Chipper

[brettreeves]

I am about to begin a large project of clearing underbrush at a house with 15 acres and i wanted to be able to hip or mulch branches around 3-5 inches in diameter. I do not know much about chippers and I dont want to spend a whole lot of money. I was just wondering if anyone knew of a dependable machine for a reasonable price that would get this done.

[LoneStarLawn]

I would suggest renting one.

What do you consider reasonable?

You can get a used one for around $10,000...don't know how good it will be.

A friend of ours who has his own tree service has one he bought used for $20,000. I know that might be to much machine for you, but I was just giving you ideas on how much they cost.

Again I suggest renting one until it is needed more often.

[Michael Wall]

I agree w/ Lonestar, chipper is best rented for infrequent use. Around here for 8 inch chipper it's between $150- 200 a day If your going to rent it ,maximize your efficiency by cutting + making rows of what you have to chip before hand so the chipper isn't sitting waiting to be fed. good luck

[brettreeves]

Thanks, that sounds like that might be my best option. has any one ever had any evperience with a Troy Bilt or anything real small like that. I am thinking of this as maybe a disposable piece of equipment or something like that.

[Mowingman]

I have tried a Troy Bilt and several other brands of small chippers. In my opinion, they are useless for anything much larger than a thick pencil. Go with the advice already given, rent a good heavy duty chipper. Also, Troy Bilt went bust and has sold out to MTD. MTD just bought the tiller and mower line from what I read. I doubt that you could get parts for the now defunct chipper line.

[Big Nate]

heres what you need, it will take 4" , a guy about 2 blocks away from us has the 12hp one and he helped us when we took down a 40' Honey Locus tree. boy did that thing eat it all up.

http://www.countryhomeproducts.com/assets/product_images/M0468-250.jpg http://www.countryhomeproducts.com/product.asp?dept%5Fid=803&mscsid=UJMU52VPBUR49NUJFHVB9V5NVCUV17UD

[treeman82]

My suggestion- Talk with your local rental shop. Look to rent one of the following which is usually available.
Brush Bandit: Model 200XP or bigger (250XP+ is bonus)
Morbark: Model 13, or 2100D or bigger
Vermeer: I tried the 1236 I think it was. Try not to rent that if you are goin off road because you are gonna get hit for repairs when you crack that shell.
Here are some options that you should try to look for when comparing rental machines.
autofeed- makes it really hard for the engine to stall
Wheel lift- makes it easier to put big pieces in (lever located behind infeed chute on bandit, to the right of infeed shoot on morbark)

What else? Try to get the biggest chipper you can move around the site--- more chips = less wood to remove.

If you have any other Q's just let us know.