I started small. This formula worked well for me.
Only six inch chipper I would consider getting is a bandit 65 with 35hp wisconsin. The 6" vermeer with 25hp kohler is a joke. I am super happy with my bandit 90xp w/65hp wisconsin with a winch, (a must have!). It only weighs 4k lb and out performs the the 65 four times over. I can back it up nicely all over yards. We are in firewood country, I rarely chip 6"+ and rarely ever wished I had a 12" chipper. I think the vermeer 1000 is a "lighter" 12 inch chipper. I could say I wish I had a 80hp, but I think that is better for 9"-12" wood. I just need a flow controller to slow the feed rate down for larger wood. I can't say enough about sharp knives good anvil and proper adjustment, It makes up for hp.
My truck. I have a 2001 F-350 srw reg cab diesel. Weighs 7.5k empty, can gross 10k legally so I can put about 2.5k. I put timbren bump stops rated at 5500lbs each instead of air bags, I got talked out of the air bags from the guy who kept replacing my broken leaf springs. Most days it was not the chips, it was the chunks of wood that were a weight concern. She barely squats these days with a full load. Cops look for squatting trucks around here. When you start driving a pick up for business, the troopers pay a lot of attention to you. Weight ratings are very important, even though a truck may be able does not mean it's safe. With that said, I have hauled 2 yards of crushed stone at 2500lb/yard before the timbrens. The axles were 1/2" from bottomed out.
Do yourself a favor, Do not get less then a one ton. No brand war, but go ford. Chevy/gmc 2500 are not work trucks sorry. They are for contractors to carry tools and maybe pull a trailer. There are so many more fords out there than any other work truck, for a reason. Best years for current value imo is 99-03. You do not need to get the diesel, awesome deals on gassers. Depending on condition you could score one from $5k-$10k. I would get srw, if you want a dually just go big and get a F-550. But, don't even think an F-550 is going to go were a F-350 with 12.5" wide 35" tall tires will.
I built a box that held about 4 yards. Used a load handler. The load handler worked awesome for around 2.5 to 3 yards, once you get more the sides of the box take some of the load and you can pull the "rug" out from under the load. So I just hand/pitch fork unloaded around the sides until the whole pile would move. Load handler does not work well for chunks, unless they are not touching the walls. I did this for a couple of years.
I stepped up to a 12k 6'X12' dump trailer. Took the box off the truck. Trailer weighs 3k with my 6' tall box I built. So she can haul around 9k! A F-450 with a gvwr of 15k can not haul this trailer with out a cdl due to the gcvwr exceeding 26k. My truck is 10k plus 12k trailer puts me at gcvwr 22k.
Most of my jobs are in a small area so, the last year I just transported the chipper and trailer seperate. This year I modified my chipper fenders to allow the chipper to fit in the trailer. The box roof on the trailer is modified to allow me to drive my ramrod 900t mini skid steer in with the branch manger and raise the grapple, lets the chipper chute fit too. The Ramrod fit nicely in the back of my one ton at 2k lbs.
So I finally just got a real chip truck, 1994 F-700, cummins 5.9 12v engine,60k miles, arbor tech chipbox/mancab toolbox jobbie, gvwr 25k. Awesome condition for age, minimal rust, awsome deal for $4k! Looks like $10k with the new paint.
I started tree work part time with 1990 F-150 7 years ago. Five years ago I started full time with the F-350. Last year I hired my first full timer. Next few weeks I'm buying my first bucket truck (rear mount). Hope to hire two more people this year. Aiming for a 70'+ knuckle boom in a few more years. Something to be said for low over head and compact equipment. Start small with big aim!! Good luck.
