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Wood Chipper opinion

Started by alecs, November 10, 2014, 02:45:40 PM

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alecs

Hi,
Does anyone have any opinion (good or bad) on the Wood Maxx 8" PTO-driven chipper? 
http://www.woodmaxx.com/WoodMaxx_8_PTO_Wood_Chipper_Hydraulic_Feed_p/wm-8h.htm

The features and price seem nice, but wondering if anyone has experience running one.  I have a small (7 acres) wooded parcel and abut some 60 acres of town land.  Mostly interested in getting rid of brush, limbs, etc. - anything fallen or trimmed and too small/rotten to burn as firewood.  I have rented bigger tow-behind chippers before and the combo of my pickup and the chipper becomes less than maneuverable on the trails and in and among the trees and nearly impossible to turn around. 

My current tractor (about 25PTO HP) is a little undersized for this application.  But if I run it slow, I think it should go alright, and this chipper appears to have a valve to set the feedrate slower and faster.  If all else fails, then it's a good excuse to go shopping for a tractor in the 40-50 hp range!!

Thanks for any input on this model in particular or the idea of a PTO Chipper in general.  I like the idea of one less engine to maintain and the compact size of not having it on a trailer.  But I am worried that it will beat up my tractor.

p.s., I hear mention of WoodMaxx blades on this forum quite a bit - is this the same outfit?  I don't see any mention of bandsaw blades on the website that has the chipper.

and in case you were wondering about the town land - I ask because if I am the guy with the chipper, it's more than likely that I will volunteer (or be volunteered!) to help clear trails on that land as well as my own. 

thecfarm

I cut trees for my sawmill,not 100 trees a year but enough. I do what you want to do. I cut anything I leave in the woods in short pieces. Even hemlock limbs will rot pretty quick on the ground. The hemlock limbs I try to cut about 2 feet long,not much longer. This gets them on the ground so I can drive over,through them with the tractor. I have alot of trees that are dead. I cut them up into short pieces and they will rot into the ground.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

pine

I can not comment on the WoodMax chipper however if you are interested in the Salsco chipper line I can give them a strong recommendation.  I have one and can say nothing negative only positive.

goose63

If you get one let us know how it works, I have a 30 hp tractor and been telling my wife I need one
goose
if you find your self in a deep hole stop digging
saw logs all day what do you get lots of lumber and a day older
thank you to all the vets

StimW

I found this 6" one on CL needing a little work for $800.00-


 



 

They do grind up the trash really well.  And are fun!
New HF Band Mill
Branson 35 hp 4 WD Diesel Tractor W/Attachments- Backhoe, FEL W/ Bucket or Forks, 4' Tiller
4000# Clark Forklift W/24" Tires
Promark 6" Brush chipper W/18 hp Kohler

kevin19343

Horsepower is very important for a PTO mounted chipper.

If your tractor is below, or slightly above the minimum hp. needed then I would look for a bigger tractor. Slowing the feed rate might help, but its still like trying to tow a boat with a Volkswagen.

alecs

Quote from: kevin19343 on November 11, 2014, 01:46:15 PM
If your tractor is below, or slightly above the minimum hp. needed then I would look for a bigger tractor.

I agree with your sentiment.  My tractor is rated for 32% more hp at the PTO than the minimum requirement.  Do you think that is sufficient?  I think I will call their customer service and see what they think.

alecs

Well, the order is placed.  I will follow up with a review once it arrives and I can put it to the test.

alecs

Well, I've had the chipper for about a month now and have put it to the test.  Overall, it is very good, so far.  I've chipped maybe a hundred saplings and the small limbs and brush from a few larger trees. 

The good stuff:  The chipper arrived in a sturdy container - a framed box made of angle iron.  It was easy to put together.  The directions were thorough and written by someone who speaks English.  I called their tech support guys (in NY) and they have been friendly and helpful.  The chipper is a big improvement over the one I inherited from the previous owner of my house (a 4" capacity tow-behind DR chipper with an 18hp Briggs engine).

I've been able to run pine, oak, hickory, and beech through it without too much trouble.  Although the chipper is rated at 8", I probably haven't put anything much bigger than 5 or 6" through it.  It handles most of this stuff without complaining.  The discharge chute swivels 360 degrees (not sure why you would want it to shoot straight back?) and it throws the chips a good distance, or into my dump trailer very well.  When I assembled the infeed for the chipper, I used some stainless buttonhead cap screws from McMaster Carr instead of those supplied by the manufacturer.  The button heads are on the inside of the chute which means that branches are less likely to get stuck on them.

As far as my tractor is concerned, it handles most of the branches without the engine RPM dropping below the setpoint that gives you 540 rpm at the PTO.  On the largest stuff that I have run in it, I have slowed down the infeed and manually stopped the feed from time to time to let the tractor catch up.  I think a tractor with 35-50 hp would be a better match, but my 25 hp tractor has been able to do what I need thus far. 

The chipper weighs something like 900 lbs, so one benefit is that it improves my tractor's traction in the woods. 

The bad:  Not too much to complain about.  The PTO shaft that it came with was somewhat defective (the push button release on the end was machined incorrectly), but the tech support guys gave me some tips to fix it and then sent me a new one for free without complaint.  After some pretty rigorous use, one of the bolts that sets the clearance between the infeed rollers backed out and caused the clearance to come out of adjustment.  Not a problem to re-adjust it and tighten it down.  You need to use the chipper on fairly level terrain - tilting it too much (to the left) can cause hydraulic oil to leak out of the breather vent on the reservoir.  The handle that controls the hydraulic valve for the infeed rollers sticks out to the side of the machine and might get snagged by a branch in the woods.  I might decide to modify it later to prevent this from happening. 

One thing that is a little surprising to me - The owner's manual cautions against using the chipper in sub-freezing weather because the tool steel in the knives can become brittle.  The tech support guy said that this would not really be a problem with clean wood, but if you inadvertently fed a rock or an embedded piece of metal in the logs, that might cause a blade to break.  Perhaps that is a common issue for any tool steel? 

Next time I am using the chipper, I will take some pics.  Overall, I am very happy with the purchase, the quality of the machine, and the support from the company.  Aside from cleaning up fallen branches and doing trail maintenance, I think it would likely be useful for someone with a small mill who wanted to chip the slabs into mulch.   

Alec

Remle

Looks like a good unit the hdy feed roles are great time saving and safety feature. The fact that the hdy pump is self contained is a added bonus. I have a Valby of the same size. Basic difference is that mine uses the tractor hdy system, I run it with a massey 180, lots of power but the hdys heat up when running a long time, the older systems were not built to be used in substantial run times with out heating. When chipping larger branches with  Y branches or smaller branches instead of cutting them off completely, just cut the under side of the branch so they will fold over to the main stem when going in to the shute. I checked the site you posted, the price is very good, I paid about the same several years ago for my used unit. I to have a WM sawmill and the trouble with chipping slabs as you suggested is all the dirt/rocks hiding in the bark. These kill the edge on your cutters, stay away from such material as possible.

Peter Drouin

I have a Morbark Chipper, And when I chip slabs I put the bark side down, That way I don't pull the dirt and rocks through the cut.   ;)
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

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