Chipper

[jeteater1]

$400 good for a used 8.5 hp Craftsman?
We bought a 1.1 acer lot and have some chipping to do . We can rent one for $300 for 8 hours but I want one and bushes grow back.
What yall think?

 

[Ultra...Good]

At that rate I would buy. Use it twice and you are ahead. Problems is storing the thing and starting it occasionaly just to let it run to run some fuel through it.

 

[Taboma]

$400 good for a used 8.5 hp Craftsman?
We bought a 1.1 acer lot and have some chipping to do . We can rent one for $300 for 8 hours but I want one and bushes grow back.
What yall think?

When first bought our 3/4 acre with a good size family orchard with avocado and orange trees, I figured I'd use one a lot. so I bought a new 8 HP Craftsman and started chipping and shredding. As far as the branch chute, depends on the type of branches, nice straight soft wood branches, yes, they feed pretty well.
So soft avocado branches chipped up pretty good. But try to find an avocado branch over a couple of feet long that's straight or doesn't have a bunch of side branches.
Orange tree branches, holy shit, that wood is so hard, the vibration on your gloved hands was damned painful and it fed so slow and orange branches are rarely straight.
Then a couple of times if I wasn't holding pressure against the branch because it hurt my hands, damned if the branch didn't come flinging like a missile right back at my face --- shield, I don't need no damned shield.

So I found it was much easier to take my small chain saw, whack them into 30" lengths and just tie them up for pickup, or fill my large black cans and put them out. (This was prior to the green refuse containers). Regardless, cutting them up was one hell of a lot faster than trying to chip them all.
There's a YouTube video of a guy with an 8HP Craftsman, in one segment he's claiming to be chipping a 2.5" branch --- OH BULLSHIT, that branch is maybe an inch in diameter, unless he's talking circumference.

Leaves --- OK, again, cool I've got leaves galore, but again, the chute where it enters the chipper is reduced so much that unless you feed the leaves in very small quantities, they get jammed, now you're poking a stick down there a lot to free the jams. But leaves can remain under the trees, they keep the ground cool and I use less water, so it's the branches that are the priority and I simply did not find the small chipper worth it unless I had all day to screw around spoon feeding the damned thing.

Now, when I trim my trees grove trees, I do the chain saw massacre, then stack all the branches up in a pile, then rent a large commercial type chipper you can feed mondo quantities into and in a couple of hours I've got the pile reduced to mulch material. With the 8 HP chipper, I'd be out there screwing around for days and still end up with a dump run of large or irregular branches.

The very best thing that ever got chipped in the chipper was an entire family of baby grove rats who's parents very unwisely selected that, filled it with leaves and made it their nursery. Once I got it turned in the right direction and I fired it off --- Whoaaaaaa was that cool

 

[jeteater1]

It's mostly scrub oak and 1" pine tree limbs. The new transfer station doesn't take bulk green waste .

 

[lakemadness]

I heard outlaw boat transport knows where good chipper is…

 

[Taboma]

I think if I were to get one again, I would not screw around with these smaller 8-8.5hp 3" diameter branch chippers. Because the only 3" branch I would have had the patience to feed into mine would have been balsa wood.
I'd whip out the old magic card and tow this smallish towable home. Or something equivalent HP and capacity wise.

 

[Taboma]

It's mostly scrub oak and 1" pine tree limbs. The new transfer station doesn't take bulk green waste .

Aren't you east county San Diego ?

 

[jeteater1]

Aren't you east county San Diego ?

Were going to be off the 74 above Palm Desert. Right now were off 371 very south Riverside.

 

[Taboma]

Were going to be off the 74 above Palm Desert. Right now were off 371 very south Riverside.

Very cool, beautiful country

 

[lbhsbz]

solves all your problems

 

[jeteater1]

Very cool, beautiful country

We were up there today and only one car went by.

 

[scottchbrite]

Don’t screw around with those cheap ones. I have 5 acres and I just stock pile it until I have enough to take a dump trailer full to one of the green waste recycling places. Wood chips become a pita too. I did rent a 12” chipper when I prepping to grade. I dropped like 19 oaks in various sizes. I put 8 solid hours on that machine. The chip pile was giant. I used the chips for my slopes for my grading final. Never again!!!
If you really want a chipper, get a tractor with a pto, then look for a pto driven chipper that goes on the 3 point hitch. My neighbor has one. Works pretty decent.

 

[CarolynandBob]

This is what I had a guy do. It is like one of the chippers on the back of a tree truck but on the front of a skid steer. I tried doing a quick look up to see what it is called, but couldn't find it.

He trimmed up the trees and then chewed them up with this. I have a bunch of downed wood is some areas. Next year I am going to hire him for a full day and clear some stuff out.

On a side note the guy works constantly. He is the lead for the field crew of the electric co. He installed the electric line to my shop. He has this tree co with his son and he farms 1100 acres of corn or soybeans each year.

 

[scottchbrite]

This is what I had a guy do. It is like one of the chippers on the back of a tree truck but on the front of a skid steer. I tried doing a quick look up to see what it is called, but couldn't find it.

He trimmed up the trees and then chewed them up with this. I have a bunch of downed wood is some areas. Next year I am going to hire him for a full day and clear some stuff out.

On a side note the guy works constantly. He is the lead for the field crew of the electric co. He installed the electric line to my shop. He has this tree co with his son and he farms 1100 acres of corn or soybeans each year.


View attachment 1052782

It’s called a Masticator. At least that’s what we called it. When I ran our hand crews, we would use one when we were doing brush clearing in certain areas. The Feds (USFS) weren’t real keen on them because they work too good!

 

[jeteater1]

I'm sure this little one will work. My wife is the one that will be using it. She is rocking it for what she has been through, but she wants to live out here more than me. My back is fucked It hurts just looking at stuff that needs to be done.

 

[jetboatperformance]

I think if I were to get one again, I would not screw around with these smaller 8-8.5hp 3" diameter branch chippers. Because the only 3" branch I would have had the patience to feed into mine would have been balsa wood.
I'd whip out the old magic card and tow this smallish towable home. Or something equivalent HP and capacity wise.

View attachment 1052696

I rented on of these , 3" is bs believe me lots of work for the wife and I , I spent $400 for a crew and a " towable mafia body Shredder" for 20' square pile last week .... gone without a trace

 

[Flatsix66]

The little home depot chippers suck for oak branches. We bought one when we first bought our land and used it a few times, too much of a pain in the ass to get it to feed into the chute. Our community organizes a dump off site and the forest service comes over with the big chippers a few times a year.

 

[TITTIES AND BEER]

I’m looking at Kabota attachment for our tractor PTO , wifeys a little nervous bitch don’t drink and she’s nervous