PTO chipper for JD 38 hp tractor?

doc henderson · September 20, 2020, 08:58:18 PM

I was welding on my grapple bucket and getting pics from @Cardiodoc . he has a big walnut to take down, and has been clearing invasive stuff so we can collect sap this winter. he has 20 acres of Kansas prairie with native and invasive trees. He plans to take out some ERCs to get light and access to other trees like walnut, Oak and maple. he has a 38 hp JD tractor. FEL, and a brush mower on the back. he was asking me about a chipper shredder. he wants more than an MTD home owner thing, and less than a professional one. I thought it might save some money to get a PTO driven one. he wants it to last 20 + years. he takes good care of his stuff. any recommendations. not cheap made overseas, but not a 15 k pro model either. any ideas? :P smiley_deadheaders_buddy smiley_deadheader alligator smiley_deadheader_ride_alligat

he is making a great forest for ks. he has planted many trees. If we have a FF get together at my place sometime, I hope to take a walk around his land with @WDH and others to see his work. he is on the board of the Dillon Nature Center here. Best trout fishing within 3 blocks of my house. pretty good for KS. he plans to make mulch for gardens and the trails with the ERC chips. thanks

mike_belben · September 20, 2020, 09:07:21 PM

I might have an opinion about this pretty soon. I am almost done grafting a BCS chipper shredder to my 27hp kubota. And i think it is that middle ground between a commercial big money unit and throwaway harvie homeowner junk.

I got the unit at the scrap yard for $100 and weight wise i think its as light as a lasting piece can be.. Tin where its not critical and 1/4" plate where it is. Singlw knife chipper and i think 4 gangs of flails behind it. Was all i could wrestle into the truck alone.

Need to bore a 6 spline stub to fit the metric shafting and then maybe shorten my pto shaft.

Haleiwa · September 21, 2020, 05:41:36 AM

With only 38 horse, I think he would be time, money, and aggravation ahead to rent a real chipper a few days.

47sawdust · September 21, 2020, 06:32:25 AM

I owned a small Valby pto.chipper for short period of time. With that size tractor I have to agree with the above post.

doc henderson · September 21, 2020, 07:48:48 AM

one of the goals is to take of things like 1 inch ERC limbs. so he wants to take car of it as he goes. we had a MTD style chipper shredder prob. 6 hp, and if you put a branch in it, it sounded rattley like it could fly apart. We used it to shred straw, to put around strawberry plants and it worked good for that. some of the tractor pto units have 150 pound flywheels and weigh 850 pounds, so seem more substantial. Mike is taking out a bunch of ERC and want to not just waste the wood, and will work at his own pace when work allows.

A-z farmer · September 21, 2020, 07:04:22 PM

We had a Valby chipper years ago that was mounted on a tractor but it did not have the feed rolls and we were not happy with it even though it would chip up locust posts .I would look at wallenstein made in North America with a hydraulic feed.

GAB · September 21, 2020, 07:12:32 PM

Woodland Mills is a sponsor of this site and they have some chippers in their equipment line up.
Note: I have no experience with any of their products.
GAB

711ac · September 21, 2020, 07:51:01 PM

My experience started with a pretty big disc style 3 point pto chipper on a 60hp JD. No power feed. Step 2 was a (tow behind) Vermeer disc chipper, supposedly 10" capacity with power feed. Will work you to death, but a great machine.
Step 3 was re-aquainting myself with fuel oil and matches in a good old burn pile. My buddy I sold the Vermeer to still runs it, but he does tree work. I was cleaning up those miserable Lanthis or Havenwood useless invasive weed trees on my farm and was pushing them out on the stump so I still had them to deal with.
I agree with renting a "real" machine, but it sounds like you're friend might be more of a clip and chip guy that doesn't like 2 phases of an ongoing project. Perhaps he can demo a unit first. That way he can see for himself if it works up to his expectations.

PJ65 · September 21, 2020, 10:22:42 PM

I bought a Woodmax 9900 this spring. Run it off a 39 HP Kubota. Works awesome.

Southside · September 21, 2020, 10:47:43 PM

Quote from: A-z farmer on September 21, 2020, 07:04:22 PMWe had a Valby chipper years ago that was mounted on a tractor but it did not have the feed rolls

Always called that style a "Chuck and duck" chipper - as in stand back, chuck in the stick, then duck as too many times it will chuck it back at you.

Nathan4104 · September 22, 2020, 07:58:34 AM

I have a Woodland Mills WC88 on a 60hp PTO....
when your shopping, don't just look at chipper capacity (as in it'll do up to 3-4") and think.... anything bigger than that is firewood. Crooked sticks need a bigger opening. Not having to limb everything down needs a bigger opening.
The Hydraulic feed is great. You get the stick started under the roller and walk away for the next armful. No lifting up into a chute. The feed chute on this one is horizontal....less lifting. Some brands use the tractor remote to power the Hyd. Roller. Woodland's uses its own belt driven pump. Not sure the pros and cons of either way.
I've been happy with my WC 88. It's overkill for me but sure has saved a lot of burning and extra work. (Nothing rots away fast up here either...)

Garrik · September 30, 2020, 01:51:16 AM

Plus 1 on the Woodmaxx MX9900.

Ran mine for maybe 100 hours on the PTO of a Kubota MX6000 (~50 PTO HP) and it was a beast. Loved it. 38HP might be a little small for heavier limbs, and maybe one of their smaller chippers would be more appropriate, but I haven't played with any of the others.

My MX9900 burned in the recent CZU Complex fire (along with my Kubota), and I am replacing it as fast as they can ship me a new one.

Downeaster · October 06, 2020, 07:08:03 AM

Hi Doc

I have a Salsco 627xt that I use behind by Kubota M7040. I believe that it requires a minimum 25hp at the PTO. It works well, is well built, and is made in the US. The capacity is 6" which if I have something larger than that, I would probably use it as firewood. The xt version does have hydraulic feed which is really nice if you get something stuck or want to reverse it. I don't remember what it cost as I bought it with the tractor and other implements, but remember that it wasn't cheap. I can look it up if you need a number. The infeed opening is 7"x8", so it works well with brush.

I don't use it anywhere near as much as I thought that I would, but it is certainly handy when you want/need it.

Hackeldam Wood Products · October 09, 2020, 07:02:47 PM

I have a Woodmax 8" mechanical feed chipper. We run with a 35 hp and a 26hp. Works great. One man can`t keep up to it with limbs. It has a nice steady feed.