Brush chippers manufacturers

Morbark - RSA

Folks,
to start an interesting conversation; what do you find is better about one type of chipper (Vermeer, Bandit, Morbark etc) over another.
Could we have this based more on fact rather than solely opinion based?

Eg X have a good feed system over the Y because....
Z's weight distribution isn't right... etc
The computers systems for feed control on the Q machine is better because

This is just to see what experiences people are having. Feedback is good but lets not get stuck on one feature, lets get as many as we can!

Joe

Drouin Tree Service

Bandits are strong and will chip when blunt,(discs)

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Drouin Tree Services | Excavator Hire - Drouin and SE Gippsland | Landclearing Melbourne

Eric Frei

The bump bar under the tray of Vermeer chippers totally sucks however their Smartfeed shits all over any other option including Bandits lift and crush rubbish.

Must be the verticle feed rollers, they do a good job of allowing unusual formations through and keeping them centred, so you don't lose a man hanging off the lift/crush lever.

Feed trays not being able to be tilted sucks. Funny how some large chippers can have a conveyor belt but we cant have a feed tray that folds to the ground so I can load easily with machinery and winch etc stuff straight in. Seems the purpose of the machines are being designed around idiots rather than practicality.

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Done it

This just sold in your area tonight.

"topload entry to chipper so can be loaded from in tree for one man operation"
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180439458386&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

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Apocalypsse

LOL I saw that on eBay before.

Ive only used bandit 15", Vermeer 1500/1800 & Austchip earllllllllly model. The Vermeers are the best of the bunch, their smartfeed truely is awesome, none of this lift and crush. But when you get something jammed in a roller you got some work ahead of you. Their compact design and light weight is nice as well, you can tow the 18" with an old patrol ute. On the other hand the Bandit is like +80% total weightso you need an F Series Ford or a bigger truck to pull it, looks like a mess with bits sticking out everywhere.

stjawa

We have owned ,Vermeers,chipstar,greenmech,bandits and every day I get to see a large variety off machines when people drop off mulch at our yard.
The Vermeers are very user friendly,and the most productive but are costly to maintain .The BC1800 being a favourite off allot of the guys who load with bobcats and excavators because the vertical feed rollers don't get as flogged out as the horizontal rollers.
The chipstars are way to heavy ie:the 12" is almost 3500kg.
Bandits are used allot by councils,power line clearing and people like myself who clock up high hours and put a huge variety of material through them.There cheap to run ,with allot of generic parts and outlast most brands especially vermeer.I know they look like grandpa built it in the back shed,at the end of day though when you have clocked up 5000 hours there still going strong.That is when you count the real cost of a machine especially resale and the bandit wins hands down.
You might find this surprising but the cheapest machine,when it comes to day to day servicing was the greenmech.They run the circular blades and this is no bullshit, we would get 75 hours out of a set before they would be taken off to sharpen.There like the circular stump cutter teeth you get 3 edges you just turn them when one is blunt.We clocked up 2000hours on a little 9" and only used 4 sets of blades.The isuzu motor was good and the cutting system second to none,the infeed tray and feedrollers were just not strong enough for the material we put through it.
If you could put that cutting system on a bandit you would have the ultimate low cost machine to run.

TrevMcRev

My exact thinking after demo'ing a Bandit and the dealer manned the lift n crush the whole time we fed it, but the vermeer 1800 took anything we could stuff in it on our own. Bought it on the spot It's now at about 4800 hours & still a good productive machine. Very simple to maintain.

When you think about it, with those hours on the machine, what would that extra "lever" man have cost for all that chipping... About as much as a 2nd machine

TrevMcRev

Where is your yard? Want more mulch?

If i were after another small chipper i reckon i'd try one of them.
In fact, got a need right now for something like this one thats on tracks

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Apocalypsse

Dont know what part of Vic you are in but most councils run Raycos, the cheap alternative to the Vermeers. The only other chippers ive seen council with are those old austchip/chipstar ones where everything is in a box and those combo units from Morbark with the chipper and bin on a trailer.

Morbark - RSA

Where did you see the combo unit?

stjawa

Looks like I've stirred up a bit of a debate,especially Vermeer vs Bandit feed systems.All new chippers these days have a smart feed ,auto feed what ever you want to call it,Vermeer's is very good so is Bandits.As far as manning the lift & crush all day,we had a lazy member of the team who liked to stand next to the machine and operate it all day to look busy.In reality its a bit of furphy,if you operate the machine properly you only need minimal use of the lift & crush.Hey guys I'm not anti Vermeer I just know what works for me and allot of people I buy mulch of.They do seem very popular with allot of arborists in our area,and they make great mulch.

Last time I priced new chippers (last month) Rayco's where a bit more expensive than the Vermeers.I deal with two councils,four power line clearing companies and over 20 tree contractor/arborists.Only one Rayco machine between the lot ,this may change as they get more established.I have had a demo on 12" worked very well just a bit heavy at close to 3000kg for us,maybe some one could give us a bit more info on them.

If anyone is working on the Mornington Peninsula,Victoria and would like to sell there mulch give us a ring on 0418591220 and ask for Steve.We take all type's of mulch ie:cyprus,euc,pine and are centrally located near the Moonah Links golf club.

Apocalypsse

Moonee Valley council. It looked like a Morbark.