Which WoodMaxx Chipper?

[Idahoagie]

We take delivery on a 2021 Kioti DK5310HST this week. One of the first uses for this tractor is going to be cleaning up and thinning about 20 acres of mixed forest...ponderosa pine, white pine, white fir, doug fir, etc. We had it selectively logged last summer and there is a ton of broken limbs and branches left by the logging crew. Add to this about a dozen blow-downs this past winter and several acres of overgrown ponderosa that needs to be thinned. Our burning season is limited and we are on a hilltop so wind is also a factor. So we are looking at a chipper.

I like the Wallenstein models, but they are a bit more than we can afford right now. WoodMaxx looks to have some great models and I've seen where many on TBN like them. Question is, "Do we go with the WM-8H or the MX-8800 for about $500 more. The MX includes the upgraded PTO shaft and has the hydrostatic drive. Those and a few other features seem to be the main differences between these two models.

The tractor is a 50hp with 39hp at the PTO. Which chipper would you recommend and why?

TIA

 

[ericm979]

I have 78 hours on my WM-8H, on a Branson with 32hp at the PTO. I chip brush and trees- live oak, Madrone, tan oak, fir, big leaf maple. One drawback with the 8H is that the hydraulic flow control is for 20gpm while the system is 3 gpm. That makes the control have a very narrow effective operating range. It's tough to get a speed between very slow and full on. If you're not chipping larger material that won't matter. I swapped the feed contoller for a 4 gpm one and it works a lot better. Another is that the housing has cut outs for the top feed wheel to travel up and down. Irregular branches can get stuck in there. I've had it happen three times. You have to prop the wheel up against the springs or disconnect them and cut it out. Softwoods won't do it as often as hard woods like Madrone which grows every way but straight.

If you're mostly chipping fir/pine tops and branches under 4" or so diameter the 8H will do fine. If you want to chip larger or more irregular stuff and have the money to spend on it I'd go with the MX. The PTO shaft is not an issue but the MX's hydrostatic drive is more controllable (per Woodmaxx) and I think it does not have the open slots for stuff to jam into.

There's also the Woodland Mills 8" hydraulic feed chipper. Different design more like a Wallenstein but different than that or the Woodmaxx chippers. It's got some advantages like easier knife access than the 8H but I felt the 8H's dual feed rollers would work better for me than the Woodland Mills's single large roller.

 

[Citydude]

I have the MX 8800. It has about 25 hours on it with zero issues. I'm very happy with it.

 

[RalphVa]

Your tractor can easily run an 8 inch chipper. Got a 4x6 (WM WC46) on the 2025R, and it just loafs along, about half the PTO hp yours has. Hp only goes up by sq rt of wood diameter. So, double the diameter, and it goes up 40%.

 

[sea2summit]

I've had my Woodmaxx MX-9900 for three years now and I've got a little over 50 hrs on it. In my estimation it chips close to half a ton of material per hour (measured by the ranger dump bed load 4'x4'x3' about three per hour). It is a beast and has taken several 6-7" pine trees whole. I finally stopped trying to over feed it and I chop everything to 4' lengths now so it's easier on me.

Having said that if I were going to buy a chipper today for that much money I'd look very hard at a commercial stand alone unit. The MX-9900 only has one feed wheel and often doesn't feed small material well (naked branches less than 1/2" or random stuff I pick up that's fallen out of the feed area) and sometimes a larger piece can get barked on the top where the feed roller is and once that happens the feed roller doesn't have enough downward pressure to grab it. So, a commercial unit with top and bottom feed rollers in my mind would fix the last issues I have with the chipper. Price wise they appear to be a wash for an okay used unit.

ETA: On the MX the chipper ran fine and never really bogged down, but it chips noticeably faster behind the M4 which surprised me. I think the flywheel did a lot of the work when the MX was spinning it but now the M4 also provides some power to the chipping. So yeah ~40PTO/hp will get the job done but ~60PTO/hp is moAR better

 

[ericm979]

Around here a working commercial trailer chipper is at least $12k no matter how many hours or how beat up. And that's for a 6" unit with less HP than my tractor has at the PTO. Right now I can't find anything under $24k. Maybe it's different where you or the OP is but here every guy working for a tree service wants to start his own business.

The chipper on the back of a tractor is a lot more manuverable than a trailer. That means less work making your piles accessible.

Chipping wood takes HP. I can chip 6" wood but I have to get the feed speed as low as it will go and sometimes manually stop and start the feed to let the tractor spin the chipper back up.

If you are going to be doing a lot of chipping consider a grapple for the tractor. I use mine to move material to a better place to do the chipping.

 

[Idahoagie]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, everyone. Much appreciated. I'm on the "notify when in stock" list for an MX-8800. They haven't provided any indication of when they expect to be shipping these again. I have a Wicked 60 Grapple on order with Everything Attachments and I was just notified yesterday that I'm 75th in line (out of over 200 orders) and my grapple is expected to ship in about 4 weeks.

The good news is I'm expecting delivery of our new DK tomorrow!!!

 

[JJT]

I have the WM-8M with about 100 hours on it in the past 4 years. 5" hickory will bog it down with 30 horses at the pto. That isn't really a problem, anything over 3" gets cut for firewood. The 5" run was a one time test. 6" poplar is not an issue.

 

[RidgeHiker]

I have the WM-8M. Was chipping dried manzanita branches recently but gave up on it. Manzanita is hard, brittle when dry, bent, twisted, and anything but straight. Mainly grows on West Coast. Was jamming the infeed roller too often, sometimes with pieces getting stuck behind it. The machine is heavy duty for a non-commercial chipper but it is just not designed to deal with that kind of material and it was too hard on the chipper. Works good with softwoods, even if dry. Have probably chipped up to 6". Does OK with dry oak branches but slower. Am going to need to clean it out, go over it carefully, and probably reverse or sharpen the blades before the next use. Power was not an issue. Tractor has 45.6 PTO HP.

Manzanita is gnarly but beautiful.

 

[3Lfarms]

Manzanita will dull a chainsaw pretty quick. It’s tough stuff! I was curious if a good chipper would chip it.
The best way to deal with it is two Cats and a big chain.