Opinion on chipper

joezilla11

joezilla11

New member
Location
Ohio
I've been on the hunt for a small chipper and found an 04 bandit 65aw with the 27hp kohler. App 1000 hrs. Guy used it for weekend jobs, stored indoors, regular maintenance. Nice looking chipper with a height adjustable chute which I haven't seen on the smaller ones before. Only issues he's had is auto feed stopped working and he had to touch up a few cracked welds. Is this a common issue with the welds or is this an idicator of another issue. He did say the machine vibrates pretty good and that's what probably caused it. Thanks for any help as I don't have much experience with these.
 
My first chipper was that machine. If welds are cracking, i would guess he ran it dull all the time. Puts so much stress on a machine with dull knifes.

Not sure id want one wit welds everywhere.

Good little first chipper though. Wish i can find one to keep from towing the big chipper around.
 
Well there were 2 welds he mentioned. He made a comment that he knows when to sharpen them from the noise it makes and I'm pretty sure he said he sharpens them with a hand file. So maybe dull knives makes sense.
 
Geeze, ya sounds like it. Also anvil clearance is key on that machine. I cant imagine sharpening with a hand file made them sharp. Also, they need to match exactly otherwise that spinning disk could be out of balance, making it hop like you mentioned.
 
Keep forgetting things. That noise it makes is from it pounding the wood, not slicing it. Sounds as bad as a rental chipper imo.
 
Wow. I mean wow. Tell him to buy a set of new knives for it and send them bad boys out once and a while. If it keeps it from vibrating apart...tell him to give you $100 off and get those "new" welds looked at.
 
He's got a new set to go with it, I'm wondering if its worth the 6k he's asking and if there's still life left in the kohler. From what I can find they don't seem to last too long? Maybe ill just have to keep looking or start a new thread on some 90's I found. Thanks for the replies so far
 
I have a 65AW with the 37 horse Wisconsin engine. Love it and am probably going to keep it as a light weight ‘push around’ chipper and back up when I have a new 75XP or 65XP built with a 44 horse diesel.

They are lighter weight metal and welds are know to break on these machines even if they are balanced and running ok. Sharp and adjusted properly is paramount-on a strong 65. Personally I think running that 27 horse engine for a few hours of chipping on one of that guys jobs would answer all your questions.
 
Add on thought. I went and ran a guys new 65XP with a 37hp Kohler for a couple of hours and thanked him profusely. Not enough torque for my taste and so I bought a used 65AW with the more torquey Wisconsin until I decide which diesel and which model chipper to have built. I then went on and rented a 65 that had a 37hp diesel and it pulled material great.
 
thanks for your experience on that. I was hesitant about that one so maybe its for a reason. ive been searching for a while now, losing auctions and missing out on others so its easy to get impatient. plan A was for a 90 so maybe I should stick to my guns on that.
another that I found is a 93 90. it was reconditioned by bandit in 2002 with a new deutz diesel, new bearings and shaft this year, maintained by bandit and co mechanic and sounds like a nice machine. it has the adjustable chute like the 65. no issues with it but it has unknown hours as it doesn't have an hour meter. closing tree service and selling equipment but the dealer recommended they list it at 8700. sound fair? it still seems alittle high to me. its a little more than I intended but for a diesel w/o issues it caught my eye. we chatted a bit about it but I hadn't made any offers because I found this 65 for less shortly after. id hate to pass one up if its worth it but if it doesn't happen soon ill probably slow down and take my time and regain some of this focus that has been spent on finding a chipper.
 
I would personally stay away from the Kolers on these little machines. As stated they are underpowered for the application and when used they are being pushed too hard and dont last long. I have seen 2 of the 25 hp engines raddle apart between 200 and 300 hrs. You should take a look at http://www.treetrader.com/ they also have a monthly magazine that they send. Good luck in your search, and follow you first impressions, chances are they are right.
 
Ive heard the same about the kohler. I have one on a mini loader, 1,000 hrs with no issues but ya never know.

Judging by the guys lack of knowledge id prob shy away from that machine. If not knowing how important proper knife maintenance is, then what else did he not know?

Ive never run a 90, but can imagine the step up in infeed throat size will do alot for brush.
 
We have a bandit 90 with 65hp Wisconsin and winch. That thing is over 4times as productive as the 65. IMO the beginning of productive enough for a tree service. If you are trying to make money. Get nothing smaller then the bandit 90 with 65hp. More hp and or auto feed would be nice, but not needed. It is for brush ...the width of the feed rollers is the key to its productivity. We live in fire wood country so anything bigger then 4-6" gets bucked. We just got a bandit 1890 with cummins turbo diesel....wow! That bandit 90 made us some money the last few years...the 65 is a joke, not a tree service chipper. You want a 90. We use the winch more to move it around. We can man handle it, mini skid it or winch into sweet spots , not going to do that with any bigger a chipper. That's why we went big with the new chipper. Having a 9" and 19" is the best of both!

Properly adjusted anvil and blades makes a huge difference on smaller machines, hardly notice the sound sometimes cause it is slicing as opposed to chopping. Bigger hp machines can run with poor adjustment and get away with it better, I can hear a machine and tell you if the blades are out or dull.
 
I ended up picking up a 90 about 2 weeks ago. Alittle late in the year but still early enough that I've already got some nice jobs with it that I otherwise wouldn't have. It's got a 4 cyl deutz diesel which is eating everything I put in it. I've ran some 9" oak and 7-8" dead hard maple and it kept up fine. It's taking as much brush as I can drag over to it so I'm impressed and it definitely fits my needs for ability and size.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Kask Stihl NORTHEASTERN Arborists Wesspur TreeStuff.com Teufelberger Westminster X-Rigging Teufelberger
Back
Top Bottom