Best Used Chipper Brand??

[Bodean]

Sometimes the big wood will clog, rarely.

Need to turn down the speed on the feed rollers is all.

 

[sotc]

Got it. My chute has plugged just a few times in 2 years, usually due to snow on the brush

 

[rangerdanger]

Thanks Dave and lumberjack! Most of the time we don't chip the big wood, but when we do it's either rotten, soft, or pine.

So do disc chippers require more maintenance than a drum or is it about the same now days.

 

[rangerdanger]

Our Morbark depends on the speed of the feed wheel to throw the chips I think. Right now our feed wheel is spinning really slow and it doesn't throw the chips as far as when it runs it's normal speed. But when it spins normally we have no problem with stuffing our 16 or 18 foot long chip box.

And our chute usually plugs when we chip a bunch of small stuff like twigs and other rakings. When we throw in a few branches it's ok, but without the branches it plugs pretty easily just doing the small stuff.

 

[Blinky]

It's interesting how few votes Vermeer gets.

I don't know about buying one used but the best chipper I've ever used was a Carlton... 2512 I think. Rock solid, never saw it break and using the winch, eats whole trees without breaking a sweat. But I don't own a chipper, never have, so keep that in mind.

 

[stehansen]

Here's my Vermeer.
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[Thor's Hammer]

those old 1230 / 1250 vermeers were great machines.

 

[stehansen]

So their newer ones aren't so good? I don't really know any other brands, I just gave Vermeer a vote so they wouldn't get skunked. The guy I used to partner up with had a Bandit 250. The only problem was the pile of crap it left under the chipper. I think that system would tend to let gravel/dirt fall out whereas the vertical feed rollers like the Vermeer put everything in the chipper. I also think that on a piece of equipment like this you need to replace all of the belts and hoses on the motor every few years, especially if it's parked outside. That will solve some of those minor repairs that have to take place at the job.

 

[sotc]

RD, usually the slower the feedwheels, the better it throws chips. If it's plugging when you feed little stuff I would guess that either your anvil needs to be changed, or the gap between knives and anvil is to large. That would'nt allow the small stuff to be cut which may cause a rats nest in the discharge chute

 

[Koa Man]

morbarks definately need a blower. Check out this euro morbark model 10 with a hydraulic blower. In my Experience, Woodsman are even worse for plugging up.

That blower looks like it is mounted in the wrong place if it is blowing air right at the bend of the chute. My Woodsman 18X was equipped with a belt driven blower like those on the C&D type chippers. I paid an extra $1K to have it put in while the chipper was being built by Woodsman. After the terrible clogging problems I had with my Morbark M17 when chipping palm fronds, I insisted it have a blower or I wasn't buying the chipper.

Woodsman spend about a month trying different locations to place the blower, starting first with simply placing it on the chute, the easiest place. It did not work well. My machine had the blower discharge mounted just below the chute, on the chipper drum housing itself. It got pressure from the point before the chips entered the chute itself. If you started the chipper and held your hand in front of the chute, you would feel air pressure like that of a back pack blower.

My Woodsman rarely ever clogged, and if it did, it was only on really wet stuff, like banana tree trunks. If we mixed the banana trunks with branches, no problem.

 

[TheTreeWiseMen]

Never managed to clog my Woodsman.

 

[brendonv]

Mine doesn't like dead cedar, but it's only a baby compared to some of yours.

 

[darkstar]

Brush Bandit all the way baby , i started with a 90xp wish i still had it.
Then we got a 200 + no way im gonna sale it.
Now the only chipper that leaves the lot is the 1890.
I like the 1890 mostly because the feed table is so big, its just so easy to mini the brush up there or a long long log and watch it go bye bye.

 

[Thor's Hammer]

That blower looks like it is mounted in the wrong place if it is blowing air right at the bend of the chute. My Woodsman 18X was equipped with a belt driven blower like those on the C&D type chippers. I paid an extra $1K to have it put in while the chipper was being built by Woodsman. After the terrible clogging problems I had with my Morbark M17 when chipping palm fronds, I insisted it have a blower or I wasn't buying the chipper.

Woodsman spend about a month trying different locations to place the blower, starting first with simply placing it on the chute, the easiest place. It did not work well. My machine had the blower discharge mounted just below the chute, on the chipper drum housing itself. It got pressure from the point before the chips entered the chute itself. If you started the chipper and held your hand in front of the chute, you would feel air pressure like that of a back pack blower.

My Woodsman rarely ever clogged, and if it did, it was only on really wet stuff, like banana tree trunks. If we mixed the banana trunks with branches, no problem.

Have you got any pictures of that Wesley? sounds very sensible.

 

[squisher]

RD, Thattreeguy pretty much summed up my feelings on the 250xp. I bought mine last year and winters are off(of treework) up here. Never plugged it, and haven't had anything go wrong with it yet. Also I cram stuff down it's throat with a mini and it just begs for more. I've chipped over 12" logs on ocassion with mine, but as others have said usually I'll be looking to the firewood pile if it's that big or if it's crap then I just load it and dump it.

 

[Tucker943]

I grew up feedng various 250XP's. never seen one act up minus the time someone didnt tighten the knives down during a knife change. That's a whole different story and obviously was not the machines fault. I am looking to purchase one myself this upcoming winter. I've used and fed many large 18" and bigger chippers and they are certainly neat. I tend to feel that all that is wasted power if you arent using another machine to feed wood that big into it. Such as a skidsteer, or a mini. But, a huge chipper is certainly awesome if you have the ability to feed huge stuff through it.

 

[Old Monkey]

I've used a Vermeer 1250, BC100, Brush Bandit 200 and 250, Morbark Blizzard 17, Twister 12(my current machine) and some other things that just bit like a Dosco and a few beat up chuck and ducks. I liked the 250 a lot but the shoot and the disc itself would get jammed every now and again and were very hard to get lose again. My Morbark has only jammed the shoot 3 or four times in 200 hours of usage. The times it did jam I wasn't surprised based on the material being chipped.

Those Vermeer 1250s are abusive machines on long poles with bends in them. The brush swing violently back and forth and smacks you if you are not smart or quick enough.

 

[squisher]

Suprising to me. Just over 200hrs on my machine and not a hint of a jam yet. I feed the largest material it will possibly eat. Giant grapple fulls of limbs whole trees, cedar hedges, anything someone will pay me to chip. Sharp knives, autofeed, how/why would it plug? Maybe my infeed rate is to slow.

 

[Old Monkey]

Long stringy willow and wet siberian elm have been two of the culprits. What I hate is how slow my ground guys are in noticing that chips are not coming out. They keep feeding it and feeding it as if it contains a black hole or something.

 

[squisher]

Lol, yah elm would plug my CnD in a heartbeat if you weren't careful. I have relatively little experience with chippers other than my two so I'll take all your guys's word on it as far as the plugging goes and hope that my good luck continues to hold out.

 

[top hopper]

Ive always liked Morbarks.

At work we run all Vermeers. The Vermeer 1800xl is an awesome machine and will chip damn near anything you can get on the table.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I agree with the poll on Vermeers.

 

[Old Monkey]

The new Vermeers are designed to be almost idiot proof complete with bunny rabbit and turtle stickers on the throttle. I think they are perfect for municipal crews.

 

[top hopper]

The bunny rabbit and turtle symbols have been widely used in the hydraulic industry for years.

 

[squisher]

Hydraulic industry? I think they're pretty widely used across most industries.