr old, and still on the pallet. But Valby says they no longer make that straight PTO size any more, and have switched to the belted version with mechanical feed. This old unit is less than 1/2 the price of the new.
BX 42 is a chipper made by Wallenstein. There are many happy owners on this board, including myself. The problem with clogs may not be as bad as you anticipate. I have run many coniferous and deciduous trees through it, including small leafy branches. Have not had even 1 clog. I'm sure I will learn its limits and eventually clog it. But for now, I just throw everything in it and it works great. That being said, I only chip trees and branches. I haven't tried chipping any shrubs or bushes. It usually retails for ~ $2500-2900.
-Jay
The Wallenstein BX42 is a direct drive setup from a PTO shaft.
Like others here, I have learned that mixing woody material with smaller, leafy branches helps reduce or eliminate clogging. Since you are talking about running a lot of Spruce through, I will add that when I ran a couple spruce through, I did not see the same tendency to clog on green material.
The last thing I would like to add is that while I originally had problems with clogging when running a lot of green material through ... I stopped running green stuff through. Let it dry for a couple days before chipping, and it goes through much easier. I learned this the hard way when processing a large pile of over-grown hedge that I had cut back. When running it through the day it was cut, it was clogging VERY quickly. After it sat for a couple days, I did not have another clog.
Hope that helps, and good luck with your new chipper!
