Wood chipper advice - fairly specific application

[frogpond]

Hi Freep,
I certainly see the virtues of a pto chipper, especially in terms of power, but as you say, in some situations, a standalone can do what is needed.
I am not so particular about chip size. Mostly, I'm just trying to deal with the piles of limbs and small trees that result from our cleanup and selective thinning work.
I took a look just now at the dosko and Nova machines, and I have a few thoughts. Other things to consider: Does the discharge chute rotate? This is actually quite useful. How high do you have to lift material to feed it? If you have vine maple or other leggy stuff, it can be quite a struggle to lift it close to vertical, and hold the butt end 4 or 5 feet in the air. Will the machine self-feed, either by grabbing the material in the knives, or by mechanical or hydraulic systems? Very important. And probably the most important: how big is the feed opening. 5x5.5" (dosko) is theoretically fine for 4" limbs, but a lot of them have crooks and side branches that you will have to cut to get them into that small an opening.
Oh, and even though the dosko is only 350 pounds, you will find it hard to move around by hand unless the ground is flat and smooth. Better get the tow package.
I will be curious to hear what you end up with.

 

[Freep]

I tend to take my time making decisions on equipment that I don't immediately need, but I am pretty good about finding and updating threads I have started to request input. It is the least I can do in exchange for all the input.

I don't see myself shelling out big bucks for the Dosko because I am unable to find much in the way or reviews. I've heard some good things about them, but not enough to make me comfortable with the high price tag. At the moment, if I were going to purchase one, it would likely be a Chinese chipper from a company that seems to get good reviews here (Betstco, etc).

 

[RutnBuck]

Hello Freep . . . its been well over a year. Did you decide on the type of chipper to go with? I am currently struggling with a similar decision. I understand the value of PTO-driven chippers but portability and flexibility of being able to use tractor/grapple to bring limbs, etc to the chipper has significant value as well. I started a thread to try and get feedback on the Woodmaxx DC1260 vs Jansen GTS-2000 (link below) and as is common, the conversation always leans towards the PTO model chippers. There is the fella in Washington that provided solid feedback on the DC-1260e but there's been no experience provided for the Jansen product or further talk about these medium sized stand-alone chippers. I'm struggling with decision because i have 80 acres of woods that I need to methodically thin and get rid of all the fire-fuel (downed trees, etc). Property is hilly and packed with trees so mobility with a long tractor with PTO chipper is a concern. That's where the Woodmaxx or Jansen would work well because i can pull with an ATV but my concern is...will those units be enough to handle what I want to feed it and will they stand the test of time (reliability)? At any rate, wouldn't mind hearing what you decided and anymore advice from other experienced members.

(https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...gts1500.html&usg=AOvVaw1XjIEyaLXsUAmtsj9Lri0m)

 

[RalphVa]

Just got a Woodland Mills WC46 (4 inch) wood chipper about a month and a half ago. Wanted one to make my life easier: horizontal input chute and hydraulic feed. The size of the chips would be set by the hydraulic feed rate and a little by the rpm of the tractor.

The WC46 makes a little bigger chips than the old MacKissic TPH-122 that I had for 16 years because I'm running it at about 2700 rpm (vs. 3000 for the "540") and mid speed on the hydraulic feed. The mid speed is comfortable for me, and the 2025R just loafs along at 2700 rpm.

Wanted one the wife could use, too. She can use this one. No to the Mac or any new Mac.

Fairly easy to assembly, but it took the 2 of us 3 1/2 hours to do it. Many men say 2 hours by themselves. They gotta be gorillas with 4 arms.

Made the shipping bottom into a dolly with 4 casters welded on and top into a table.

One pic is of the old Mac on its new owner's 3 series JD. The two piles just had an FEL of the new chips dumped onto them.

Ralph