Yard Work

shawn

shawn

running dog lackey of the oppressor class
Administrator
Joined
Mar 13, 2005
Location
Raleigh, NC
Are any of these little homeowner-grade chippers worth a damn? Craigslist is full of $100-600 chippers. Crapsman, Troy-Bilt, AgriFab, etc. All basically look like a little B&S motor hooked to some blades.

Ethanol-related issues aside, of course....
 
My parents have a crappy little Craftsman one that they never use, and a DR one that works pretty good. You can feed a 3" log into it at a rate of probably 1ft every 10 seconds or less (much faster with wet poplar, a little slower with dry hard oak). Makes nice chips. Only down is the inlet chute is at about a 50-60 degree angle so you have hoist everything up to put it in. Also the chute has a pretty small opening, maybe 8-10" square, so you have to pre-cut branches that really spread out. It's been a good working, reliable machine for probably 10 years, but because of the chute size and angle, you gotta be willing to work too.
 
jeepinmatt said:
My parents have a crappy little Craftsman one that they never use, and a DR one that works pretty good. You can feed a 3" log into it at a rate of probably 1ft every 10 seconds or less (much faster with wet poplar, a little slower with dry hard oak). Makes nice chips. Only down is the inlet chute is at about a 50-60 degree angle so you have hoist everything up to put it in. Also the chute has a pretty small opening, maybe 8-10" square, so you have to pre-cut branches that really spread out. It's been a good working, reliable machine for probably 10 years, but because of the chute size and angle, you gotta be willing to work too.
Click to expand...

Plus, most of them dump out the bottom, so you have to keep raking the pile from under it.
 
jeepinmatt said:
My parents have a crappy little Craftsman one that they never use, and a DR one that works pretty good. You can feed a 3" log into it at a rate of probably 1ft every 10 seconds or less (much faster with wet poplar, a little slower with dry hard oak). Makes nice chips. Only down is the inlet chute is at about a 50-60 degree angle so you have hoist everything up to put it in. Also the chute has a pretty small opening, maybe 8-10" square, so you have to pre-cut branches that really spread out. It's been a good working, reliable machine for probably 10 years, but because of the chute size and angle, you gotta be willing to work too.
Click to expand...

Something like this?

http://www.drpower.com/power-equipment/chippers/rapid-feed-chipper/cp3-11-50-premier-b-s-m-s-new.axd
 
Black Bear said:
Why not just rent the big one from sunbelt?
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X2..... I used my neighbors lil craftsman to get rid if some branches. I wound up just burning them. It had a 10hp bs on it an would chew through about anything you put in it, but the branches had to be straight or it would bind in the chute. If you have just a little bit, then you'd be ok but they are very slow
 
jeepinmatt said:
Similar but different. This one on CL is almost identical: http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/grd/4975762632.html
The taller discharge chute works well for chipping into the back of a truck.
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YO! That's very nice, but Still, take a lot of grinding to pay for itself. Find any Tree guys close to you, trimming, & they'll be glad to dump you a load or more!
It's just Tough catching them in your area! [I Know, I tried]
 
Homeowners stuff is junk. Get a firepit. Until you get to the contractor grade...$$$...theyre not worth your time.
 
I briefly thought about a chipper shredder some years back. I just end up burning the branches and sometimes hauling them off to the LCID around the corner from me. I haul all my logs (pine) there.
 
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