Wood chippers

[Noytheyah]

I’ve got a woodland mills 6”. I chip mostly mesquite with a new Holland 33hp. Most of the stuff I do is 4” or less and it does great. It’s got a smaller flywheel than the rest but the only time it let me down was as my clutch was going out in the tractor, I just had to chip smaller brush. The customer support is outstanding. As with any PTO implement, especially a wood chipper make sure you your clutch is good

 

[Emyshorts]

For $3300 you can get a Woodmaxx WM8H. It's an 8" square throat chipper that's got hydraulic feed. The larger throat means less trimming of branches than a 4" or even a 4x10 like the Titan. Hydraulic feed is much safer than self-feeding. I have one of each kind of chipper and the power feed is so much better.

Woodmaxx also has other chippers. There's also Woodland Mills. Their design is different from Woodmaxx but like the Woodmaxx they are designed in north america and made in China.

While my Titan pallet forks have been fine, from what I read Titan has little support or parts for their implements. (there's not much that can go wrong with pallet forks). If you need anything that's not a generic part like belt or bearing you will have to find someone else who imports the same Chinese machine and does have parts. I do see that they have replacement blades.

My Branson puts out 32hp at the PTO. There have been times I could use more power for bigger stuff but now that I have a decent wood stove I am not chipping large material as much. Anything over 4-5" and I set the feed as slow as it will go.

Some units like the 8H gear the rotor up to about 2x the pto input speed so the flywheel has twice the inertia as one of the same weight and diameter that is direct drive.

I have the WM8H, bought it slighly used and it is a wonder to have. The blades can be flipped(they will sharpen them for 15$ plus shipping). My wife loves this thing. She puts the shavings in her garden. I've run it on a IH464 and a NH WM50, no issues.

 

[Poppleriver]

We have a Woodmaxx WM8H. It's wonderful. Sits on our JD3039r a good share of the year. We have 160 acres to maintain. what can't be burned or buried is chipped. After 4 years it's been terrific. When I find some pictures I'll post. Good luck.

 

[Emyshorts]

If you can burn a match is alot cheaper than a chipper....if you want chips call a tree company and offer a free dump site.

I have cleared acres and used many hundreds of yards of chips with no chipper.

Wow a true do it yourselfer.

 

[Tinhack]

I agree with the above. If someone gave me a chipper, I'd probably use it for a bit and then sell it to someone actually needed it. My preference is to burn. If it's big enough to burn in a wood stove, then I give it to someone who can use it. Otherwise, it's going in the burn pile and I'm done with it. The only thing it'll cost me after that is a few hours sitting around the fire to make sure it doesn't get out of hand. No fuel costs. No hours on the tractor. No wear and tear on my body. No danger of getting sucked inside the spinning chopper vortex of doom.

I know this doesn't contribute to your original question, but I figured I'd offer a perspective that may save you some time and energy in the future.

I sure don't know how you've been able to burn. Atascosa County has had a burn ban for the last couple of years due to the drought. We're a good 20" behind on rain just this year. When you only get ~28" a year, that's a drought. And Atascosa County generally follows your Bexar County on burning. The only way we could burn is in a burn barrel. That's how I dispose of paper waste. If you know anything about Sothern Mesquite, you should know you have to keep them trimmed if you want to be able to get under them. I've collected four HUGE brush piles waiting to be burned. They're so big now I'd risk burning up the whole county. I know my neighbors wouldn't appreciate burning their property. And as mentioned, I certainly can find more useful things to do with my time than tending a fire. Having a chipper will allow me to keep up with the growth and get up my driveway.

 

[Todd727]

I looked at 3-point hand skid steer mount chippers. I ended up buying a tow behind model off of Auction Time. I paid about $5000 for a very lightly used Morbark 2060D. It's rated for 6" and has a CAT diesel engine.

Now, as to the why I went this route:

1) I'm not putting any hours or wear on much more expensive equipment.
2) I can set the chipper up in a good spot and use the tractor to move debris to the chipper, instead of having it tied up running the chipper.

 

[IDLVR]

Hi guys, looking for a little help from this great well of knowledge. I'm looking to buy a wood chipper, I like the idea of 3 point attachment chipper. Titan has one for $2,300 that goes to 4". It's the WCBX42S.The manual says 35 PTO hp for maximum capacity and capability. My lx3310 is around 27 PTO hp. So I'm wondering if I'll lose efficiency. I'd have thought 540 is 540. My 5' brush hog runs around 2100 or so rpm at 540.
Also, does anyone think this is a good piece of equipment?
I also have the option of their tow behind, 5" chipper for $1,900 which looks like a good deal but it's one more motor to mess with.
Grateful for any input or recommendations, thank you all!

After much research, I bought a Woodmaxx Mx8800 last year. I run it on my Kubota B2900 and JD 4066R. My B2900 only has 21hp at the PTO but this chipper is amazing. It will handle up 5-6” trees with branches attached without bogging. In fact it works so well with my little tractor, I don’t use my JD with it may all. The wide hydro infeed, built quality, made in USA, and poet of this unit is amazing. We have an organic tree farm with over 70 acres of wooded land, so this thing gets used a lot. It’s pricey, but worth every penny in my opinion.

 

[IDLVR]

Woodmaxx hydraulic feed chippers are worth what ever you gotta pay for them. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed. When I was on the fence whether or not to buy one, I phoned a guy in my region who I saw on their customer comment page. He sold me on it and I'm glad he did.

Agree. See my reply to the original thread.

 

[IDLVR]

If you can burn a match is alot cheaper than a chipper....if you want chips call a tree company and offer a free dump site.

I have cleared acres and used many hundreds of yards of chips with no chipper.

We have a 90 acre organic tree/ fruit farm with many animals and about 70 acres of woodland. For years I removed dead, fallen, unwanted branches/trees And burnt whatever couldn’t be used for firewood. Wife talked me into a chipper. Will never go back. Makes cleanup faster, creates wonderful mulch for garden, orchards, and trails, and I know exactly what type of wood is in the pile. If you have a local tree company dump their mulch for you, be careful of harmful species that can be toxic to your plants.

 

[eeb]

We have an older Wallenstein BX 42, that looks just like the Titan one you are considering. We use it on a JD 1050 which is about 32HP, and it's been a workhorse. I don't see the BX42 on their website any more, but I suspect they build for Titan, or sold the design. Good luck with it.