So as I ponder chippers you guys and gals get to answer all my annoying questions

Thanks Royce. Luckily in my situation I am okay with it paying for itself in a couple years. One year would be nice but I am only a part time guy. A 6 or 8 incher would cover most of my work at the moment but a 12 just makes more sense for efficiency, especially with it having a winch.

I am not a chipper expert by any stretch of the imagination, but luckily enough I know some local guys to bring with for the inspections. Plus they like me and know I am not a threat to their business, nor that I am ever the cheapest option for my customers.
 
I don't know Royce, I forgot to ask when I checked to see if it was still available. I am going to look at it after Christmas probably, maybe a quick stop before then. The company selling it seems to be a high dollar landscaping service for yuppies with million dollar homes so hopefully they carried that to their equipment maintenance. Those customers around here are all about show, which is obviously why the chipper "looks" good.
 
monkeylove said:
Found an older 90xp for 7k but for 3k more I think the 200 w/winch above is a better overall deal. Still need to go give that one a serious looking over. Owner says they still use it occasionally to keep it all moving as it should. They just have a few new chippers and would like the yard space it's taking up back.

Is @10k close or is that way high? I need to get a feel of how low I can offer and at what point I should just walk away.
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I've owned a 90XP. It is not going to be nearly as productive as a 200 with a winch. The winch will save your back as well as a ton of time.

Depending on age and condition, both of those prices sound high.

No matter what size you get, make sure it has enough power. For a 200, that's at least 80 hp.
 
I own a 1590xp traded in my 9oxp which I used for pruning and smaller jobs great chipper zero problems. I upgraded to a bandit 200 for better feed rate, lift cylinder capacity etc. it was last one of tier 3 has 97hp cat. I haven't owned a 12" chipper for about 10 years now but it's a great chipper 200 doesn't have a winch which is a must on a chipper if you can only have one. Id try to stick with at least a 12" chipper you get a smaller one you'll wished you bought a bigger one. There is a lot of shady dealears out there so be careful what you buy. If your set on a bandit you can call Mike Ross at bandit they do an excellent job refurbishing used trade ins and they back them 100%. I bought a used 254xp and it was as new and gave me zero issues for the five years I'd Owend it I sold it to a buddy in 2013 and he hasn't had a issue yet not bad for a 16 year old used chipper. Also most of them are are pre emission. Good luck finding a chipper.
 
I looked at both ends of the spectrum today. An older Bandit 200 with a Hercules gas motor @70 hp for $4000 and a 2008 Altec 1317 with all the bells and whistles plus 125hp diesel for $15000. As much as I tried I couldn't get him to take 10k cash today for the Altec.
 
You are definitely headed in the right direction in looking for a self feeder. I had a 6" Vermeer with the 25hp motor. That made you hate chipping real quick if you were trying to make any money.
Then I bought a chuck and duck. Same size material went through it but wicked fast. It was light to pull and pretty bulletproof. Good for pruning or jobs where you could leave firewood behind but not so great for big removals.
Then I bought a BC1230a. It has some hours on it and has its idiosyncrasies but it has been reliable and makes larger jobs so much easier. Now we just load big stuff on a trailer with the mini but we can chip up to 10-12"

If you want a 12" machine that is going to be reliable it seems like 15k is where you need to look. If it is only a part time gig and you like working on stuff you can get down to 8-10k.

All that being said, I have a chuck and duck I would sell you for a song!
 
Thanks for the feedback on the 1230, I've seen a few of those. I am only part time but I am also trying to think about future needs even as a weekend guy. If I'm in the tree and have a guy on the ground I want something that is "safe" to use. If I am chipping at the end of the day myself then I want to be done in a timely period. I am also looking outside my climbing skills. If/when I contract a climber, I want to be able to chip as we go so I can rig and keep the drop zone clear of debris. I am also thinking about what voids are in my area and how to best fill them at minimal cost while still making myself desirable to others when I have a slow spot in my schedule. And of course trying to keep enough cash on hand to always be fluid enough to accept that next job without worrying about breakdown or rental costs. And I really try to always pay my help or contract guys cash at the beginning of the day.
 
Just a voice of dissent on the small chippers. I got my first unit almost two years back. A (cough) Vermeer bc700xl
25 horse kohler engine. Not going to chip every tree but it goes pretty good. Keep it greased and sharp and she chews right along.
Only 1600 pounds so it can be towed by an atv if you need to. Obviously it's not going to be a powerhouse compared to a big diesel beast but it fills a nice niche for me. Anything bigger than 6'' is firewood or milling wood hopefully anyways.
 
Okay so I thought I had it narrowed down but then I found a Dingo 420 at a good price also so give me thoughts and opinions.

Option 1) 2008 Altec 1317HP, winch, hydraulic lift on rollers @15k
Option 2) 1994 Bandit 200XP, winch, no hydraulic lift @10k
Option 3) Unsure yet Bandit 200XP, no winch, no hydraulic, needs about 1k of tlc @4k total and also then buy the dingo @7.5k so @11.5k total

Thanks to all for your input.
 
Does the Dingo have a grapple on it already? I have a dingo with the BMG grapple. In my opinion, I would get the best chipper you can get. That thing is going to be running all the time and will be making you money. The Dingo with a good grapple will save your back a little bit. I have the Dingo on maybe 25 percent of the jobs we do. Don't get me wrong, it is useful and saves a bit of time and labor, but honestly it runs maybe a half an hour on those jobs. A good chipper will save you lots of time and headaches since you will have it on EVERY job.
 
No grapple, it comes with a standard bucket. I do like the tricked out Altec, just don't know much about them. The guy that traded it in is a local so I might try to call him this week and get the lowdown on the machine and maybe what they gave him for it.
 
Unless you plan to load wood with the dingo into the back of a truck or trailer I think a which for chipping is just as useful. Yes, a future goal to get a dingo should be in your list. But, get good chipper and then with your increase productivity you can get a mini skid. (at which time we will be talking about the next size chipper you'll be jumping up to because you outgrew your altec:)
 
bigger the chipper the better. you'll make more money with having a good chipper then with a dingo. not everyone has a machine to process brush. everyones got a friend or a cousins friend that has a machine to move stuff to make money or they rent the machine form local rental to feel like a true boss. base your chipper on what you make for the year. if you have constant work then why not a bran new one. with no worries spec'd out to your liking. your always gonna need a chipper for tree work. not always gonna need the dingo.
 
I started out with a bandit 150 xp, which was a gas burner, but other than that, the same as the 200 I think. That was a good little machine. Very simple design. Easy to work on if you are somewhat handy with wrenches. I can't tell you how much work we did with that machine. Personally I would never consider doing removals with any chipper smaller than 12".
I went from the 150 xp up to a bandit 1590 and all I can say is wow what a difference. Now the 1590 is almost twice as heavy as the 150xp I had. So tow weight may need to be considered depending on what your chip truck can handle.

If you are feeding the chipper by hand, 12" is big enough. You will find that beefy crotches will need to be cut in order for it to pull them in. If you are feeding it with a loader, something like the 1590 makes production easy.

I'd consider a bandit in either size. Find a good used one and fix any problems it may have. If you maintain them, they don't give much trouble.

I'm sure there are other good brands out there as well. I've heard lots of good about morbark but don't have any experience with them. If you are depending on the dealer to work on every little problem, consider who's close to you. If you are handy and plan to do most of the maintenance and repairs yourself, bandit gets the parts here quick in my neck of the woods.
 
Depends what you are mostly doing. If you can work close to the chipper than not having a mini is fine. I use my mini on 90% of my jobs, it's an absolute game changer for me. An older 200 is still a pretty capable machine. If it was me I'd get the mini and the chipper that needs a lil love. You can easily get your money back plus make a bit if you decide you need to upgrade it. But than again how are you going to get the mini to the jobs site?
 
Frank these guys all have great points. The chipper is what you are going to make money off of. The dingo is going to cost you more money before you can use it effectively with your set up. You will NEED a grapple and a trailer (or heavy ramps) to get it to the job site. If you go with the trailer you will be making multiple trips to and from the site. If you go with ramps, well you will be doing the same thing because of pay load and available space on the truck.
A winch can replace the mini in probably 25% - 35% of the work we do down here (work that my mini used to go out on). With the small (non winch) chipper my mini went everywhere with me. On Wednesday Tori only moved wood with it to get it out of the way (and as the bollard). The winch was used much on every tree.... And we were five feet from the trees.
By the way thank you very much for you help Wednesday, I had fun and so did Tori. When you get a chance could you shoot me your email address.
Thanks
 
flyingsquirrel25 said:
Frank A&A is a front or what ever you want to call it for Ricks tree service. They sell a lot of equipment from the tree side. They have had a few nice pieces I've wanted to look at but I haven't been down. As with any used equipment dealers you gotta look the equipment over with a fine tooth comb. They have had a nice morbark 12" for sale for a while now, but it's a little over priced.
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Thanks for that bit of info. I've been in the market for a while on some new equipment. Nice to know most of their stuff is from the tree industry.
 
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