# Building a chipper



## Bigsnowdog

I would like to have a chipper, and more specifically, a PTO driven chipper. I have a tractor with a 73 HP diesel with which I would use it.

I have read of the Vermeer chippers, they have a 6 inch and a 9 inch. I would choose the larger, just so it would take wood with branch stubs more easily, and my tractor would have sufficient HP to run it.

I am not a business, I just have a reforestation project that is generating ever more wood that I must process.

I cannot afford a new chipper. Frequently in my life I have fabricated things I needed that I could not afford to buy.

I work in the engineering department at a manufacturing firm [so I have design capabilities], have fabrication skills, and could sub out machining and fab processes that I cannot do in my shop at home. I have been thinking about building one in the same fashion that manufacturing industry might build a prototype machine.

the single largest items would be the disc and shaft, assuming I made a disc type chipper. I admit to not being very familiar with chipper design. In general, I think it would be easy to over-build one so it was very durable. I would use commercially available cutters that were OEM parts for some existing brand.

Is there a best kind? I read of disc and drum chippers. Are there manufacturer's manuals for chippers that show internal construction, whether they be service or parts manuals?

Does it make more sense to buy one that is worn out, and rebuild it? What all is subject to wear in a chipper? 

Could a chipper formerly powered by a stationary engine be converted to a PTO drive? Do the two categories differ in operating speed enough that they are designed differently?

I am interested in whatever observations you may have regarding this subject.


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## wiley_p

I think if you can fabricate a drum would be easier to build, less materiel but don't know about it working off a PTO.


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## Stumper

BSdog, Have all the fun you want but you can buy new 6" capacity PTO models for under 2 grand. (not a great chipper necessarily but a chipper. You can buy a used drum style with its own engine for $2500-and up. Building your own would be entertaining but , if you value your time at all, a factory machine makes more sense.


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## Bigsnowdog

Is there any place I can go to read a good explanation of the difference in internal design between the disc and the drum chippers? I understand how a disc chipper works, and gather that the cheap machines are disc? Do the better discs have more cutters? 

I have never seen any photos or drawings of the internals of a drum chipper.

I am not sure what you would get for under $2,000, considering what the Vermeer 6-inch unit costs. What brand is this machine you mention?

The appeal I find in the PTO driven unit is that I can easily maneuver my tractor into difficult places where it would be harder or impossible to go with a pull behind unit.


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## Bigsnowdog

> _Originally posted by RockyJSquirrel _
> *Do you have any idea how implausible your idea sounds? *



Do you have any idea how engineering prototypes are built? Do you understand that engineering prototypes are occasionally somewhat larger than the final design, and not incorporating the final layout? Do you understand that a chipper is quite a bit simpler than an automobile? 

Do you understand that engineering prototypes, and really, quite a bit of today's commercial and industrial equipment is built from the Grainger catalog, so to speak? Do you realize it is possible to scrounge all kinds of sophisticated components and assemblies from manufacuring industry and its engineering test labs that are capable of necessary function and quite literally much higher quality than anything used in a production grade machine? ....and often at give away prices?

The main reason to use an older one would be the simple matter of it being considerably cheaper to use existing disc assemblies, assuming a disc machine, rather than machining a new one with supporting shaft and bearings, and necessary features to accommodate the cutter(s). That does not address the issue of a possible hydraulic feed, of course. It may make sense to buy a junker for certain internal parts.

I may like trees but I do not live in one. Your example of building a car is absurd, and it betrays your lack of understanding of just what goes on, what the possibilities are, in the development group in an engineering department of an equipment manufacturer. Consequently, your sarcasm may have been intended to make a point, it failed.


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## treeman82

What scares me about this idea, is that a disc or drum is going to weigh at least a few hundred pounds. Couple that with a couple of nice, sharp blades. G-d forbid a weld should break, and send that disc flying off in little pieces, people will get hurt VERY badly, or killed for the simple reason that you were trying to save a few bucks.


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## ROLLACOSTA

why not just bite the bullet and buy a chipper ..i just think its a waste of time why not buy a second hand machine ..your chipper will never be as good as a production model..they spend a few hunderd thou if not more on there designs..we had a guy around here make stump grinder what a clever machine that was it was like a death trap on wheels..no offence intended


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## SilverBlue

*What a bunch of wieners!*

I have been building cars from the ground up since the 70’s. Not just restorations or rebuilds, full tube chassis 9 second street/ strip cars. Anyone remember the excellent wood splitter that was posted on this very site? 
As well there are plenty of machinists that are capable of producing their own, no excuse about labor because it’s personal time, unless you want to compare going fishing and buying one at the market.
So Bigsnowdog don’t become dismayed at this bunch, they are used to playing with those pre engineered rubber nipples they buy at the store.

I prefer originals.


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## ROLLACOSTA

first we had low-ballers now we got diy guys with home made machinery to contend with what ever next???  oh and guys with home made cars , '' MAD MAX'' comes to mind


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## Dadatwins

If your intent is to actually build a chipper I would suggest calling some local equipment dealers and see if they have any scrap machines, blown motors, roll overs and the like that have the chipper wheel and blade housing intact. Maybe you have the skill to fabricate a drive system and weld a frame to hook to your tractor, but the chipper wheel and blade is a precision made balanced unit with zero tolerance for error. Suggest going to a dealer or follow a tree company around and seeing one in action and how dangerous they are before making the attempt. Good luck.


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## Dadatwins

> _Originally posted by ROLLACOSTA _
> * home made machinery to contend with what ever next??? *



The very first chain saw was 'homemade' too Rolla, and the guys with the hand saws and cross cuts must have laughed at the idea. Maybe this guy can build the next generation of chippers, 



or maybe not.


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## MasterBlaster

Or maybe!


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## SilverBlue

And some need to pay a mechanic to pump air in thier tires.
Mad Max was a movie ROLLACOSTA come back to reality sunshine hey does England make anything anymore


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## Crofter

*Re building a chipper*

If you have access to free welding and machining, find a scrapped chipper that has had a bearing pile up and maybe a damaged shaft and housing etc. Resurrecting it will be possible without having to spend time on all the arse scratching that goes with trying to design and prove out from scratch a one off prototype. Unless you can put a very high value on being able to say "look what I made, ma", you will never be repaid for your time. If you have such talents use them to advantage, not on reinventing the wheel!

Frank


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## Bigsnowdog

> _Originally posted by Dadatwins _
> *If your intent is to actually build a chipper I would suggest calling some local equipment dealers and see if they have any scrap machines, blown motors, roll overs and the like that have the chipper wheel and blade housing intact. Maybe you have the skill to fabricate a drive system and weld a frame to hook to your tractor, but the chipper wheel and blade is a precision made balanced unit with zero tolerance for error. *



I do not know if I will do this, but finding the rotating parts would be a practical start. The greatest machining costs and time requirements would be in the wheel, shaft, and housing. Time of course, is a big issue. 

I suspect the people who got so agitated about this have never built anything complicated at all. I have also worked in a company manufacturing machine tools, and we built prototypes there, too. Machines with multiple cutter milling heads, surface grinders, boring machines, high speed, serious equipment. 

Do I have all of the design experience that the chipper manufacturer has? No. Doing an autopsy on an old chipper that could yleld the rotating parts would provide that benefit. Consider a thread elsewhere on this site, regarding India producing Stihl knockoffs. Reverse engineering requires little brain power. You just need measuring tools. A chipper, in comparison to chainsaws and machine tools is a very primitive device. 

And, no, in response to someone's assertion, no, the cost of the prototype I imagine would not cost ten times what the manufactured unit would cost. There would not be any point in doing that, would there?

Silverblue, what chipper are you referring to?


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## Crofter

Maybe you could do it, but why? If you want to, give it a go!
Sounds a bit ill conceived tho. I could be wrong, but an old saying comes to mind ." If you are that danged smart, how come you aren't rich?"

Frank


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## Dadatwins

Knew a guy that mated a Vermeer 630A with a 3 wheel motorized scooter to make a self-propelled stump grinder before anyone ever heard of such a thing. If the time, parts and knowledge are there, go for it.


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## glens

> _Originally posted by Crofter _
> *"If you are that danged smart, how come you aren't rich?"
> *


Some of we intelligentsia care little about money.

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## Stumper

Here are a couple of links. A different 6" PTO chipper was going for as low as $1700 on Ebay a couple of months ago but I don't remember the brand.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11755&item=3826506824&rd=1

Here is a NICE small self contained unit.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=42228&item=4312639925&rd=1

I've fabbed a few things in the past. Materials cost isn't the issue-layout and prep takes TIME.


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## treeman82

What happens when something goes wrong, and the cost to buy a new chipper goes up a couple bucks because insurance companies upped the premiums for wood chipper companies? 

In addition to that, I believe that a wood chipper is a lot more complicated than a chainsaw. Chainsaws don't have hydraulic pumps or motors to deal with. Chainsaws don't have oil filters, or large air filters. They don't have feed rollers. They don't have glow plugs or batteries.


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## Newfie

*"Some of we intelligentsia care little about money."* 


Careful you don't strain something patting yourself on the back.



And value their time even less.


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## Crofter

Newfie, I dont think Glen was making his arm sore, but he might have the notion somone else was endangered!
I have had the mixed pleasure of working the kinks out of some prototype forestry equipment that was being field tested. It is amazing the problems that crop up in real world conditions that didnt occur to the engineers and designers in the labs. At first thought a chipper is something that makes big wood into smaller pieces. What it must also do very well is be a blower. The internal volumes (velocity) and shape of the chutes that control chip flow so that you dont constantly have plug ups is pretty important. Most tried and proven designs have a lot of trial and error behind them. To think that you can somehow avoid this is highly suggestive.

Frank


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## Bigsnowdog

> _Originally posted by Crofter _
> *I have had the mixed pleasure of working the kinks out of some prototype forestry equipment that was being field tested. It is amazing the problems that crop up in real world conditions that didnt occur to the engineers and designers in the labs. At first thought a chipper is something that makes big wood into smaller pieces. What it must also do very well is be a blower.
> 
> The internal volumes (velocity) and shape of the chutes that control chip flow so that you dont constantly have plug ups is pretty important. Frank *



That is useful information. Thank you.

I have to say that I raised these questions seeking information and objective opionions. What I got was a certain amount of thoughtful comment, which is good, but the most audible volume was a lot of righteous harumphing by people whose implied beginning was essentially, "Who do you think you are????" ....and they didn't progress much beyond that.

Generalizing to fabrication and machining and the possible perspective that end users might have, if you can't think outside of the box, if you have no confidence in your abilities, then.... by all means, don't try anything you can't imagine. I would, however, urge such folks to not try to bury others in their own fears.

....and no, crofter, this comment was not directed at you.


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## ROLLACOSTA

> _Originally posted by SilverBlue _
> *And some need to pay a mechanic to pump air in thier tires.
> Mad Max was a movie ROLLACOSTA come back to reality sunshine hey does England make anything anymore *



id say we design and manufacture a few more things than either ONTARIO or the BAHAMAS as well as finance a lot of industry world wide..tell me havent you had the industrial revolution in your parts yet?? cottage industry died out here at around about 1900 ..


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## SilverBlue

> _Originally posted by ROLLACOSTA _
> *id say we design and manufacture a few more things than either ONTARIO or the BAHAMAS as well as finance a lot of industry world wide..tell me havent you had the industrial revolution in your parts yet?? cottage industry died out here at around about 1900 .. *


 My point being that I can't remember anything significant imported from England anymore other that confectionary goods. Minor items perhaps but mostly it's C.R.A.P. made south south of the border or asia.


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## ROLLACOSTA

silverblue the reason you dont want our stuff and we dont want your stuff is imo that we are two totaly differant markets..we europeans are basicly self sufficent like you north americans..we make our own cars ,chippers ,bucket trucks ,stump grinders etc etc to be honest i cant remember the last USA made thing i bought..but what we all must watch out for is the CHINESE made stuff made cheaper by them but designed by europeans and americans now that pisses me off..what makes us anglo saxon celtic northern european types so great is our inventive skill so go on boys make what the hell you want :angel:


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## a_lopa

Rolla greenmech chippers are selling like hot cakes over here there UK built,there last local catologe(this week)had 10 or more "bandits''with low hours that had been traded on these machines,there new blade and simple design with low weight is winning them here,ill bet my cracker all the US machines will have this blade set up very soon.dead wood is sooo much easier.might be bit high tech for silver,hes still tinkering with toys


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## Stumper

Okay Aussie, Give us an explanation or a link-what is the improvment in blade design?


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## a_lopa

www.aspacgolfandturf.com.au


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## Husky372

didn't work


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## Crofter

http://www.aspacgolfandturf.com.au/home.htm

Try this.

Frank


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## ROLLACOSTA

> _Originally posted by aussie_lopa _
> *Rolla greenmech chippers are selling like hot cakes over here there UK built,there last local catologe(this week)had 10 or more "bandits''with low hours that had been traded on these machines,there new blade and simple design with low weight is winning them here,ill bet my cracker all the US machines will have this blade set up very soon.dead wood is sooo much easier.might be bit high tech for silver,hes still tinkering with toys *




greenmechs disk blades have been around for about 8 years overhere ,i havent had a greenmech chipper they don't seem realy that popular overhere i don't know the reason  the moist popular chipper in england is the timberwolf 6'' machine with a 35 hp 4 cylander kubota engine..i have one ,today was my first breakdown in 3 years spline/spindle whent on the bottom roller pump..timberwolf are fixing it ,it needs a new pump not a cheap thing..


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## TimberMcPherson

I dont think a chipper would be a breeze to make but if you have an engineering background and access to the toys I think it wouldnt be that tough. 
I would get my hands on a tried and proven model along with rulers, caliper and a digital camera, get the specs and then remake it. Or do the whole rebuild thing as others have suggested.

GO FOR IT! Good Luck!


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## Acer

> _Originally posted by ROLLACOSTA _
> *greenmechs disk blades have been around for about 8 years overhere ,i havent had a greenmech chipper they don't seem realy that popular overhere ....: the moist popular chipper in england is the timberwolf 6'' machine with a 35 hp 4 cylander kubota engine...: *



The Timberwolf (or Entec as was) 35s are great..amazing what they can do considering their size. I think that the Greenmech disc design is a bit of a red herring. I cannot see the advantages..and as for sharpening, any saw works round here would have no trouble grinding a conventional blade back to an edge..two blades to grind for a Timberwolf set..whereas a greenmech needs either 6 or 9 blades (can't remember which) grinding on a cylindrical grinding m/c, which must surely be more costly just in extra set up time.

Back to the original post..good luck with the home made chipper..most of the PTO models I've used are hydrostatic. depending on the sort of stuff you are chipping, I'd stress the importance of getting the feed roller design right. I've used some chippers that are great at pulling in and chipping straight branches, but struggle to pull in anything bushy such as hawthorn. I must admit, it's a project I wouldn't tackle. Designing and building it would probably be the easy bit, sorting out the niggles could take a while and stop you doimg the stuff that makes you the money.


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## highpoint-utd

the green mech 2000 series has 6 blades and you rotate them so that you dont need to sharpen them for upto 3 times as long as normal chipper blades , when i worked for glendales we used to have a guy at rolls royce sharpen them for us there is some need for accuracy with the blade design ,they are very good chippers though , very reliable and quite easy to repair , the only probs we had with ours was the no stress system , we had 3 control boxes on it  the chipper shredders are not very clever though so dont bother with em


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## ROLLACOSTA

i live just down the road from entec/timberwolf factory ..a guy who works there thought i was looking to buy one of there new 9 inch models i wasn't i was just picking up a set of blades well anyway he said whatever you do dont buy a 9 inch there nothing but trouble all the ones so far that have been sold have had to come back 4 or 5 times so be WARNED


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## Reed

Bigsnowdog - go for it.

If I acted only on the advice of others I'd be dead thirteen years now.

Pricing-out componants for a sprayer, knuckleboom loader, dump trailer, chip box, even a cherry picker have all presented and manifested as something often superior to offered models. Most people can only fix what's broke. To engineer what's not is challenging adaptability. 

You're lucky to work at a firm that figures it out and has the machine shop to bang it out. 

A flail bar w/ chain drops spinning at 4,500 rpm will completely clear a rightofway of 15-inch oaks and limestone boulders. The Army engineered it for landing at Normandy yet it took 50 years before someone applied it to a log skidder and got busy clearing growth ten times cheaper than the nearest competition. The industry could only condemn it because it was better than what they were limited with.


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## Bigsnowdog

> _Originally posted by oakwilt _
> *Bigsnowdog - go for it.
> 
> If I acted only on the advice of others I'd be dead thirteen years now.
> 
> Pricing-out componants for a sprayer, knuckleboom loader, dump trailer, chip box, even a cherry picker have all presented and manifested as something often superior to offered models. Most people can only fix what's broke. To engineer what's not is challenging adaptability.
> 
> You're lucky to work at a firm that figures it out and has the machine shop to bang it out.
> 
> A flail bar w/ chain drops spinning at 4,500 rpm will completely clear a rightofway of 15-inch oaks and limestone boulders. The Army engineered it for landing at Normandy yet it took 50 years before someone applied it to a log skidder and got busy clearing growth ten times cheaper than the nearest competition. The industry could only condemn it because it was better than what they were limited with. *



That would be a fascinating piece of equipment to observe in operation....


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## Reed

300 feet distant and some safety goggles!!!

The secret's in the housing. Pitched to bring-in standby growth and recycling the brush repeatedly to the thrasher, the rpm's and height being the only controls necessary.

One alternative to this thrasher is a solid drum with carbide-hardened nubs but it's less effective. They have them for skidsteers but I would prefer about 100 more horsepower.


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## Bigsnowdog

I have seen, from a distance, a front mounted attachment on a large, rubber tired loader tractor. It was used for land clearing, and it appeared that they used it like a big mower, but it was capable of doing stumps of seemingly any size, and anything else that was in its path.


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## Crofter

Hydro Axe is one brand. Takes a skidder with lots of horses and a pressurised cab cause its a dirty job. Different flails available from chain to ridgid flails. Watch it from a distance for sure!

Frank


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## glens

Somebody posted pictures or links to them of some wicked trimmers for rail lines a while ago, I think here at AS.&nbsp; Is that what you're talking about OW?

Glen


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## Reed

I'm not sure glens, these were engineered in secret not too many days before the Normandy invasion - the task was to rip thru the concertina wire and other barriers to get the infantry up the beach head. They were hit and miss engineering, prototypes went in first and got nailed by artillery. Were mounted on Sherman tanks. We gave them to the British and Canadian landing forces who met with less than what we faced at Omaha Beach but they enabled troops to filtrate up to the pill boxes and take them out. 

I've seen some great old machinery at county and private tourist trap museums, old thresher reunions, and historical societies. The railroads made some ominous equipment to blast their way thru the rockies and stuff. Usually when the job was done the equipment went into silent mothballs or was melted down for the needed iron. 

Look at the price of a new hydro axe. $500,000 for something effective. Think a beefed-up skidder and some iron surpluse with a welder plus a few hydraulic supplies could replicate it? I do.


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## TimberMcPherson

check ebay under brush chippers, its a little far but theres a drum chipper without engine for sale, could be a good start

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=63924&item=3831595116&rd=1


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## John Stewart

> _Originally posted by RockyJSquirrel _
> *And how would you know that you can build a chipper better/ cheaper than what is available on the market when you have not even researched what is available? To automatically assume that you can build a better chipper than the companies that have been doing it for 50 years is amazing. You must have incredible insight to bypass all those years of research and testing, tearing down old units to find the weak areas and improving them, etc. You must be the most gifted manufacturer on earth. So why would you be asking if you already know so much?
> 
> Why can't I be as subtle as Justin? He also told you that your idea is crazy, but he did it in such a way as to make you smile and thank him. I'm not subtle, I'll just come out and tell you that you are building an idea on insufficient research. Spend a week or two researching and looking at chippers already on the market, new and used. If you shopped chippers for 2 months and THEN decided to build your own, others here might think your idea a tad bit more plausible.
> 
> You are basing your entire idea on looking at one chipper at one dealer, and you admit that you have no idea how a chipper works! I think you might wish to take a fresh look at your proposal and you might see the blindness that we see. *



Rocky you kill me sometimes 
But you are so bang on!
John


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## MasterBlaster

So, how is this homemade chipper coming along?


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## TimberMcPherson

A mate spent 4 grand on a new 30hp kohler engine for his 6 inch chippper, man for that money I would have sold him a Suzuki GSXR750 engine which is about 100hp. I wonder how well it would power a small chipper (lots of gears and oil cooled...)


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## futbalfantic

http://bedair.org/Projects/chipper2.html


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