bhh
Silver Member
I finally bit the bullet and ordered it June 1. I've been eyeing a Wellenstein Bx42s/52s for years now but the WoodMaxx caught me eye with good reviews and a very competitive price for an 8" hydraulic feed chipper.
I want to be clear that the only experience I've had with chippers is a big 12" Vermeer rental unit I've rented a few times.
It took about 18 days business days to ship and I was able to schedule delivery about 2 days after that. Assembly took several hours but I took my time and made sure everything was done right. My initial impression of build quality is very good and I'd say roughly the equivalent as my LandPride BB and rotary mower although the paint is superior to the LandPride attachments. The toplink attachment to the chipper is very similar to how a trailer hitch works and the 5/8" hitch pin holes were slightly out of alignment and took about 10-15 seconds with a 5/8" drill bit to get the pin in. That was the only build-quality issue I noticed indicative of the country of origin. The unit is Quickhitch compatible and the lift arm width was originally much too close together but the retractable pieces (also similar to a trailer hitch) were reversed so the offset was in instead of out. It's a little hard to explain but reversing them made everything line up fine. This originally confused me and was about to abandon the QuickHitch and was sort of pissed when I realized what the issue was but I suspect it was shipped this way so the unit is more compact with no parts sticking out. The WoodMax guys in upstate NY do a lot of the assembly there and I think act as a first line of defense against obvious manufacturing defects. They were also very pleasant to deal with when I called about adding lift-gate service to delivery since the unit is near the weight limit of my machine + palette forks and they responded within a few minutes of me emailing to inquire into the specific shipping date.
I realize without pictures, it didn't happen but the videos on the website do a good job and I have to say, I'm super thrilled with what this unit can do and how fast it processes material. It has an adjustable feed rate that I've left on max with the exception of some large 6"+ pine and some 4"+ hard maple. It demolished the pine but did begin to struggle with some larger, dry hardwood and I did stall my tractor once on a ~6" hard maple branch. The hydraulic feed is incredibly powerful and the unit can suck in large branches or small trees/saplings with little to no trimming and it was able to pull through things on its own that I could not "bend" into the 8" opening using my "man power". The Wallenstein is suppose to self-feed very well and i can completely understand how if you feed it a nice clean limb or branch the flywheel knives can grab hold of, it will pull right in but what I really like about the hydraulic feed is how you can basically fill it with smaller limbs, twigs, and such and it will "push" that stuff through. Again, I've never used the Wallenstein and only mention it as those were the two units I was deciding between.
Of course it doesn't have the capacity and feed rate of the big Vermeer I was used to but I was pleasantly suprised with what it can handle with my sized tractor and the mobility of being able to zip around the property, pull up to a brushpile or deadfall, engage the PTO, bust right through it and hop back on and move someplace else is really great. So far, zero complaints and I'm super happy with the purchase and highly recommend.:thumbsup:
I want to be clear that the only experience I've had with chippers is a big 12" Vermeer rental unit I've rented a few times.
It took about 18 days business days to ship and I was able to schedule delivery about 2 days after that. Assembly took several hours but I took my time and made sure everything was done right. My initial impression of build quality is very good and I'd say roughly the equivalent as my LandPride BB and rotary mower although the paint is superior to the LandPride attachments. The toplink attachment to the chipper is very similar to how a trailer hitch works and the 5/8" hitch pin holes were slightly out of alignment and took about 10-15 seconds with a 5/8" drill bit to get the pin in. That was the only build-quality issue I noticed indicative of the country of origin. The unit is Quickhitch compatible and the lift arm width was originally much too close together but the retractable pieces (also similar to a trailer hitch) were reversed so the offset was in instead of out. It's a little hard to explain but reversing them made everything line up fine. This originally confused me and was about to abandon the QuickHitch and was sort of pissed when I realized what the issue was but I suspect it was shipped this way so the unit is more compact with no parts sticking out. The WoodMax guys in upstate NY do a lot of the assembly there and I think act as a first line of defense against obvious manufacturing defects. They were also very pleasant to deal with when I called about adding lift-gate service to delivery since the unit is near the weight limit of my machine + palette forks and they responded within a few minutes of me emailing to inquire into the specific shipping date.
I realize without pictures, it didn't happen but the videos on the website do a good job and I have to say, I'm super thrilled with what this unit can do and how fast it processes material. It has an adjustable feed rate that I've left on max with the exception of some large 6"+ pine and some 4"+ hard maple. It demolished the pine but did begin to struggle with some larger, dry hardwood and I did stall my tractor once on a ~6" hard maple branch. The hydraulic feed is incredibly powerful and the unit can suck in large branches or small trees/saplings with little to no trimming and it was able to pull through things on its own that I could not "bend" into the 8" opening using my "man power". The Wallenstein is suppose to self-feed very well and i can completely understand how if you feed it a nice clean limb or branch the flywheel knives can grab hold of, it will pull right in but what I really like about the hydraulic feed is how you can basically fill it with smaller limbs, twigs, and such and it will "push" that stuff through. Again, I've never used the Wallenstein and only mention it as those were the two units I was deciding between.
Of course it doesn't have the capacity and feed rate of the big Vermeer I was used to but I was pleasantly suprised with what it can handle with my sized tractor and the mobility of being able to zip around the property, pull up to a brushpile or deadfall, engage the PTO, bust right through it and hop back on and move someplace else is really great. So far, zero complaints and I'm super happy with the purchase and highly recommend.:thumbsup:
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