First Chipper Newb // Need your input

ßrit

New member
Location
North East
I know there have been threads in the past about this but for a small 1-2 man outfit with really no budget ($2-3k if I keep saving for a while), can I do better than this purchase? I need some direction/input. Thank you.

6 in. 14 HP Gas Powered Kohler Engine Chipper Shredder with DOT Road Legal Tires, Extended Axles, and Trailer Tow Hitch

$2600 at home depot :LOL:

I included a picture.
 

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Keep an eye on Craigslist ... you never know what comes across there
Another option is to talk with an equipment rental place to see if you can work out a lower rate based on constant business.. they might even work out a rent to own program.
I'm with Evo.. for that money I'd rather get a lightweight utility trailer & add some higher side panels to haul off smaller material
 
Search tempest as well. A lot of times rental yards turn over their stock and auction houses pick up a load of chippers from them. There is an equipment auction yard near atlanta that had about 30 vermeer 6" chippers about a month ago.
 
It really depends on your work that you do, if you only do fine trimming on ornamentals then that might actually work although I suspect hauling the debris instead of chipping would still be easier. Look into used units, my first chipper was a 6" gas chipper that I bought for $1,800. It was nothing fancy but it worked and saved on debris hauling. I've since moved to a 12" diesel that i got for $3,500. Still nothing fancy but runs good and is an increase in efficiency from my first chipper. Just look for deals and dont be afraid to negotiate, as I didn't pay the asking price on either of mine.
 
I agree with the keep saving and get something bigger crew. I got my first chipper cor about $2500. It was a gas 4 cylinder ford motor in a 1985 12" morbark. Old, but easy to work on and it held up for a long time. Then a guy I knew was getting out of the business and sold me the same model chipper with a cummins 3.9 for $1000. Keep an eye on craigslist, check the places the other guys talked about, keep an eye on the side of the road for the old chipper that never moves and make them an offer. If your a decent mechanic, that opens up a lot of doors for cheap fixer-uppers.
 
You can get a decent dump trailer for that which doesn't have a shitty engine and a bunch of parts that need replacing. Buying a chipper for that amount of money is asking for a multiple thousand dollar bill to fix it in two months. Another option is using that cash to put towards a loan on a decent 6".
 
Few years back we sold our 1994 Mitts & Merrill with maybe 200 hours for $2800. Just wanted it gone. Keep looking. Deals can be found.

I agree with Serf Life- you're better off with a nice trailer than a chipper from Home Depot. Seriously.
 
What truck/ trailer set-up do you have now?

You'll get more work done with a rental 6" than that thing.



Whisper chippers, aka chuck-n-ducks, don't eat people, are cheap, and simple. NOT good for crooked brush, but that little HD thing would be eating 'salad' anyway (cut into tiny bites).
The real trick to a Chuck-n-Duck or Throw-n-Go is to not stand there handing brush to the eating machine and watching if it will eat it. Chuck and Duck. Throw and Go. Stand and Watch and get ripped up by branches.
Very fuel efficient, too, as some can be chipping at different speeds, not just full blast. Rarely does mine go over '5' for hand-feeding, but goes to '10' for machine feeding.





I always have used flatbed trailers with wood floors and walls. A lot of tight access places I can't get a truck and chipper without a lot of uphill dragging. 3k extra in dump-trailer weight wouldn't make it up the hills, either.

One is set up with 2' walls, which are held in place by stake-pockets/stakes. If I have a lot of brush, I leave out any thick pieces until the end. I cross-cut the load, never standing on the uncut material. I can flip up 4' plywood after loading as much as possible over 2' walls (wiggled down the inside of the walls). I strap over the 4' walls and around the whole frame, as at most, from a tight waterfront, steep bad driveway access removal, got 2000 pounds of doug-fir limbs into a 5x10x4 trailer, which I could park directly under the tree.

When I get to the dump spot, I take off the side panels and push off most of it. Don't need to pull it apart. A couple long, strong branches shoved under the load, used as levers by two or three people can tip off 1/2 or entire loads sometimes.

One has a small footprint, set-up up with 4' walls, making a mobile chip-box. Its been very versatile, as it carries the mini-loader, then the mini-loader moves the trailer and chipper to the brush.

Renting a mini can be money well spent on some jobs.
 
Not a pro but have used tiny machines and (IMHO) they are a waste of good time and energy.
Add to that the bearings and drum look like they came of an old Life Fitness treadmill so as others have said major repairs would be inevitable.

One note though, while chuck and ducks are a great deal and totally usable and safe with common sense....my understanding is they are no longer allowed in some areas due to their sound levels? I could be totally wrong on this but my neighbor who sold his CD machine he said he did so because it was no longer legal for use in Mont Co MD?
 
One note though, while chuck and ducks are a great deal and totally usable and safe with common sense....my understanding is they are no longer allowed in some areas due to their sound levels? I could be totally wrong on this but my neighbor who sold his CD machine he said he did so because it was no longer legal for use in Mont Co MD?


Everything is illegal somewhere. Lol. I dont doubt you, but I haven't heard that around here. Could be his particular neighborhood?
 
It all depends what you need and are willing to put up with. We scored a bandit 90xp for $2500. Was another arbs fourth machine that he wanted gone. Autofeed was broken, directional valve was bungeed forward (both directions worked, wouldn’t stay), and the lights were completely buggered. New blades, new starter, and new ignition and it chips beautifully. Rewired lights and will fix those other issues when I need to or have the spare cash. They don’t affect what I need to accomplish. I’ve mulled over getting one of those smaller units for some trail maintenance that I do. It would be perfect towed behind the ATV. If I do, it’ll be something from DR or some other reasonably well built company. I wouldn’t trust the Home Depot model.
 
Everything is illegal somewhere. Lol. I dont doubt you, but I haven't heard that around here. Could be his particular neighborhood?

I live in Mont Co MD which is the libtard center of the world....That said the guy who told me that was why he had to sell his C&D may well have been mistaken.
 
chuck and ducks aka whisper chippers.



Having a chipper allows you to take on a project chipper, while still producing, as opportunities present themselves.
 
I know there have been threads in the past about this but for a small 1-2 man outfit with really no budget ($2-3k if I keep saving for a while), can I do better than this purchase? I need some direction/input. Thank you.

6 in. 14 HP Gas Powered Kohler Engine Chipper Shredder with DOT Road Legal Tires, Extended Axles, and Trailer Tow Hitch

$2600 at home depot :LOL:

I included a picture.

I don't mind providing a bit of a counter point to the good advice you have received so far. It's good advice if your going the traditional large tree service route. By all means buy the best used 6 inch chipper you can find. Try and make it a drum chipper and stay away from the 6" vermeer disc chipper. Talk about having to cut unions down. With a 6" x 6" opening what a frustrating machine. Chuck n duck (whisper chipper) is the only way to go for an entry level traditional tree service business model on the cheap.

However, if you do mostly pruning with light removals the style chipper you showed will work. In fact they have been working in the UK and Europe for many years. Check out the wee chipper club conversation over at arbtalk (I'd link but I am unsure if linking to other forums is frowned upon on here).

You will find that particular chipper mentioned in there as a greenmech. It's essentially a 12" x 6" drum chipper and eats wood better than you might think from such a small machine.


This type of chipper works good in a pruning/"chip on the spot" set up chipping into a pick up dump insert or into garden beds in back yards. If your looking to go super cheap build plywood sides in your pick up with a load handler aka. Kevin Bingham style. Build the sides between the wheel wells so the material doesn't get locked in behind the the wheel well. Tool storage in the remaining bed space.

I don't know where you are located Brit but here where I am most of the used chippers in this price range have major rust issues because of road salt. I would avoid buying anything through the "Homer Despot" though. I bought my unit through woodmaxx because it appears there will actually be a company to service the product 5 years from now.

It's important to realize the limitations of this type of machine. It will not hang with a whisper chipper. It will not chip 6" all day long. It will handle 4" material all day very well though. In my area the rental outfits are crooks just looking to make a buck off foolish homeowners, and the used market was full of beat to death chippers with major rust issues. This unit works for me because I do a lot of pruning but also because I do firewood too. Most anything over 3" gets turned into firewood.
 
I started with a 16ft 7k axle landscape trailer, to unload i hooked chain or rope and had landfill operator pull it for me, I then bough a dump trailer, great investment by the way. Then I purchased a dump truck along with skid steer. I now have 6 inch Bandit chipper, and I still hardly use it, find it easier and faster just to load both dump trailer and dump truck with machine than having to stand behind chipper and wait to chip every single branch. 98% of our jobs are removal.

I'm not sure what your setup looks like, but for that kind of money i would either go buy large landscape trailer 14ft or larger or dump trailer. Or just keep saving and purchase a large chipper.

If you're doing mostly removals I would suggest at 12" chipper or bigger, if you're doing mostly trimming/pruning jobs a 6" should be sufficient.
 

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