I don't know anything about this model, and maybe it's not much of an upgrade from your current chipper but here is a 9" that isn't too far away, specs say it weighs 3745 lbs.
Smallest chipper that is practical to feed with mini
- Thread starter evo
- Start date
southsoundtree
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Olympia, WA
Can you add springs to the weight set up?
Modify your folding mechanism?
Weld it solid?
Pics!
Modify your folding mechanism?
Weld it solid?
Pics!
evo
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- My Island, WA
I’m so fucken frustrated! So Monday since I had the replacement part and experience replacing the part I choose to replace it on the job. My entire weekend (only time to do the repair) was consumed with bids and family obligations (back logged from Mother’s Day).
Swapped the part and nothing, fiddled with it for a hour and a half on the job before I pulled off with my tail tucked. I spent the rest of the day until dusk going through every wire, jumping things testing continuity, wiggling and everything/tapping on everything. In the process I blew the Murphy switch, but I had a spare (old part where a itty bitty lil spring broke) so I rebuilt it. Still nothing.
At a loss this morning I called Jim my ex employer (semi retired consultant). He took the time to pull off of a report, and went though everything. He was going over all my steps and bouncing ideas. About to give up and pull the starter to give it a peek, Jim discovered the fucken problem! The new part was wired wrong from the factory, swapped the blades and she fired right off. At least I took the time to replace the ignition, instead of lubing every month or two..
hopefully it’s cured, but the key hole is still 45degrees to the sky.
I did call the dealer to see what changed in the past year. Pretty much sold out in Oregon and Washington! They have 1 12xp with winch and other stuff, 145hp! At $52k
He sent me a link to this one trying to get me back up and running. This does show what chippers are going for in these parts 2004? 250xp rebuilt 30k
Swapped the part and nothing, fiddled with it for a hour and a half on the job before I pulled off with my tail tucked. I spent the rest of the day until dusk going through every wire, jumping things testing continuity, wiggling and everything/tapping on everything. In the process I blew the Murphy switch, but I had a spare (old part where a itty bitty lil spring broke) so I rebuilt it. Still nothing.
At a loss this morning I called Jim my ex employer (semi retired consultant). He took the time to pull off of a report, and went though everything. He was going over all my steps and bouncing ideas. About to give up and pull the starter to give it a peek, Jim discovered the fucken problem! The new part was wired wrong from the factory, swapped the blades and she fired right off. At least I took the time to replace the ignition, instead of lubing every month or two..
hopefully it’s cured, but the key hole is still 45degrees to the sky.
I did call the dealer to see what changed in the past year. Pretty much sold out in Oregon and Washington! They have 1 12xp with winch and other stuff, 145hp! At $52k
He sent me a link to this one trying to get me back up and running. This does show what chippers are going for in these parts 2004? 250xp rebuilt 30k
2004? 250xp brush bandit - heavy equipment - by owner - sale
2004 250xp brush bandit. Has wench. Been our backup for awhile and we just don’t need it. 10 hrs on brand new John Deere diesel motor. Well maintained. Newish bearings. Call for questions or to see...
bellingham.craigslist.org
evo
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- My Island, WA
I don't know anything about this model, and maybe it's not much of an upgrade from your current chipper but here is a 9" that isn't too far away, specs say it weighs 3745 lbs.
Thanks I checked their site this morning. Looks like about what I have. 9” 40’s hp..
evo
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- My Island, WA
I’ve thought about taking the the feed tray tailgate off. Adding spring is a pita. It’s kind of a cool design, the whole infeed is hinged and swings open to change/adjust the anvil, but it’s only held on with 3 bolts. It actually doesn’t look hard to fab up a hydraulic open/crush.
I’ve taken to jumping on the upper feed wheel assembly when it slips or doesn’t pull stuff in.
Last edited:
Merle Nelson
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- SF Bay Area, CA
That's such a great price, cant believe it hasn't sold.
Merle Nelson
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- SF Bay Area, CA
Evo for slipping feed wheel on my Bandit 60AW I thought about welding on an attachment that I could slip a heavy wall aluminum pipe into and lever it down momentarily.
Stumpsprouts
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Asheville
I like the look of this but I I’m curious to see how you’ll get that that box chipped.
Carlton 1290 has hydraulic lift/crush, a little beefier construction than what I see on the gravely, 3000lbs, $25k new. But I like the idea of working with what you got and trying some mods.
Evo, that chipper is almost identical in design to our BC935. We have a small pedestal that bridges the feed roll tower. The tower has a 2” horizontal post onto which a trailer jack can be pinned. The jack foot stands on the pedestal, and this allows lifting the feed roll for material that can’t be pulled in otherwise.
Since we bought it in 2008, I’ve thought (as someone else said) about a lever system for crushing. It just doesn’t seem quite “factory” enough as much as I considered it. Maybe if the lever was sprung in the up position, so it wouldn’t follow the feed wheel all day, moving up and down. Just there to pull when you want it and then it lifts back up? Or maybe simple spring down pressure combined with the jack mod for lifting if needed...
Since we bought it in 2008, I’ve thought (as someone else said) about a lever system for crushing. It just doesn’t seem quite “factory” enough as much as I considered it. Maybe if the lever was sprung in the up position, so it wouldn’t follow the feed wheel all day, moving up and down. Just there to pull when you want it and then it lifts back up? Or maybe simple spring down pressure combined with the jack mod for lifting if needed...
southsoundtree
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Olympia, WA
Weld it solid, or add some sides.
I'll get you some pics of my tray locked open and closed, and the foot. Pretty simple.
Welded solid is very simple.
Part off machine- feeding in our neck of the woods is good stacking of small limbs with curves matching, feathering the butts, and the right size bunches of branches. I generally have the curves to the right, from butt to tip, as i feed from my throttle control side (driver's side) with a counter- clockwise twist of the mini.
Got to keep the heel plate away from the feed tray.
I grab hold with the grapple when my chipper wants to grab too much.
Chipping is not that hard, dragging and chipping is hard. Even if you can just deliver limbs onto your feed tray, you're saving lots of grunt labor.
Seems like the dark channel steel are guides.???
Seems like you're part way to having spring-assist.
I'll get you some pics of my tray locked open and closed, and the foot. Pretty simple.
Welded solid is very simple.
Part off machine- feeding in our neck of the woods is good stacking of small limbs with curves matching, feathering the butts, and the right size bunches of branches. I generally have the curves to the right, from butt to tip, as i feed from my throttle control side (driver's side) with a counter- clockwise twist of the mini.
Got to keep the heel plate away from the feed tray.
I grab hold with the grapple when my chipper wants to grab too much.
Chipping is not that hard, dragging and chipping is hard. Even if you can just deliver limbs onto your feed tray, you're saving lots of grunt labor.
Seems like the dark channel steel are guides.???
Seems like you're part way to having spring-assist.
evo
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- My Island, WA
I actually dont see why one couldn't get a diverter valve, and weld up a mound for a cylinder. for me the long term goal is to get a very high hp 9" or a 12". Keep this for playing in the woods with..
I'm also tempted to get a PTO chipper, replace the PTO with a flywheel and hydraulic motor and a mount for my mini...
I have about 6 months to go before I get the mini paid off.. I have enough for a decent downpayment but want to hold onto as much of it as I can. I was really hoping to put it off for another year, all the equipment in the world is great but I just need a solid crew (which I have for the moment, but the longevity is in question)... This is also why machine loading is more important to me.
Is your hydro pump direct drive or does it run off the disc drive belts? Flow/pressure may be something to consider just to ensure when you pull to crush there’s still enough to keep the infeed going. As you said, it may just be the right diverter valve, control valve, and extending the tower to hold the cylinder. One might say it’s almost too easy.
evo
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- My Island, WA
What appears too easy is the story of my life’s complications. Very good point.
Where I get stuck is how much do I want to modify this chipper to force it into my needs vs just getting a second.
It is great as built for what it is. Essentially a pretty bomber 6” machine, which mostly sees 4”-5”, but has a 9” opening.
I look at it like a chainsaw, you can tweak a 150 to get more performance. But at the end of the day it will never be a 261. Both cut wood and both have their place. You can chunk a 20” spar with both if you are patient enough. BUT we are talking tens of thousands with chippers and I only need the bigger one 10-20% of the time.
As another consideration I really don’t want a bigger truck. What is everyone’s take on the towing capacity/capabilities of a Isuzu FRR. Remember it’s rural highway where the county even drives tractors on the shoulders (if we have a shoulder)
Attached are a couple photos of what our BC935 is now. The Peterbilt carries the Spider Lift, which is why it might look like a supremely impractical pickup truck. I’ve also attached a photo from a recent job that shows the second chipper and chip truck that we added.
Ironically, the Woodsman 750 is the one I move around throughout the wooded areas with my Mini Excavator, because it is now the lighter, more maneuverable machine. It is also seemingly more appropriate to feed with the mini.
I do realize the trailer setup is far from what you have with the Gravely, but the Chipper itself is about identical, hence my comparison and share. I would recommend keeping the Gravely and getting a 12” drum machine if you can move it with your mini.
We used to do everything with our 935, salvaging or disposing of whatever wouldn’t fit. Now we generally prefer to run the 750 just because, unless logistics tells us otherwise.
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evo
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- My Island, WA
I remember when you were building that chipper dump trailer combo.. How is it working for you? Anything you would change with it if you had to do it over?
I'm pretty certain I could move a 12x or 12xpc pretty easily with the mini... 4,700 and 4,900 respectively... I'm sure I could move a 12xp around on flat smooth ground, but far from where I want do put it.
The 12x is actually looking pretty good! 21" wide feed wheel with a 54" wide tray. From the dealer who turned up their nose with the 12x, they stated the xpc and xp are identical machines but the difference is channel frame vs tubing, max engine size and that is it.. They have never seen the 12x and said something like the single feed wheel sucks and is made for icy climates, I reiterated machine feeding and could hear the dots connecting to use this as a sales pitch.
We absolutely love the chipper/dump combo. It helps a ton in regard to logistics. Having the second machine can also allows simultaneous setups on more than one job site. In urban areas, you can disconnect the truck and take up the footprint of a single vehicle. I have a frying pan that’s more complicated than that machine, and parts are still available. Old reliable. Doesn’t owe us a penny.
Reach
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Atglen, PA
That Pete is only 26k? Was it built heavier and downrated, or was it built that way? And what spider lift is that? I don’t recognize it from the picture.
The Pete is 26k form the factory, not downrated, but It has a 20k rear and a 10 front, which allows wiggle room for where the lid might sit. It also has an low air leaf rear, a fuller 9spd road ranger.
The Spider Lift is now carried on an F650, and the Pete in that photo is becoming a sweet grapple truck.
The red machine in the photo is actually our Hoeflon C10 Spider Crane, not our lift.
Reach
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Atglen, PA
Nice! I didn’t know Pete built one of those, we will have to look at that for the replacement for our F650 in a couple years. I love air ride, and the 9 speed is a nice trans, I’ve driven several of those. I’m jealous!
That makes sense, it looked a little odd for a spider lift, with the straight boom and the counterweight. That’s a nice setup for sure!
Merle Nelson
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- SF Bay Area, CA
If you want custom options on a chipper Bandit build time is only ten weeks out right now, I'm told.
Nice hardware Eric!
Nice hardware Eric!
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