2012 brush bandit 1390 w/ 97 hp engine.

[allen gaddy]

I am looking at getting one of these. It has under a 1000 hours. The price is cheaper than on other postings. But it has a 97 hp engine vs a 142 hp engine. Does anyone have any experience with this chipper with the 97hp engine.

I am coming from a Morbark 8 inch chipper that overheats all the time because I am always trying to pound stuff through it and I have to change the blades every 2 weeks and blow out the radiator every 2 days to keep that from happening.

 

[evo]

Sounds underpowered, if running it at capacity all the time. The over heating radiator thing can be overcome cheaply by having it recored with stiffer wider spacing in the fins..

 

[Trevor Balgavy]

Changing the knives every two weeks and blowing the radiator out aren't out of the ordinary. That is a good practice with any chipper. They live a rough life in a horrible environment. That 97hp Perkins will do fine as long you're not running solid 15" material through it all day every day which you shouldn't do with any 15" chipper anyway really. Keep the knives sharp, autofeed working, and everything maintained properly and it will make a difference. Obviously the 142 will out perform it but it's all in what you need/can fit in the budget!

 

[Jehinten]

Not a bandit but I have a 12" with a 87 hp (I know it's in the 80s but could be off by a couple) Cummins diesel. Runs great and chews up anything I put in there, but I also try not to chip logs anymore. The mini can load them into the chip box faster than the chipper can chip.

 

[Nathanael]

Not a bandit but I have a 12" with a 87 hp (I know it's in the 80s but could be off by a couple) Cummins diesel. Runs great and chews up anything I put in there, but I also try not to chip logs anymore. The mini can load them into the chip box faster than the chipper can chip.

@Jehinten How do you separate the chips and logs when you get done, or do you have to?

 

[Jehinten]

@Jehinten How do you separate the chips and logs when you get done, or do you have to?

I either grab the logs with the grapple out of the chips in the chip box, or I dump the load out and then pull the logs out of the chips. Usually if I'm pulling the logs out of the chip box some of the chips come out with them and make a mess. I usually just switch to the bucket to clean that up, but now I have a bmg rake so I just go grab it.

If I'm dumping at a mulch center I don't have to seperate them for disposal.

 

[Reach]

I have run one of these chippers a few times. While it’s not the powerhouse that is the 1590 with a 143 horse CAT, it’s still a lot of machine, and a tremendous step up from an 8” machine. We ran it after years using Bandit 990s with 80 horse engines, and it was impressive in comparison.

 

[southsoundtree]

I am looking at getting one of these. It has under a 1000 hours. The price is cheaper than on other postings. But it has a 97 hp engine vs a 142 hp engine. Does anyone have any experience with this chipper with the 97hp engine.

I am coming from a Morbark 8 inch chipper that overheats all the time because I am always trying to pound stuff through it and I have to change the blades every 2 weeks and blow out the radiator every 2 days to keep that from happening.

Maybe its something else? radiator internals, thermometer is going, fan clutch, how is your anvil and gap?

How many yards of chips are you getting out of a set of blades? Machine fed?
I get a ton of time out of my blades, but don't allow any scooping and feeding, for feeding of rakings.

Touching up the blades can help.