Chipper WoodMaxx WM-8H vs Woodland Mills WC86

[Carleola]

I've been in the market for a homeowner/large (30 acres) acreage wood chipper. I have narrowed my choices down to two brands that I thought would fit my needs - they are the WoodMaxx and the Woodland Mills. I could not find any comparisons on them so I compiled what I think is an accurate data-log. Any errors are mine alone; and I apologize in advance to the manufacturers. I consider both units excellent and worthy of consideration!

I have attached a PDF attachment that compares the two chippers. Different feature, excite different folk - so you decide which is better for you.

 

[ericm979]

Why not compare the 8" WM-8H with the 8" Woodland Mills WC88? Or the 6" Woodmaxx with the 6" Woodland Mills?

Other considerations-
The WC88's entire top half of the flywheel casing comes off, making knife access easy. The 8H has you access the knives through small doors.
The WC88 has rolled lips on the feed hopper. Theoretically branches will hang up on that less than a straight edge. That's a problem with some species.
The WC88 has a larger safety bar with a more natural activation motion.
The 8H's feed hopper is straight, the WC88's is at an angle.
The WCC88's hopper folds up, the 8H's does not.
WC88 has a larger infeed roller but no lever to pull the infeed up like the 8H has. That's sometimes useful for large diameter pieces especially short ones.
WC88 has small non driven lower rollers while the 8H's is driven.
Allmost all the 8H's feed hopper bolts can be assembled with the head on the inside. However there's two large ones that can't, and material sometimes hangs up on them.
The 8H had a nice lock/rotation lever for the output chute, the WC88 had a crude friction screw.
The 88 had four short blades, 8H has two long ones. I don't have one to measure but they look to be about the same total length.

I went with the 8H that i'm mostly satisfied with but the WC88 looks good and has some superior features.

I think 19 minimum pto HP for the 8H is optimistic. I'm at 32 and i've bogged the tractor down a few times. We don't burn wood and I can't even give fir away for firewood so I chip what will fit.

 

[747driver]

I bought the WM8H 4 months ago. Total purchase price was $3000 including shipping plus i opted for the usa built pto shaft. It had the features i wanted...hyd rollers with reverse. Thats a big plus when you get things stuck...it spits it right back out ! I put all my chute bolt heads on the inside to save wear on the nuts and threads. Nice to have a discharge chute you can place 360 degrees...on a windy day that helps. Big feature i think is the weight of the flywheel...200 lbs. That is the most important thing you want....it keeps the momentum stronger when the wood hits the blades. 3 main bearings all with grease fittings. A well built machine....took 4 hrs. to assemble.

 

[Carleola]

Dear Ericm979 & 747driver - I haven't pulled the trigger yet and am finding this a difficult decision. it would be nice If I could pick and choose feature from both! Alas, that's not life. From a construction point of view I like the triple bearing, dual roller motors and higher flywheel speed and weight of the WM-8H. On the other hand I like the functionality of folding Infeed chute, the clamshell flywheel housing that makes servicing a breeze, lighter weight, chainsaw carrier and reinforced Infeed Chute lip of the WC86.

I'm going to have to sleep over it!

 

[747driver]

Dear Ericm979 & 747driver - I haven't pulled the trigger yet and am finding this a difficult decision. it would be nice If I could pick and choose feature from both! Alas, that's not life. From a construction point of view I like the triple bearing, dual roller motors and higher flywheel speed and weight of the WM-8H. On the other hand I like the functionality of folding Infeed chute, the clamshell flywheel housing that makes servicing a breeze, lighter weight, chainsaw carrier and reinforced Infeed Chute lip of the WC86.

I'm going to have to sleep over it!

Should the model be a Woodland Mills 68 ? I just watched the video of it. The clamshell design is very nice ! The WM8H comes with the blades and drive system all assembled, balanced and torqued. All i had to do was assemble the infeed chute and discharge chute and attach the hyd rollers control. I don't think you would go wrong with either unit. I just liked the extra weight and the way the safety bar is on the WM. Plus the feed chute is longer and flat which keeps your hands further from the rollers !

Good Sleeping tonight !!!

 

[Carleola]

@747driver - Yeah, I'm dyslexic! It should be the WC68 NOT WC 86. Sorry about that. Don't know how to go back and edit the title, though.

@ericm979 - I did not go with the WC88 because my Kubota 3350 only has 27HP at the PTO. The CM88 needs 35HP minimum.

 

[ericm979]

It took me a while to decide too. A couple months of thinking and watching videos of chippers in action.

For me 6" vs 8" would make the decision. Even if you're not chipping large material a larger chipper means you don't have to trim brush and trees as much to get them in the chipper, which saves time.

Both companies 6" models are direct drive. Both 8" models step up the rotor speed about 2x over the pto speed. Which gives them about twice the inertia per pound of flywheel. Of course larger diameter flywheels have more inertia per pound, that's an approximation. Inertia helps keep the chipper turning when it injests something large but short.

I picked the WM-8H over the WC88 mostly because of the two motor feed. Watching videos it looked like the WC requires more effort to get the feed roller to grab a piece, even though the larger roller theoretically should grab material better. I find with the 8H I can get the rollers to grab the vast majority of stuff without effort on my part and without using the assist lever. I only need the assist lever when chipping material close to the chipper's capacity or when feeding short pieces over 4-5". The 8H's horizontal feed chute means that you don't have to tip long trees up to get them to feed, just lift the butt into the chute and lift the rest just enough to slide it in and get grabbed by the rollers.

 

[Carleola]

Interesting point of view - I appreciate your insight. I called Woodland Mills and their CM68 is direct drive and flywheel speed is 540. The CM88 is belt driven and flywheel speed is geared up to 1100rpm. The CM88 flywheel is also heavier at 120lbs than the CM68's - but significantly less than the 200lbs of the WM-8H

What do you make of the difference between 2-blades for WM-8H and 4-blades for CM68? I'm starting to lean towards the WM-8H.

 

[Budweiser John]

With respect to the 4 vs 2 blade configuration, you've got 2 fewer blades to maintain.
I've owned a Wood Max WM -8H since 2013 and but for one very minor problem (the pressure relieve valve, replaced immediately by Wood Max) it works flawlessly.
I added a chainsaw holder by simply bending a piece of 1/4 X1" flat stock and capturing the hook under one of the chute bolts. Another creature comfort, I welded up a parking stand on casters for the unit thus greatly aiding in the attachment to the tractor 3PH and allowing the chipper to be rolled to an out of the way corner for storage.

Overall, the Wood Max has proven to be a great investment.
B. John

 

[ericm979]

Professional blade sharpening is usually billed by the inch. Baileys charges $.90/inch.

It looks like the CM88 (and probably the 68) has four half length blades while the 8H has two full length blades. If that's right the inches of blade to sharpen would be about the same. Four blades is more blades to set up if you're doing your own sharpening. I think it might make for more even load on the chipper but given the flywheel speed and weight it seems like a small factor.

Also see my posts about the 8H's feed speed adjustment. It's not a big deal just something to be aware of. I've yet to buy the alternate valve that I think will make the adjustment more variable.

I think losing 5hp from my 32hp would still have the 8H work well for brush and smaller trees. I don't burn wood and can't give fir away, so I'll chip fir as big as will fit. Some of my brush trunks are at or beyond the 8" capacity and I chip all those that will fit. For stuff like that that 5hp might make a difference. I need to set the feed to the slower speed (1/3 of max speed). I've only stalled the tractor once. If you burn anything over 4" or whatever then you won't need as much power as you won't be chipping large diameter wood. A 4" diameter log is about 12 square inches to chip. 8" diameter is 50 sq inches. The power requirements go up a lot with the larger material.