I have the Troy-bilt chipper/shredder with the 10HP gas motor. It is rated at 3" capacity but that is pushing it. I would rather have a PTO driven one but it cost even more than the $800 at the time (about 7 years ago). I would still recommend a PTO driven one.
Also, get the stuff green. It is much easier to chip when green than if it has a chance to dry out and harden. This is even more so with the hard woods. Don't delay or you will be sharpening blades much more often. And it is much cheaper to keep them sharp than to replace a set of chipper blades.
Basically you have three choices, let it sit and rot (looks bad and takes years), burn it (no benefit for mulch or compost) or chip it and use it. Yeah, the finished piles are much smaller than you would think but that is better than the alternatives.
Last edited by chuckhole; 11/14/13 at 01:02 PM.
Reason: grammer/spelling
Basically you have three choices, let it sit and rot (looks bad and takes years), burn it (no benefit for mulch or compost) or chip it and use it. Yeah, the finished piles are much smaller than you would think but that is better than the alternatives.
agreed. I have so many uses for chips, I could take truck loads of the stuff every day. In addition to mulch and compost carbon, I use them so harden soft spots on my farm roads and parking spots.
I have to agree with Abe. We purchased a shredder thinking we could get rid of huge amounts of brush while at the same time making all the mulch I could ever need. Ummm, no. Shredding is a pain in the batootie and it is expensive to use. It's more cost efficient to gather and burn.
Unless you find a very good deal on a used commercial one I doubt you'd be happy with performance. New $1000 chipper/shedders cannot handle branches of much size. Many shredders require one to chop up the brush before you even shred it.
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Moms don't look at things like normal people.
-----DD
agreed. I have so many uses for chips, I could take truck loads of the stuff every day. In addition to mulch and compost carbon, I use them so harden soft spots on my farm roads and parking spots.
The problem with doing that is that fuel used by the chipper and the chainsaw one needs to cut brush to usable size costs far more than the cost of a truck load of better quality mulch from the nursery. Heck, running a chipper is morr expensive than purchasing bagged mulch.
I knoe that I am better served by cutting and burning or cutting and composting than by using the chipper in barn. One also has to consider one's time. Is it really worth spending a whole day and a bunch of fuel for a bucket or two of wood chips? One could spend a day and still not get enough chips to mulch a lilac bush.
__________________
Moms don't look at things like normal people.
-----DD
I do wish I had a chipper for my bamboo.. You can only use so much of it, and to keep it in check you are constantly cutting it back... You can't burn it because it explodes.. you can stack it, but it won't rot... I figured if I can chip it, over a few years it would be almost as good as rock in my drive..
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Never let your fear decide your fate!
Kein Mitleid für die Mehrheit
The problem with doing that is that fuel used by the chipper and the chainsaw one needs to cut brush to usable size costs far more than the cost of a truck load of better quality mulch from the nursery. Heck, running a chipper is morr expensive than purchasing bagged mulch.
I knoe that I am better served by cutting and burning or cutting and composting than by using the chipper in barn. One also has to consider one's time. Is it really worth spending a whole day and a bunch of fuel for a bucket or two of wood chips? One could spend a day and still not get enough chips to mulch a lilac bush.
I understand what you are saying. That's why I have the same sort of chipper that road crews use. 94 HP, 12 inch trees, and I have stuff on the farm that needs to be gotten rid of, many many piles of debris. I've burned lots of piles just for the sake of saved time, but the benefits of that aren't near what I get with chips.
Once the farm has been cleared and the paying jobs in the neighborhood have been done, I'll sell the beast at the same auction I bought it.
Rent one and see how much you can go through in a very short time with a proper commercial one in the 15hp and above range. I understand your concerns about bleach, but I think you could use rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to accomplish the same thing. Heck, I'd take it to the carwash and blast it out before took it home if I was that nervous about it.
Mine says I can chip up to 3" material, but that must be balsa wood. Besides, 3" is enough to use for firewood or in my smoker. It does a great job with general brush and leaves, but like was mentioned above I really only use it 2 or 3 times a year.
I bought a toro last year. Used $300. Hey they do not make them any more. Where to find a blade??? I found some in Pueblo Co. Bought two. Replace it and started chippin. WOW it went great till a branch went sideways and got stuck. I now will have to tear it back down to unstick the branch. I sure would like to own a bigger one. You do with what you got.
I'm considering something on this order for the sole purpose of making leaf mold from chopped leaves. It speeds up the process. But then I can use the hog to do the same thing. But dust is really and issue.
I don't know if Vermeer makes the style you want but they are work horses. At work we are on our second one. It is used to chip residents trees, brush etc through our residential chipping program. Our second chopper has drums that are horizontal instead of vertical. grabs the material from the sides instead of top and bottom) vertical whips the material around as it brings it in hitting the operator when it does. Ours is a large chipper but we swear by Vermeer products.
If I needed one that big, I'd rent it. But I'm considering the hugelkultur idea.
I understand what you are saying. That's why I have the same sort of chipper that road crews use. 94 HP, 12 inch trees, and I have stuff on the farm that needs to be gotten rid of, many many piles of debris. I've burned lots of piles just for the sake of saved time, but the benefits of that aren't near what I get with chips.
Once the farm has been cleared and the paying jobs in the neighborhood have been done, I'll sell the beast at the same auction I bought it.
I think the only chipper/shredder worth having is one of those big commercial ones. OP said he wanted to spend less than $1000 and it's unlikely one could find a used one for that price let alone a new one.
More than ten years ago we purchased ours for more than $800. We only used the stupid thing a couple times because it was virtually worthless for what I wanted. Heck, at that time we had a well manicured suburban lawn. The only reason we purchased the thing was to get rid of the brush in the woods on the back end of our property. If it couldn't handle the brush from an acre and a half of woods I fail to see how it could be useful on the farm. We really ought to sell the stupid thing.
For leaf litter I would use the mower attachment on a small tractor. I would thnnk that anything one uses will cause a lot of dust. With a tractor one would be further up from the dust.
__________________
Moms don't look at things like normal people.
-----DD
For leaf litter I would use the mower attachment on a small tractor. I would thnnk that anything one uses will cause a lot of dust. With a tractor one would be further up from the dust.
agreed. I put a bushhog on the tractor and chop anything less than 2 inches in diameter. Putting that small stuff thru the chipper is not worth the time.
This is the one I saw advertised for almost a year. I contacted the dealer and got a deal. It's labeled Woods but it's really made by Bearcat. Requires 25 to 45 hp. Works on stuff up to 5". You can feed small stuff from the top or larger stuff via the chute. Top feed was a surprise at first. The stuff gets yanked in really fast.
I bought the optional blower and discharge chute years ago. Never got around to installing it. Every thing dumps out the bottom which is a nuisance because it piles up so fast.
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