Go BottomReview of Bailey s GME 6 quot chipper
 | mangoland
Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 18 Maui, HI 
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2004-11-06 99974
I've got a few hours on this new chipper from Bailey's, model BC6PTH, so I thought I would send a few comments out. It is made by GME Idaho, Bailey's just puts their stickers on it. I also put up some pictures for anyone curious, linked below.
I looked at a number of chippers to run from my Kubota B2710 (20HP PTO) and decided to go with a lighter weight unit, with hydraulic brush dragger. My chipper experience has been with Brush Bandits (rentals), a 6" PTO model and a 9" self powered, and while very robust, they were just overkill for my situation. I was warned away from the Chinese made chipper, for quality control reasons.
The BC6 weighs in at 900 lbs, and is about the limit of what I would want on the back of this tractor. I was not expecting this model to have the very strong brush dragging capability of the Brush Bandits, which have two massive rollers in a spring loaded crushing configuration. Here there is only a single grabber which is self weighted (ie one can lift it by hand). Indeed, it requires more work to put through the worst brushy hardwoods. But otherwise it does OK with most things. At some point, I might consider putting extra spring weight on the dragger to help it out.
I considered 4" machines also, but the rating of the cutter was not so important as the size of the feedchute. The material we chip is leafy, hard, and full of branches. We also shred wet, heavy, viney things as well, and I was happy to see it does well with that, the limiting factor there being the blower. We saw the Brush Bandits get clogs in their discharge chutes with that sort of material from gulping down too much at once.
I was pleased to see that this size tractor handles the chipping well. Keeping the rpms up is crucial to blade life, and the Kubota did not budge in its RPMs as we fed through some larger hardwood logs. I don't need to chip much actual 6" material, but our very soft green manure trees should go through fine, judging from the experience so far. I use the feed control to slow things down a bit on the biggest stuff, but would love to find a way to adapt the automatic feed rate control that is on Vermeers and others. It definitely saves on knife wear. The 6" Brush Bandit I used was on a JD 1050 and was lugged down many times with big logs. I think that led to the eventual demise of the PTO clutch.
I like that fact that all the covers and chute are very easily removable. Clearing a discharge clog should be easier than the Brush Bandits. Also the knife access is very simple. The discharge chute is quite short, so one needs to be careful in walking around it.
In selecting this model, I wanted to have reversible feed control. But the way they designed the mechanical linkage was pretty rinky-dink. A standard hand operated hydraulic valve was used, and the feed control bar was just linked to that. Thus the operator has a much larger lever arm acting against the stops in the hydraulic valve than was intended. I know from experience that the feed control bar tends to get slammed around quite hard, and I thought this would eventually damage the valve. So I added a couple of tabs to act as positive stops on the feed control bar itself that take the stress off the valve stops. I do hope they improve that in the future.
Otherwise I think that the quality is good. For instance,they are very concerned that the cutter blade bolts are tightened properly, so they provide a torque wrench for that purpose. And not just a throw away item either, but an actual quality tool. The drive components look robust enough, but only time will tell how the belt does. The sheet metal generally is not as thick as the Brush Bandit, but I doubt that is going to cause problems. It seems to be reinforced at the right places.
I would recommend this to anyone using it on their own farm, who can keep an eye on blade sharpness, and generally how its doing. If you want something to rent out to inexperienced operators, then the Brush Bandits and other heavy weights are probably what you want. While expensive, I suspect I'll get a lot of hours from it.
Link: Chipper pictures
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| thestuarts
Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 1 Duvall, WA
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2004-12-07 101776
Where is this chipper sold? How much?
I can't find any references to this chipper anywhere on the Internet. ....
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| mangoland
Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 18 Maui, HI
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2004-12-13 102158
The website is linked below, they go by www.baileysonline.com. The manufacturer is at www.gmeidaho.com The model 24P is similar to what they make for Baileys, without the hydraulic feed. ....
Link: baileysonline.com
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