Opinion on 6" chippers?

derwoodii

What year how many hours 15k could be a good pick up. They are alright just not quite a good as ma 65.

To help PeteB Q. on second hand value. Good Chippers seem to hold well till about 1000 engine hours, then they go down depending on presentation and wear n tear. After 2000 hours they can free fall. A lot may be linked with $ depreciation tax benefits that your system has.


Alopa ta your lead on the Vermer HG200 grinda, alas the idea got not traction, sadly in LG its easyer to waste money & effort than save it.

Drouin Tree Service

Im pretty sure its a 7" chipstar with a decent sized engine,a freind has it for chipping street tree prunings he is upgrading to a new machine and may be negotiable.

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

Chris B

I'd be interested to know how many hours, year and condition but I think I'm set on a new one or a unit in really good condition.
All the second hand ones I see for sale seem to be thrashed with heaps of hours!

Chris B

Is the lift and crush function important on a 6" chipper or can you do without it?

Apocalypsse

Unless you have Vermeer's vertical rollers I would definitely have lift and crush. You may only need it occasionally when pruning, but when you need it (like when the rollers are spinning on some thick foliage and not pulling anything through), you'll love it.

derwoodii

Ive found lift n crush on a smaller unit no so good, it twas more a lift and squash but can only speak for one model.

Apocalypsse

aHH. Yea, its more lift and squash, unless its brittle wood you are trying to crush. Still good for dense foliage tho where the roller hasn't got the weight to force down enough, still won't break a decent sized limb though.

PeteB

Why do you need "lift an crush"? If you have cut you material to fit the size of the machine then surely you don't need this function. Plus, the "crush" is putting more strain into crucial areas like the roller bearings, roller box and aperture than is really necessary.

If the material has been cut to suit the machine by a forward thinking cutter then that would negate this device! (If the brash doesn't fit, don't feed it!)

Sunraysia Tree Solutions

I have a bandit 65 and I am very happy with it. I would love a duel feed roller model though, for tricky stuff like tea tree and bendy stuff, though they are like hens teeth I have only ever seen one second hand duel feed model. Lift and crush seems to work better on "shuttle box" infeeds rather than pivot point roller feeders.

JohN Dee

I have owned and used a 6" Vermeer. Probably the worst chipper I have used to date. 6x6 opening = lots more chainsaw work. Stock under powered 25hp = struggles at 5-6 inch branches. I would not recommend it to anyone unless they're buying it for a steal of a price <4k. Having said what I have, using it and owning it was a 100% better than not having a chipper at all.

Where I'm currently working (Wellington, NZ) the company has a modern 6" Rayco with 35hp engine. It is a clone of the Vermeer 6" just beefed up with more power. This one takes a full 6 inches worth and has auto feed and speed variable feed wheels. For where we work and the majority of the work we do it works fine. Plus I don't have to feed it 90% of the time!

When it comes to just plain labouring and processing material through a chipper, the bigger the better. Grabbing big piles with your arms is easier as you don't have to sort it out to get it thru it's just chuck it in there and away you go. Bigger machines can easily take 3 people feeding it at the same time. No special chipping techniques needed with bigger machines - idiot proof just chuck it in and go. (no cutting out forks, no lifting up long branches at the ends to get the feed roller to pull it through, no need to control the feed bar, no real need for a brush/log plunger)

Again where I work in Wellington, the whole city is built on the side of mountains, on top of them and down in the gulleys this = long steep narrow driveways. Perfect for the 6 inch as it can be hand maneuvered too.

The blades last longer on smaller machines too - less foreign objects going in. Majority of rootballs wont fit, cant just grab arm fulls of brush with stones in it to chuck it in and less wear and tear not having to chip big wood...

Anyone buying a 6 inch I would totally recommend going the bandit. I have personally never used the 6 inch bandit but the rave reviews that come in for them and their specs just scream best buy. No cutting out forks, lift n crush, dual feed rollers = easy feeding as opposed to a single feed roller (ever try chipping a large branch that wont go thru on the side you put it on just for you to flip it over and it goes thru?) and a nice beefy 50hp? engine.

P.S Anyone buying a chipper with the option of buying a winch on it, DO IT! You only have to use it once! And it will pay for itself.

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Apocalypsse

Having to cut material more is time consuming and more costly, if you can squish the materials down then its far better. I used to work with a machine with no lift and crush, I would never ever buy a chipper without it, I would rather go with no chipper than no lift and crush. Any semi dense foliage can be a PITA at times and just not go through the rollers without a downward force being applied.

Joshua Rugg

ours has dual feed rollers. it takes palm fronds nicely and doesn't jam. i do wish the rollers had more crushing power like a bandit but i think the larger engine makes up for the lack in collapsing limbs. we chip mesquite branches often and those are super hard wood. it crushes them down with little hesitation. just keep the knifes sharp and it self feeds nicely. one thing to watch out for is when it does collapse a fork, it can swing down and slap the infeed and give you a good whack. ours is a 110hp cummins diesel. the specs say it has 3,600 pounds of crushing force so im sure its not a problem for the trees you mentioned.

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Drouin Tree Service

It has 1,600hours a 46 hp kobota diesel 2007 model in very good order with 4 sets of knives,Guy who owns it has just got a big contract so he is buying bigger machine.

and lift/crush.

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

Chris B

Thanks for that. Will have a think about it. Not planning on purchasing for a couple of months now. Bandit does look good but so does chipstar

Willard Holmen

My Morbark 2060D with 6"X13" infeed has a autofeed single feed roller with 2 knives on its surface to cut up stringy brush. I keep these knives sharp with a hand stone and keep the teeth sharp with a dremill stone.

Keeping these surfaces sharp on the feed roller makes a big difference in the chippers operation.

Willard.

Garry Brockley

Ive got the morbark 6inch when i got it the roller teeth were blunt as and i really struggled with the brash at the end of limbs but i have sharpened them and it goes really good feed 6" peices and it eats them easily way better than hand loading and slashing good tip about the dremmel though thanks Holmen what engine do you have on yours?

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Willard Holmen

Garry ,I have a 35 hp Wisconson air cooled V-4 gas engine on it, very tough engine. Direct drive with no clutch and I have never had to tighten the huge drive belt it has on it.
But I wish when I first bought the chipper that I got the 35hp Caterpiller diesel engine which was an option over the 25 hp Kohler and the 35 Wisconson.

derwoodii

I hear theres a small chip truck rig built in UK/Europe that has small 6 inch type chipper set in the units chip-bin/frame and its power is taken by PTO direct from the trucks engine, who makes or whats this called so I can research it.

Drouin Tree Service

auschip build them as well,there not a complicated set up by any means.

I have used a few just has a hydraulic motor driving the disc...there good.

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

Apocalypsse

Banyule council have a truck like that, chipper and box on the truck. Fairly small setup. There was a 9" with like a 10m side tipping bin for sale a while back.

derwoodii

Ok found it Unimog an interesting set up wonder if road legal in OZ with that rear 3 point hitch pto over hang chipp set up? suppose its just like any tractor with a mower deck on a road. Some good odd n interesting ideas here

Apocalypsse

Euro has some nice setups. But how many m3 is that mulch bin though?

Just watched another video with a stump grinder attachment. You could have a chipper on the front and stumpy on the back.

Red Roo

Best bit of advice in the thread.

Contact your local dealer for whichever unit you choose and have the machines demonstrated. Nothing compares to using a machine as you intend to use it.

Keep in mind it is more than just putting material through a machine. Enquire about service procedures, parts pricing and availability, whether the warranty is factory backed or is the responsibility of the importer etc...

6" units are available from Bandit, Chipstar, Morbark, Rayco, Vermeer and, of course, Red Roo (2 models).

Good luck in your buying decision!

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