12" vs 18" chipper

[CaPowell]

Hello! I know this topic has been covered a ton, but here is my situation:

Up until now, I have just been hauling brush in a dump trailer and I just bought a 2000 F-450 7.3 with a homemade chip box that I am super excited to put to work! I think I got a real deal on it because of California's crazy new emission laws, but haven't had a chance to drive it much yet, aside from the drive back from California, and I haven't towed anything with it.

Anyway, I've only ever used BC1000xl's at the company I used to work for, so naturally, that is what I decided to look for. I was originally planning on financing new and was quoted $48k for a new diesel and $38k for a new gas. I would really like to keep payments down though (as I desperately need to buy land as well) and have been shopping around for a good used unit. I found a well-maintained '99 Vermeer 1800 for sale pretty close to me for $17,500 with 2500hrs.

So, now the question is, is this too much machine for me and my little truck? I believe it is around 9,000lbs.

The main reason for selling is that the company wants something smaller for pulling off-road and said that this is too big. For those of you that have chippers this size, has this been true for you? Do you mainly keep it on the pavement?

What kind of fuel bills should I expect?

My gut says it is too big, will fill the truck up too quickly (if too quick is even possible!), and probably create a bigger diesel bill than necessary. However, I like the price, diesel engine, and the owner sounds like he has babied it (doesn't feed with skid and nothing over 12").

Thanks in advance for any advice/input!

 

[Reach]

I think the truck will handle it without any real trouble, and I don’t see the larger size having any real downsides besides being heavy - we never take chippers off-road anyway because they tend to sink, but we don’t run small chippers either so maybe someone else has a better opinion on that matter.

As for filling a truck too fast - is that possible? Can you be too efficient at your work? You can’t make more hours in a day, if you can use fewer of them cutting and chipping you’ll have more time to do more work. And the diesel use I believe is negligible, yes the bigger engine will use more per hour, but it will need to run fewer hours to get the same job done, so it should come out about the same.

 

[Serf Life]

Finance a new chipper with warranty and keep your savings in the bank for the next expense!

 

[Rooted.Tree.Solutions]

We recently upgraded from a 12” chipper to an 18” chipper. I never take the 18” off road unless the ground is rock solid. The unit is just so heavy that it undoubtedly will leave ruts. I’ve actually had the chipper get the chip truck stuck on 2 separate occasions. The chipper would sink into a soft spot in the ground and not move an inch. Once you unhooked it from the truck the truck could drive out just fine.

I definitely don’t think your truck is too small for an 18” chipper. It sounds like you might have a sweet deal on your hands. Just keep it on the pavement.

 

[VenasNursery]

Hello! I know this topic has been covered a ton, but here is my situation:

Up until now, I have just been hauling brush in a dump trailer and I just bought a 2000 F-450 7.3 with a homemade chip box that I am super excited to put to work! I think I got a real deal on it because of California's crazy new emission laws, but haven't had a chance to drive it much yet, aside from the drive back from California, and I haven't towed anything with it.

Anyway, I've only ever used BC1000xl's at the company I used to work for, so naturally, that is what I decided to look for. I was originally planning on financing new and was quoted $48k for a new diesel and $38k for a new gas. I would really like to keep payments down though (as I desperately need to buy land as well) and have been shopping around for a good used unit. I found a well-maintained '99 Vermeer 1800 for sale pretty close to me for $17,500 with 2500hrs.

So, now the question is, is this too much machine for me and my little truck? I believe it is around 9,000lbs.

The main reason for selling is that the company wants something smaller for pulling off-road and said that this is too big. For those of you that have chippers this size, has this been true for you? Do you mainly keep it on the pavement?

What kind of fuel bills should I expect?

My gut says it is too big, will fill the truck up too quickly (if too quick is even possible!), and probably create a bigger diesel bill than necessary. However, I like the price, diesel engine, and the owner sounds like he has babied it (doesn't feed with skid and nothing over 12").

Thanks in advance for any advice/input!

We recently upgraded from a 12” chipper to an 18” chipper. I never take the 18” off road unless the ground is rock solid. The unit is just so heavy that it undoubtedly will leave ruts. I’ve actually had the chipper get the chip truck stuck on 2 separate occasions. The chipper would sink into a soft spot in the ground and not move an inch. Once you unhooked it from the truck the truck could drive out just fine.

I definitely don’t think your truck is too small for an 18” chipper. It sounds like you might have a sweet deal on your hands. Just keep it on the pavement.

We call ours the “Titanic” once she goes down that’s it

 

[Jehinten]

I found a well-maintained '99 Vermeer 1800 for sale pretty close to me for $17,500 with 2500hrs.

Vermeer website has a 2009 1800 for $44,600. For the price of yours, I'd grab it. Worst case senario, you don't like if for some reason and sell it for $20,000-30,000. Unless I'm miss reading what their worth and Vermeer has theirs higher than it should be. But either way you should be able to get your money back if you ever wanted to.

 

[CaPowell]

Thanks for the input, guys!

 

[Merle Nelson]

I thought 7.3's were long lived engines but not a lot of extra guts.

I'd line up a 9000 lb trailer to tow, load the 450 full of something that would equate to a full load of chips at 500# per yard. ( Worst case a load of gravel to get accurate weight and have it loaded easily. Easy to give away when done too.) Drive the truck with just a full load some. Then drive with load and trailer. Lastly truck empty and haul trailer a bit to get a feel for that. Cheap buyers remorse insurance.

If I'm not mistaken that box full of chips will be more than a load by the books.

 

[Keeth]

The 18” machine will change your business considerably. When we got our first Bandit 1890HD, many of the other companies scoffed at it being “too big.” We could still put the machine in 99% of the places a 12” machine would normally go. What we didn’t know before was how incredible the increase in productivity was. Four of the five guys who gave me the most grief now have 18” machines and don’t know how they ever operated without one. Our businesses had healthy removal components in our regular book of work.

One guy I know farms out all his removals as he concentrated mainly on PHC. His ‘94 Bandit 200 still does everything he needs.

At the end of the day you weigh out the pros and cons for your particular goals and make the decision that best fits your plans for growth. Unfortunately, most people “don’t know what they don’t know .”
All things being equal, I’ve never known anyone who regretted going with a larger machine.

 

[Mitch Hoy]

I had an ‘01 f550 7.3 haul bc 1800 with 12 yards of chips on its back just fine. A little truck does fill up fast, but the production increase is truly game changing as others have stated.
That being said, an older machine with considerable hours may give you more headaches than what it is worth. I have tried to buy new or near new, knowing that a smaller machine that runs outproduces a larger machine that sits.
At one point I did buy an older stump grinder with high hours that I had rented for a while. It worked great, until it didn’t. Less than a year later, after replacing most of the major mechanicals, I realized how much time and frustration was going into the machine, and spent $70k on a new one. I haven’t regretted it since.

 

[Serf Life]

I have tried to buy new or near new, knowing that a smaller machine that runs outproduces a larger machine that sits.

Exactly!

 

[Tayer]

The 18 isn’t to big we would regularly take one of the road here and got into trouble a few times but I’m sure a 12 would have too. But I like the idea of new 2500 hours isn’t too low

 

[flushcut]

OP just because you have an 18" chipper doesn't mean you need to chip 18" wood all day. It will fill the truck fast but your truck is most average tree sized. So less
time on site = more profit. If you are feeding the chipper by machine it will allow more brush to be chipped at once compared to a 12". I run a 15" and that seems to be a good size for me but a 21" is on my wish list. As to the wight I next to never drive a chipper chip truck combo off road. For me it is easier to to use the mini and use it to drive out material.

 

[VenasNursery]

OP just because you have an 18" chipper doesn't mean you need to chip 18" wood all day. It will fill the truck fast but your truck is most average tree sized. So less
time on site = more profit. If you are feeding the chipper by machine it will allow more brush to be chipped at once compared to a 12". I run a 15" and that seems to be a good size for me but a 21" is on my wish list. As to the wight I next to never drive a chipper chip truck combo off road. For me it is easier to to use the mini and use it to drive out material.

Well put
Less cuts = Safer and more efficient
Only fills a truck as fast as you to choose to chip more wood
A tree only has so much brush and wood
Your choice to chip wood or haul it but nice to have options (with a larger chipper)

 

[Fivepoints]

We tow our chipper with a 7.3 f550. We have a 12" bandit. I would not want to tow an 18" with it on a daily basis. To me, its to big for the truck. Ive towed a 20" vermeer chipper behind ours. Its just to much by the time the bed is also full.

One thing to think about especially since you may be overweight with a full load is the 18" chipper is going to make you even more overweight due to the extra tongue weight.

Also need to check the gvwr of the chipper. If its over 10k behind the f450 it requires a class a cdl. I know the bc2000 I towed was 12,xxx gvwr.

 

[Treetopflyer]

We tow a bandit 18xp with ; an Isuzu f series, an Isuzu nqr, , ol Ford 7.3 f450 on occasion just for transport and another dually long bed f350 7.3 and they all get her down the road just fine. The 2 cab over trucks are the main chip trucks. Even with loads they move that chipper no problem.