PTO chippers

shelby27604

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2013
Location
Efland NC
I need a chipper, and having a PTO unit sounds best to me. Seems like dollar for dollar you get a stronger unit, more capability, and one less engine to maintain.

School me, what features should I be looking for? Any specific make/models you like or that should be avoided.
This is mostly for clearing out the property as trees come down. Anything over 4" will be processed into firewood.

Tractor has a 2k lift capacity and 30hp at the PTO.
 

Liking some of the lower prices options here, they all seem to offer a power feed and a heavy flywheel compared to a lot of what I am seeing from some of the overseas options.
 
Woodland Mills has a line of chippers. Hydraulic in feed powered off the PTO self contained unit. They offer three model sizes.
Its on my wish list.
 

Liking some of the lower prices options here, they all seem to offer a power feed and a heavy flywheel compared to a lot of what I am seeing from some of the overseas options.

Woodland Mills has a line of chippers. Hydraulic in feed powered off the PTO self contained unit. They offer three model sizes.
Its on my wish list.
We've got 88 acres of fawking sticks, limbs, & downed trees... so the "want" escalated to a "need", and as @rockcity has stated, burning that quantity is both very time consuming and dangerous šŸ¤£
Have been looking for a year+ and because it made my brides "priority list, we just pulled the trigger on a WoodMaxx MX-8600. Hoping it's not too much for the 72 y/o 8N... and the "angled" feed chute (versus the "horizontal" chutes on other models) not a total PITA? They claim "Made in the USA", but fine print reads that some parts are imported and "assembled in the USA" with the balance of domestic parts...

Should be here next week and will be happy to spread the info, likes/dislikes and any gotchas...

We'd also looked at Woodland Mills (@lomodyj has one for on his 2000(?) series blue Ford), but they were 12 weeks out shipping, where the slightly more $ WoddMaxx had dozens IN STOCK...

Both have models with self-contained hydraulics for those of us with archaic tractors with NO live hydraulics or remotes (translation: paid less for tractor & implements than the cost of touch-up paint for new "colored"/$500 a month tractor šŸ¤“ )
 
Iā€™d love to hear some feedback of that chipper. Iā€™ve kind of decided to get a PTO chipper soon to keep costs reasonable versus a trailer mounted unit. Iā€™m happy with my Woodlands sawmill and would likely be happy with their chipper, but Iā€™m flexible if you like the Woodmaxx.

And, why the MX 8600 versus the WM 8H? The 8H seems to accept an 8ā€ log versus the 6ā€ of the 8600 and also has a hydraulic indeed. The 8H is also $100 cheaper
 
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Just on chute angle alone I would go with the Woodland. Having to pick everything completely up to feed sucks compared to dragging it over and giving it a shove.
 
And, why the MX 8600 versus the WM 8H? The 8H seems to accept an 8ā€ log versus the 6ā€ of the 8600 and also has a hydraulic indeed. The 8H is also $100 cheaper
Because the MX-8600 fit both the PTO HP and lift capacity of the the 72 y/o 8N... the 8600 is 550#-600# and the others required north of the Ferds 800# max.
The carry-all 1/2 full of green oak and the monster Hardee 66" offset bushhog are at that limit, so figured 2/3rds would be fine for some of the technical areas (read: steep/tight) with minimum pucker?

Your colored tractor shouldn't have an issue with the 8H's <1000#

Just on chute angle alone I would go with the Woodland. Having to pick everything completely up to feed sucks compared to dragging it over and giving it a shove.
Agreed, but as stated... didn't want to wait until June for shipment for the WM... ABF called this AM and will drop the WoodMaxx on Wed. ;)
Should cutting the lengths down for easier insertion/feeding become a total drag, I suspect an enterprising gentleman will be able to mod around that limitation :D

Edit: and just like the MX-8600 is not available/Out-of-Stock
 
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Ended up being OD delivery, right on time, very smooth dealing. Dropped at 1215, pulled cardboard, connected to 3pt, taken to house, and assembled by 1500! Planning to test it out on a pile of brush left by the helo-trimmer in the fall... 20220406_123546.jpg41090.jpeg
 
Ended up being OD delivery, right on time, very smooth dealing. Dropped at 1215, pulled cardboard, connected to 3pt, taken to house, and assembled by 1500! Planning to test it out on a pile of brush left by the helo-trimmer in the fall... View attachment 370324View attachment 370325
Looks like a solid unit. If you extend that toplink all the way out, that should make the chute angle much easier to feed, and you'll have fun until you get tired of it! :laughing:
 
We've got a little over 5 hours on the MX-8600 cleaning up some of the helo-trimmer droppings and some limbs in one field.
Night & day difference over the ol' Crapsman chipper/shredder! While definitely NOT a "commercial" unit, I contend this thing will wear 3 men slap out trying to keep up!

Side note: the 8N burns about a gallon an hour spinning the chipper, which I consider pretty decent considering...

20220406_183314.jpg20220406_183437.jpg20220410_180037.jpg20220410_180050.jpg
 
They're a what...10 gallon tank or so? I wouldn't want to spend 10 solid hours shoving wood in a hole. :D Any way you interpret that, I'd be dehydrated and wore the hell out! Chafed too!
 
A little over 10 hours now (just completed 1st regreasing, nut/bolt checks, etc.) and it's still doing great! Pretty sure it's time to flip the blades, as we're feeding it LOTS of dry hardwood and there's a noticeable difference in engine load over what it was, but does fine just the same.
Planning to order a new set of blades and ship the originals to @Tom@Hilltop_Machine for a dustoff on his surface grinder at some point.

Sunday's 3 hours filled about a 15 wheelbarrow loads that my wife used in the garden "walkways" and cleared about 1/4 acre of underbrush/limbs from the mouth of the trail down to Puddin' Creek... definite visual improvement!

20220529_115127.jpg
 
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