Clean up in Isle 9 lol

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  • wcd

    Grandmaster
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    Dec 2, 2011
    6,274
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    Off the Grid In Tennessee
    After all the storm damage we purchased a name brand made in the US chipper. well it bit the dust, appears there was a defective batch that went out. TSC promptly returned our purchase price and extended warranty. But now they are unavailable. Initially we opted out of buying one from Harbor Freight. But now looks like we may have to go with one? Just curious if any one has had any experience with their wood chippers?

    Thanks
     

    maxwelhse

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    Aug 21, 2018
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    Michiana
    My Dad has had Chinese Craftsman chippers, which I assume are made right next to the stuff from HFT, in the sub-10hp size for ages and they do fine for what they are.

    But... Understanding this isn't what you asked, my personal opinion for the small jobs is a burn pit and for the big jobs is to rent a big chipper. His small chipper will run all day to deal with just the brush from cutting down a 20' tree and a big guy will gnaw the whole thing up as fast as you can feed it in there. If you believe you can get your work done by renting a bigger guy once a year for a few years for the same price as owning a small guy amortized over a few years, I'd go that way. Around me a 25hp chipper rents for around $200/half day (a 50hp+ is about $250) and usually a Saturday afternoon rental means returned by 7am Monday morning, since most are closed on Sundays, so you get almost 2 days out of your 4 hour rental if you plan it well and ask nicely.

    I waited far too long to discover the joy that is renting someone else's commercial grade equipment, coming within 9/10s of abusing it while getting my work done 10x faster, and returning it without a care in the world.

    I'll also add I'm biased on this specific topic for 2 reasons: I hate dealing with trees and my Dad's last chipper was stolen. So faster to get it over with and nothing left to steal are both strong advantages for me.
     

    DoggyDaddy

    Grandmaster
    Site Supporter
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    73   0   1
    Aug 18, 2011
    102,066
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    Southside Indy
    My Dad has had Chinese Craftsman chippers, which I assume are made right next to the stuff from HFT, in the sub-10hp size for ages and they do fine for what they are.

    But... Understanding this isn't what you asked, my personal opinion for the small jobs is a burn pit and for the big jobs is to rent a big chipper. His small chipper will run all day to deal with just the brush from cutting down a 20' tree and a big guy will gnaw the whole thing up as fast as you can feed it in there. If you believe you can get your work done by renting a bigger guy once a year for a few years for the same price as owning a small guy amortized over a few years, I'd go that way. Around me a 25hp chipper rents for around $200/half day (a 50hp+ is about $250) and usually a Saturday afternoon rental means returned by 7am Monday morning, since most are closed on Sundays, so you get almost 2 days out of your 4 hour rental if you plan it well and ask nicely.

    I waited far too long to discover the joy that is renting someone else's commercial grade equipment, coming within 9/10s of abusing it while getting my work done 10x faster, and returning it without a care in the world.

    I'll also add I'm biased on this specific topic for 2 reasons: I hate dealing with trees and my Dad's last chipper was stolen. So faster to get it over with and nothing left to steal are both strong advantages for me.

    Some places even promote this, like Sunbelt Rentals. That's what I did when I needed a log splitter. Best $100 I ever spent. Had a big maple taken down and I needed it for every bit of 2 days. Got about 5 ricks of wood out of just the one tree.
     

    wcd

    Grandmaster
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    0   0   0
    Dec 2, 2011
    6,274
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    Off the Grid In Tennessee
    My Dad has had Chinese Craftsman chippers, which I assume are made right next to the stuff from HFT, in the sub-10hp size for ages and they do fine for what they are.

    But... Understanding this isn't what you asked, my personal opinion for the small jobs is a burn pit and for the big jobs is to rent a big chipper. His small chipper will run all day to deal with just the brush from cutting down a 20' tree and a big guy will gnaw the whole thing up as fast as you can feed it in there. If you believe you can get your work done by renting a bigger guy once a year for a few years for the same price as owning a small guy amortized over a few years, I'd go that way. Around me a 25hp chipper rents for around $200/half day (a 50hp+ is about $250) and usually a Saturday afternoon rental means returned by 7am Monday morning, since most are closed on Sundays, so you get almost 2 days out of your 4 hour rental if you plan it well and ask nicely.

    I waited far too long to discover the joy that is renting someone else's commercial grade equipment, coming within 9/10s of abusing it while getting my work done 10x faster, and returning it without a care in the world.

    I'll also add I'm biased on this specific topic for 2 reasons: I hate dealing with trees and my Dad's last chipper was stolen. So faster to get it over with and nothing left to steal are both strong advantages for me.

    Wish we could afford one of the big boys, the name brand one we bought was about 1k so it was not a basement model. The usual cycle is the goats eat the brush, and leave the sticks, which usually get shredded for ground cover, and remaining gets chipped into mulch to go in the garden. So we use it almost year round.
     

    wcd

    Grandmaster
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    Dec 2, 2011
    6,274
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    Off the Grid In Tennessee
    What island is this???


    Well it’s our homestead. We raise goats they eat a lot of brush that grows wild leaving a lot of branches. We also had the tornado that came through again more branches. We had purchased the chipper to recycle some of it. It’s really useful to have wood chips in the barn for clean bedding. When we clean it out it goes into the compost pile which goes into the food plot to keep the weeds down. We tend not to wast e much of anything.
     

    maxwelhse

    Grandmaster
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    Aug 21, 2018
    5,415
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    Michiana
    Well it’s our homestead. We raise goats they eat a lot of brush that grows wild leaving a lot of branches. We also had the tornado that came through again more branches. We had purchased the chipper to recycle some of it. It’s really useful to have wood chips in the barn for clean bedding. When we clean it out it goes into the compost pile which goes into the food plot to keep the weeds down. We tend not to wast e much of anything.

    FWIW, you may actually like the Craftsman my Dad has. The big chute on it folds down to ground level so you can just rake stuff into it. I've never used that feature so I don't know how well it works. I'm also not sure what kind of branches the goats are leaving behind. I'm imagining more like twigs.

    Anyhow, this is his:

    https://www.sears.com/craftsman-250cc-3-way-chipper-shredder/p-07177615000P
     

    wcd

    Grandmaster
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    0   0   0
    Dec 2, 2011
    6,274
    113
    Off the Grid In Tennessee
    FWIW, you may actually like the Craftsman my Dad has. The big chute on it folds down to ground level so you can just rake stuff into it. I've never used that feature so I don't know how well it works. I'm also not sure what kind of branches the goats are leaving behind. I'm imagining more like twigs.

    Anyhow, this is his:

    https://www.sears.com/craftsman-250cc-3-way-chipper-shredder/p-07177615000P


    Thank you. Yes they are usually 1 to 3 inches in diameter. Just thick enough so that they take quite some time to break down. Most times I find them with my ankles, when I go out at night to check on things. I am not a neat freak but still although we are rural I still like to keep things picked up.
     

    maxwelhse

    Grandmaster
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    0   0   0
    Aug 21, 2018
    5,415
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    Michiana
    Thank you. Yes they are usually 1 to 3 inches in diameter. Just thick enough so that they take quite some time to break down. Most times I find them with my ankles, when I go out at night to check on things. I am not a neat freak but still although we are rural I still like to keep things picked up.

    If they're short length and large diameter (I'd say anything over an inch around and less than a foot long is getting on the bigger side) they like to jump back out of the larger hopper (at least when it's upright) and head straight for your jewels... Not fun!

    You've been warned! :laugh:
     

    Karl-just-Karl

    Retired
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    Nov 5, 2014
    1,205
    113
    NE
    In direct response to your question, my brother and I have a lot of experience with a Harbor Freight chipper.

    We purchased one for clearing berms of brush and scrub trees. It worked great, with the exception of the muffler heat shield vibrating off (poor/cheap design). It continued to run fine without it.

    https://www.harborfreight.com/65-hp-212cc-chipper-shredder-62323.html?_br_psugg_q=chipper

    We have talked about selling it but I'm willing to bet you're not interested in driving to NE Indiana to pick it up.

    I was impressed how it held up. It even started pretty easily on some -10F mornings. We did most of the clearing work during the winter.

    3" diameter is really pushing it to get it fed through the chute. Lots of Lopper work required to get things cut down before chipping.

    Great unit for lighter work. Very pleased with it.
     
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