Chipmore Chipper

PUClimber

PUClimber

Location
Indiana
I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the chipmore chippers. I've heard that they're basically an asplund that the guy who made chipmore was a relative of asplund who stole the design. I am currently looking at a 6" chipmore chipper drum style with a 6 cyl ford motor. The piece has around 600 hours on it. The guy is asking $5000 for it an 82 flatbed ford pick up. He said he is willing to bargain some. I didn't know if anyone had any suggestions on if this was a good deal or not?
 
Well right now I'm a college student and I don't have a lot of finances. This set up would be a stepping stone to get started doing work this summer sort of free lance and doing jobs on weekend to make a little cash and try to establish myself a little bit. I've still got two yaers left of school before I get out on my own and enter the real world.
 
I have no real knowledge of this brand, but if I were just buying a chipper to get started with or work on the side with, I'd probably look for a well known name brand and buy a good used one. And I'd also buy one larger than I thought I needed.
 
Well, I ended up going home from school this weekend and ran across an Asplundh drum chipper that a local farmer/tractor repair/used tractor salesmen has. He bought it and currently the machine is not running but he's gonna get it running in a week or two. He said after it's running he'd sell it for $1400. It's larger than the chipmore and we have dealt with this fellow before on tractors and he is an honest man and backs his work on things. It's a 4 cylinder ford motor and the chipper size is 8". It looks a little rough as far as paint and rust but sand it down with the grinder and prime and paint it and it'll be looking like new. Now does anyone have advice on trucks to chip into?
 
Rust? Keep in mind that these machines have been known to blow apart when not properly maintained, sometimes with catastrophic results. Don't buy a clunker chipper. If yer just starting out why don't you spend yer money on a decent truck, let yer climbing skills make the money, and only haul brush when you have to. Alot of tree owners are happy to clean up their own mess if you get it on the ground.
Oh, and don't forget the insurance.
 
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I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the chipmore chippers. I've heard that they're basically an asplund that the guy who made chipmore was a relative of asplund who stole the design. I am currently looking at a 6" chipmore chipper drum style with a 6 cyl ford motor. The piece has around 600 hours on it. The guy is asking $5000 for it an 82 flatbed ford pick up. He said he is willing to bargain some. I didn't know if anyone had any suggestions on if this was a good deal or not?

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That brand of chipper was my first chipper. You have the story right about Chipmore, they have been out of business for more than twenty years or more now, parts are extrememly rare, parts for those Ford industrial 6 cyl. are getting hard to find also, at least for me it was. I would stay away from it, it is also way overpriced even with the truck. If this chipper has an automatic trans like mine did I would run away from that chipper as far as you could get. Parts for that trans are no where to be found anymore, I had to wait over six weeks for a pump and torque converter for mine and that was back in the late 80's, had a devil of a time finding the parts that would fit that trans.

Chipmore made a good chipper, but was never big in the marketplace. It suited my needs at the time, but like others have said get a more popular name brand model and bigger if you think you will need one.

Larry
 
I would probably recommend staying away from a throw-through style drum chipper. Putting a 8 inch limb in that thing would be wild with high injury potential. Hyd. fed chippers do a much better job of controlling material. I started out with woodchuck 9", now have a 1590bandit. Larger capacity is key. Buy the biggest thing you can afford. Other key items in my opinion are live hydraulics, winch and down pressure cyl. I think the winch cured my tendonitis. I added a mini-skid to make life even better. Renting a better chipper may be more cost effective then buying a cheap one. Re-sale of that boat anchor my be hard. Reps are usually happy to demo machines if you want to compare bells and whistles.
 
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...I've still got two years left of school before I get out on my own and enter the real world.

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No time like today bud, I got 2 years or more left myself.
 
My two cents: bigger well maintained chipper, nicer truck. Got to think of break downs, they really mess up job efficiency. You need good tools of the trade. P.S since you are still in college why wouldn't you just work for some body, you would probably earn more money and be far less stress. Think about all the thousands of dollars you will have to spend in insurance to operate. Good luck I'm sure you'll do fine
 
I've been working with someone for about a year now. Been with two small companies and I am currently with the second. So I have learned quite a bit on the business side as well as doing tree work. Right now my plan is to get the chipper and a truck and do some sidework on weekends or something or even over breaks from school and get some business cards or flyers and get my name out and see if I get enough jobs coming in and lined up to make it worth while. As far as insurance my family has a Christmas tree farm and lawn service so we're going to run it as a side policy off of those so it won't be as much.
 
The most important thing I ever learned is how little I actually knew. A crisp deploma only gets you so far....

I think it would be better to learn from someone else (on someone else's equipment, insurance, payroll, etc..) then to try and go off on one's own.

You don't need a lot of equipment to do sidework. It's hard to justify a payment on a truck and chipper that sit parked 5 days out of the week.

Godspeed in your venture
 
Don't buy a chipper, not now anyway. Travel light. Climb, climb, climb. You can ALWAYS find a relatively painless way to haul brush and logs. Rent a chipper, rent a trailer, hire a sub. You've got the rest of your life to work in the "real word". I myself have owned a chipper and truck. We've all seen and worked with pieces of junk and it's not worth the effort. They've got to be in relatively good condition. With that kind of payment on top of life expenses, you've got to work, work, work. I climb as a sub-contractor for a few well-established companies in my metro area. Excellent people to work with. I've got a pickup with my gear and saws, that's it.
 
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