Small 3 pt woodchipper question

[larry@stinescorner]

Last year a good friend and neighbor of mine here in NJ bought a compact JD diesel tractor.Its about 20 hp,,with 4 wd and a three pt hitch.

He was looking at a three pt hitch wood chipper from the Jd dealer.He said it was made by frontier//

He saw a different one on line called woodmeister.He wants to know if anyone has knowledge of them,,good or bad,,,///

Thank you in advance for any info you may have on small 3 pt wood chippers for his compact tractor...

 

[paul]

My brother in law got a DR 3pt chipper years ago. It worked nice for what it was, well built, chipped fine.

It was just too small, too much fussing around. We spent more time running a chainsaw to cut the branches down small enough to fit through the throat and get them physically pushed into the chipper, to keep going.

We used it twice. Since then, pile the branches, and use the loader and forks to throw the branches in a ravine. It goes -much- faster.

In discussions on these things in the past, it seems if it doesn't have feed rolls to grab and pull the branches in, it is just a toy and most folks get frustrated with them. Even if well made, the 4 inch or so sized chippers aren't really a good fit for what a person with a tractor wants to accomplish. (No matter how well built a one bottom plow is, if you are looking at a 240 acre field, you just aren't going to be real excited about doing the job......)

I'm not familiar with the chippers you mention, perhaps they are bigger, perhaps they are these smaller ones. It's your judgement, they do work as advertised, and are good machines for what they are; just end up playing around so very long to make a small pile of chips...... I got worn out running the chain saw to make the branches small enough to fit in the throat.

Paul

 

[Traditional Farmer]

He'd probably be better off to rent a real chipper when he needs one.

 

[ed will]

Hi, Paul got that expanation right on! I have a troybuilt that I've used a few times and there it sits. Too much monkey fiddling. I like to get the job done. Ed Will Oliver BC

 

[Adirondack case guy]

Wood Mizer has been in the wood processing business for decades, and well respected. They build an array of Band saws, firewood processors, etc.
I am sure it will be a quality product, but as others said if it is a cut and chuck chipper without feed rolls he may not be happy with it.
It depends on what he is expecting it to do, and what effort is required to operate it.
Loren

 

[Ellis Kinney]

I owned a Wallenstein chipper for several years. It was constantly clogging up. It also did not have a self feed feature so every piece of wood to go through it had to be well trimmed or it would not feed. I spent more time trimming and un clogging than I did actually using the chipper. Ellis

 

[larry@stinescorner]

I made a mistake,,its not Woodmiser,,it was WoodMaxx ,he said it has a self feed

 

[larry@stinescorner]

I made a mistake,,he was looking at Woodmaxx online,it shows a self feed on a video

 

[DoubleO7]

(quoted from post at 19:50:01 04/24/18) I made a mistake,,he was looking at Woodmaxx online,it shows a self feed on a video

I bought a 2017 Woodmaxx TM-86H hyd. drive feed roller chipper last fall. It was slightly used and sold by the guy because he really needed a commercial unit for his growing tree trimming business.

I run it off a 1957 JD 420S and it will stall the tractor if the chunk of wood is oak and is as big as the opening.

Chips fast enough to keep two guys busy feeding it.
Branchy limbs require some maneuvering of the limb to get the feeder to grab onto it good enough to go get the next limb.

Too much green leafy stuff at once sometimes causes a discharge chute clog.

Sheared the shaft key on the hyd. feed motor twice.
Replaced key(s) and so far so good.

Customized a few things to make it more user friendly.

 

[Rick B 8N WA]

I too have a Woodmaxx TM-86H hyd. drive feed roller chipper. Using it on my Ford 1710. Weather has limited useage so far but very pleased with it for the time we have used it. Very well built.

 

[Gene Davis (Ga.)]

I have a Crary Bear-Cat Chipper that I run with my John Deere 650 compact diesel tractor which is rated at 14 hp on the pto. The tractor is not really big enough for it but does work pretty well until you get above 3" diameter stuff, then you have to feed it slowly. The chipper is rated for 35 hp max and 5" diameter stuff. I did not buy the power feed, That was a mistake but I was afraid it would take too much of the power. It is a good unit and gives no trouble. The biggest problem with it is the operator wears out very quickly.

 

[Mike M]

I bought a used bearcat years ago. It works good. More HP the better ! It does not have a power feed and I think it would be better with one. Fresher green stuff goes a lot better than old hard dead limbs. Sometimes they just bounce around and don't feed in. Years ago we rented a tow behind one with a 25hp engine and a power feed that slowed the feed in relation to the engine RPM's. That thing really worked well !

 

[DoubleO7]

My earlier post should have said the hyd. pump shaft key.
Not the hyd. motor shaft key.

In shopping for a pto drive chipper new, I found the DR Chippers and Bearcats to be way over priced for what you got.

I also found many, many of them that are Chinese knock offs of the Wallenstein brand chipper.
Some sellers were even fraudulently trying to sell them as a Wallenstein when they were not.