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Questions about larger chipper shreders

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mike
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2001-08-12          30904

I currently own a 5 hp MTD chipper/shreder and recently bought a kubota 7200 hst. We recently moved from a 6000 sq ft city lot to a 1 acre lot just out of town. My problem right now is being overloaded with 'green waste'. Most of what I trim (shrubery, bovenvia, dropped branches) is well within the chipping capacity of the little chipper, but I am finding it takes many, MANY hours of prep time to trim the material so it will fit in the hopper. The prep time wasn't so bad with the amount of material produced on the smaller lot when I bought the MTD, but here I find I am taking all my trimming to the city processing lot (where they grind it up and make compost) instead of processing it myself. My question for those of you who might know is whether a larger chipper/shreder is able to take things like shrubery that has forks and branches without having to trim every single side branch? Most of what I deal with is well within the 1/2 to 1 inch capacity of my shredder, but I just can't get the material to the blades. I have found that using the front loader of the tractor to 'compact' the material in my truck lets me take fewer trips, but still, I would rather chip the stuff myself if it is at all feasible. I estimate I have taken 8-10 trips to the green waste processor so far this season with my S10 full to the top of the cab (probably 4 yards of material each trip). At 7-10 dollars a trip, taking it to the dump is certainly cheaper than buying something but the dump is always VERY busy on saturday. I figure I spend an hour loading the truck plus another 2 or 3 taking it to the dump, waiting in line, emptying it, and returning per load. Any suggestions on how to improve my time efficiency would be appreciated.

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Paul Fox
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2001-08-13          30915

I have a manual feed PATU DC-40 chipper, 3PH mount and PTO drive. It's rated to take up to a 4" stick. I've chipped the residue from a lot of tree work where whole trees were felled and had to be disposed of. I keep a Boy Scout hatchet handy to lop off the occasional branch, but by-and-large, I can push hard enough to flex the brush enough to go through the feed aperture. Brushy stuff is harder to feed than straight sticks, and evergreens are harder than deciduous, but with time it'll take everything I feed it, as long as it'll fit through the aperture. It cost me about $2600 new, but I had 2 acres to clear, so it was worth it to me. You might be able to find a used one a bit more reasonably. ....

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TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2001-08-13          30918

I looked at a used chipper/shredder once. It had both a chipper and a hammer-mill. I don't know how heavy material a hammer-mill will take, but the chute was much larger than the chipper chute. Fair sized brush would go through the chute. For myself, I make short work of side limbs with a chain saw, but I cut up brush to make it easier to load into a trailer. A free township dump is three miles down the highway, and I figure I can make a bunch of trips to the dump for the price of a used and fairly beat-up chipper. It's probably faster too. I believe that a 4" chipper will take 4" material, but it won't break any speed records. However, a chipper would be good for turning brush into compost, which my wife in interested in doing. It's still a big whack of money for a decent chipper--especially if it has hydraulic feed. ....

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2001-08-16          31013

I have another word for four inch material. Firewood. ....

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Donnie
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1 ARNOLD, MD. 21012-1314
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2002-01-09          34379

Mike, 1st ? What is the largest diameter of the branches?
2nd, About how many hours do you spend prepairing the greenery for shredding? & 3rd, Are you planning to use the machinery year-round?

It might be a good idea to maybe invest in something a little larger than the MTD chipper. The MTD 5 hp chipper was basically designed for small yard wastes like leaves and small
branches. + the hopper, and the blades are not adiquite for branch diameters 3" or larger. Now I use a VERMEER V-2800 AUTOLOADER comercial chipper that brand new would cost
$15,000.00 , but got a really great deal on E-BAY. The final cost that I got the machine for was $2500. All it needed was a new starter, and 3 new glow plugs, and for a unit that has well over 6527hrs. on it, she runs like new and is very quiet for a 3cycl diesel. Something like that definately will work for you, plus when the neighbors find out about what you have, I can promise you that they would want you to chew their stuff up too! In a way thats good because I make my own mulch & sell it.....
If you choose not to go with that option, I really recommend the SUPER TOMAHAWK by TROY BUILT, it will chew any thing you throw at it.... From twigs to 4.5" logs. But why would you want to shred 4.5" logs when they make good fire logs. The SUPER T H is a towable unit and any size tractor can pull it. Check out Troy Built's website and try Vermeer's too! ....


Link:   YARD WASTE DISPOSAL INC. of ANNAP, MD. 21401

 
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Peters
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 3034 Northern AL
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2002-01-10          34414

Mike;
I have a 8hp chipper from Noma. It will handle up to 3" easily, but it does take time.
I have used the larger machines like the Vermeer with the autofeeder and it is night and day. Then again the larger logs are good for fire wood.
I would agree with Donnie the Troy built is probably all you need. Then again a small PTO chipper maybe the same money. Enclosed is the link to Nothern's page. ....


Link:   

Click Here


 
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cordspa
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 4 Phoenix
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2002-01-14          34558

Try Countryhomeproducts.com
I have one of thier 20HP chippers and love it its light easy to operate and powerful, does a great job. The hydraulic feed is what gets expensive. Rick ....

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David Waite
Join Date: Jun 1999
Posts: 43
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2002-01-22          34850

I might be going against the grain of every self sufficient compact tractor user out there but if you only need it once a year for 3-12 yards of material rent one from a local shop and maybe split the cost with next door. Save the money for the one time white elephant and get something good for the tractor that you really have been looking at but couldn't spend the scratch for it. The problem I see is trying to find a place for all the stuff you add to the tractor, then there is no place to mow or plow or till. ....

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TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2002-01-23          34862

I try to think in terms of the easiest and cheapest way of getting the work done. Self-sufficiency is for when there's no other way. I guess that's why I didn't end up with a chipper. The township still burns brush at the landfills, and it's just easier to take whatever is too large to compost quickly and too small for a stove to the dump. I suppose I'd have a different attitude if the dump wouldn't accept brush.

I also figure that I've already a post hole auger, which mostly sets around, so maybe I should avoid more wonderful tools that have an essential purpose once a year. Oh yes, and I ran out of shed space, and two implements are spending the winter tarped. Of course, I will need that auger when I build a bigger shed. Huum, cement mixer might be useful. Dang! This stuff never stops. The used 3” chipper/shredders I looked at were Apache brand, a Western Canadian company that is mostly known for its sprayers. Seemed like pretty good units.
....

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2002-01-23          34868

I'm with you Tom, one must calculate the cost. I bought free standing Troybuilt 10 hp unit when the price on taking a load to the dump went from $1.75 to $5.00. I figured I had at least 50 loads of material to haul so it made the decision very easy, especially when you figure in the wear and tear on the truck and all the time to load and unload. By the way, ain't it strange that you can buy a chipper with a good quality 10 horse engine for about half the price of a chipper alone that is PTO powered.??.....and the same with generators, I can get a 10 horse generator for 900 bucks and a PTO driven unit with similar output is 2000 bucks by the time you get the shipping tabulated. Must be the difference in mass produced products. ....

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TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2002-01-24          34881


Guess we're lucky since there are no tippage fees for homeowners here yet. Of course, this is a large township with just over 100 full-time households and we have three dumps. We can afford this rural luxury.

I might rethink the brush to the dump idea if we had to start paying and if the dump was further than a few miles. On the other hand, we don't have a feed store nearby so we jaw at each other at the store when picking up the mail and on dump days. Imponderables in any decision I guess.

Although there are no homeowner tippage fees, we did pay $1600 for a trucker to take 16 dump truck loads (about 15 yards a load) worth of an old house to the dump. Demolition was the wrong time of year for us to get our own burn permit. In effect, we stored the house at the dump until it could be burnt in the Fall. Besides, burning the house in its cellar would have wiped out a spruce tree. Big investment in that dang topless spruce now. Oh well, my wife likes it.

I guess the pricing of ag equipment compared to mass produced box store products is another imponderable--the implement plus engine is less than the tractor implement alone. I think tractor implements tend to be heavier duty and have greater capacity than box store products. Box store products also probably have much shorter service lives. However, rather than knock box store quality, I think they probably are good deals for many people. Why would a person who disposes of a couple yards of brush a year want to pay for a tractor implement that is designed to outlast the owner even when heavily used. A box store chipper is going to outlast most owners too if it's only started once a year.

....

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GlennT
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 2 Central Texas
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2002-01-25          34915

I did as much research on chippers as I could a year or so ago and finally purchased a Valby 140, which is a direct-drive PTO model without a manual or hydraulic feed. My John Deere 670 (18 HP PTO, 16.5 HP drawbar)is able to handle this quite nicely. I agree with what everyone has said and just wanted to suggest a few things. I spent close to $3,000 on a PTO driven chipper in order to avoid having another engine to maintain and to obtain a chipper which is VERY rugged--commercial quality. By having a direct drive disk and manual feed, all of the tractor's power is directed to the disk and my little tractor is able to handle whatever I feed in--normally no more than 3 to 4 inch stuff at most. The chippers sold by TroyBilt, Northern Tool, Country Home (Dr....), etc. are good units for occasional backyard use, but just aren't made for heavy use over the long haul (in my opinion, of course). The Valby, Danuser, Patu, and to some degree Bear Cat chippers are constructed of heavier gauge steel, have larger and heavier disks, more rugged bearings, and larger cutting blades. So I guess it boils down to: How much chipper do you need? and How much are you willing to spend? One factor that wasn't mentioned was convenience. I could rent a good-sized chipper for $100 a day; however, by having my own I can take care of small jobs whenever I want to. I don't have to stack up brush until I have enough to justify renting a chipper. I am keeping track of my chipping hours and it will take me three or four years to break even on my purchase price (in comparison with renting). Chipping is not my idea of a good time; it's tedious and dirty work. I sure do like the mulch, though; it's worth it's weight in gold. ....

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mike
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2002-02-22          35792

Well, my old MTD 5hp chipper shreader is not getting any better. Maybe if I spend the time to split it open and sharpen the blades it will improve, but even at its best, it was ... slow. At 3 grand for a pto model that may (or may not) deal with leaves and vines any better than what I have, it sounds like I am better off spending the money on a trailer. 10 bucks a load (20 dollars a ton) to the processing center (they have a grinder bigger than my house for all green waste) is not going to break the bank, and unless I hear otherwise, chipping leaves and branches is not a whole lot faster or easier with a pto model than it is with a standalone model like I have already given up on. I.E. I can load up the trailer, drive 1/2 hr to the processing center, spend 1/2 hr going through the line and having them pull the stuff off, and another 1/2 hr driving back and STILL be ahead in terms of time compared to chipping it myself.

I was trying to convince myself that a pto chipper was a better investiment than a trailer. I have failed. It seems that the best solution to my problem : too many branches / weeds / green waste , slow chipper / shreader, don't like having my s10 full of leaves for the rare time I actually want to haul something else : is to buy a trailer, fill it as I go, and haul it to the processing center with the truck when it gets full.

That is, unless I have missed something.. ....

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2002-02-22          35814

Mike... I don't think you are missing anything. Sounds like you already have pretty good soil and things like this come down to time and money. My sand dune needs all the veggie matter I can put in it that won't feed rodents so it is a natural that I would mulch and chip and try to beef up my soil, besides I am retired and I have the time. If I was in your position I would probably make the same choices, although it is hard to picture a landfill that busy. I am glad my trips to the dump only take twenty minutes round trip. ....

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2002-02-22          35815

Oh yes there is this too... I am constantly amazed at the price of anything that has "pto" in the description. My latest investigation revealed that I could spend $1200 for a pto driven 5 cu. ft. cement mixer that may not work on my compact tractor because I might not be able to lift it high enough to dump the load and I would get something that would take a half a days work to set up and adjust before I could get down to work. Or I could go to the big box down the street and spend $500 on the same size mixer that I can plug into the wall and have the first batch of concrete ready to pour in 15 minutes. Not a hard decision to make, even renting by the day makes more sense. Don't forget to bring a good book or some cool cd's on that next dump run. Mark ....

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TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2002-02-23          35818

We've got very sandy soil that can use all the mulch and compost it can get. We get large amounts of leafs in the fall that are composted as well as most garbage plant trimmings etc. I should figure out if the compost pile will take pine needles as well. I’m reluctant to put many needled in the pile, but we have more needles than leafs. Without the needles, we still end up with quite a bit of compost. What goes to the dump is what I'd have to run through a chipper before composting. It doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t like a chipper/shredder, it’s just that other things have higher priority since the dump is free and convenient.

My trips to the dump should take only twenty minutes but usually take much longer. We don't have a feed store, so dump days become social events. People go to the dump who don't have anything to dump. Sometimes it takes awhile to shoo away the bears too. Ordinary bears run away, but dump bears try and wait you out.
....

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