Woodland Mills WC88 vs WoodMaxx MX-8800 vs WoodMaxx WM-8H for 60HP Kioti DK6010SE

[Citydude]

People usually don't complain about buying too big.

 

[future_vision]

People usually don't complain about buying too big.

Guess I got to cancel my tractor and upsize.

 

[oosik]

When I upgraded from the Ford 1700 to the Kubota M6040 ( 2009) - I looked for a larger chipper. I even considered the Valby brand. It required 50 hp and had a 350# rotor. Would have made an ideal PTO driven chipper. Problem - the closest dealer was in Montana.

 

[future_vision]

When I upgraded from the Ford 1700 to the Kubota M6040 ( 2009) - I looked for a larger chipper. I even considered the Valby brand. It required 50 hp and had a 350# rotor. Would have made an ideal PTO driven chipper. Problem - the closest dealer was in Montana.

350# !!! That's pretty significant.

 

[oosik]

Valby even made a double rotor model - 500# rotor. Once you got it up to speed- it would probably go thru most anything with ease. It appears that model is no longer made. At least, with a quick scan - I can no longer find it.

 

[Jchonline]

I'm looking to buy a PTO chipper. Originally, I was looking at the Woodland Mills WC68 but that was when I was getting a 40HP tractor. Now that I am getting a 60(57.7) HP tractor with 44.9 HP at the PTO I am looking to size up. The thinking is that the WC68 is rated up to 50 HP at the PTO which is fine if I am happy with the 60 HP tractor but what if I want to go larger in the future? Then I need to move up to the WC88. Seems like sizing up would be a way to future-proof my purchase so I do not to re-buy implements. At least that is my thinking for a Woodland Mills PTO chipper.

Now, WoodMaxx only lists a minimum PTO HP. That has me somewhat confused. Is there no max HP for a WoodMaxx chipper? If that is the case, and I am fine with a chipper not made in the US, then maybe the WM-8H is the way to go (or even the MX-8600)? If US made then MX-8800 would be the best choice I think.

One thing I almost overlooked between the MX-8800 and the WC88 was that the WC88 needs 5 gallons of hydraulic fluid where the MX-8800 needs 2 quarts of motor oil. That tracks on another $50 to the WC88 depending on brand (I first thought it might be closer to $200 for 5 gallons but I was looking at the wrong type of hydraulic fluid. I'm in New England and need ISO 32 I believe).

Shipping is also $399 for Woodland Mills vs the $250 for WoodMaxx.

Woodland Mills also has a 6-12 week delivery time and WoodMaxx current states 1-3 weeks to be processed. Not sure how long it takes to ship after that or if that includes shipping.

Taking all this into account the MX-8800 is around $4565 shipped which includes a couple of qts of motor oil and the Woodland Mills WC88 is $3998 shipped which includes 5 gallons of hydraulic fluid. That's a $567 difference. Worth the difference to get an US made product possibly delivered more quickly?

Regardless of delivery time I'd be happy to pay the extra if the MX-8800 is just a better product overall. It's something I am going to keep for a long time. Or do I go with a smaller size chipper like the WC68 or the non-US made WM-8H(currently out of stock) or the MX-8600?

FYI. I've had Wallenstein's pitched to me as well but from what I can tell their manual feeds are more expensive than any of the hydraulic feeds I mentioned in this post and I am not sure there is that much better performance to justify the price.

The WC88 with hydraulic feed is a great unit. I have chipped about 50 hours with mine and it has been flawless. A mix of fir, pine, aspen (all soft wood mind you). Some dead, some alive.

 

[Jchonline]

It’s not about the size of one piece, it’s about how many small pieces you can shove through and how big of a crotch it will eat without getting jammed up. In this case bigger opening is better IMHO.

Absolutely. You will spend ALOT of time trimming limbs off to get them to feed well...

 

[Jchonline]

I have the Woodmaxx 8H on a Branson with 32hp at the PTO. The one problem with it was the hydraulic flow control they used us a 20 gpm unit while the hydraulic system on the chipper is 3 gpm. The oversized valve has a very narrow range between dead slow and full speed. Mine had effectively two speeds. I replaced it with a 5 gpm unit that works much better and lets me set the feed to any speed in between full and barely moving. Supposedly the MX series hydrostatic feed does not have the same problem.

The 5 gallons of hydraulic fluid is a one time purchase and it's pretty cheap in any case. It would not be a factor for me. It's probably cheaper to get it locally from TSC or similar.

I think the Woodland Mills has a lot of superior features but two reasons I went with the 8H was the dual roller feed and the lift arm that lets you manually pull the upper roller up. With a bit of practice I can pull the roller up and toss in a short chunk that is too short to safely push in by hand and would jam if pushed in with a branch. The Woodland Mills videos showing their units in action make it look like it can be difficult to get material to start feeding. The guy has to shove it in pretty hard and has to try again at times. Videos of the Woodmaxx don't show that, and in my experience it feeds pretty easily.

For a tractor your size I would get a 9" chipper. Even if you never chip material over 4", the extra size means less trimming to get stuff small enough to go into the chipper. It'll save work.

If I were doing it again I would consider the MX series. The single feed roller would be a concern. Actually if I were buying the tractor again I'd get one with more HP, purely for running the chipper. And a 9" chipper. With the amount of chipping I have done and will be doing in the future as long as I own this property, it would have been worth it.

I agree a dual feed roller would probably be better. If you have really short pieces (1-2 ft) you have to be careful how you jamb them in. No fingers on the top side of the logs! I usually try and use a crutch branch or log to push those in. It gets the job done, but a dual roller would be easier and probably safer.

That said it really doesnt have a feed issue. I have chipped hundreds of logs..it is quite efficient.

 

[future_vision]

Absolutely. You will spend ALOT of time trimming limbs off to get them to feed well...

Would you go with a 9" chipper if you had a choice then?

 

[oosik]

Higher HP in a tractor has advantages - more inertia - quicker recovery. Larger chipper has advantages also - larger intake/discharge chute - heavier rotor - higher air flow.

I chip ONLY small pines - 1" to 6" on the butt. Up to 25-30 feet long. I could have purchased a larger chipper at the time I upgraded but, wisely, chose not to. The Wallenstein BX62S is more than adequate.

The reason - go out and fell a pine - 6" on the butt. Now pick up the butt end and drag it 50 feet. Consider that when I'm done thinning a stand - it looks like a giant's game of Pick-Up-Sticks. Pick up the same 6" pine and start to weave your way thru the pile - dragging this 6" pine. I've learned the "art" of gracefully falling w/out getting hurt too badly.

BTW - I've never even ONCE had to trim an pines I chip. Butt end in first - it's grabbed and gone.