6" or chuck and duck?

[Aldegar]

I recently picked up a nice one ton dump to replace my old flatbed I was slashing with. I will be buying a chipper shortly. I can only afford a chuck and duck or a 6" and want something light to tow and respectable looking. I know it's been asked before but I have no personal experience with either of these types. I am currently only running a business on saturdays and have absolutely no mechanical knowledge other than keeping them greased and flipping the knives. I need something that won't break down and will keep me going until I am more established and can afford a better machine.

 

[DLCRL]

I think a 6" would be fine as long as get all that brush 6"less chipped it's like packing peanuts amongst logs, otherwise it takes a lot of space. I chip into this w/something that size and load logs.

 

[TC262]

Grab a cheap chuck and duck until you have enough dough for a bigger unit. The six inchers I've used feed really slow and have a small throat. Those little 20 horsers are pricey when (not if) they blow up. The chuck and ducks get a pretty bad rap here but they are cheap to buy and maintain. Parts are cheap and nearly everything on the motor is in stock at most parts stores. As long as you have a guy feeding it properly, who isn't scared of it, it will destroy some brush in a hurry.

 

[DLCRL]

I was under the impression they were a horse a piece.

 

[Aldegar]

I like the idea of chipping fast and understand that you got to dip out when you throw something into a chuck and duck. In order to build the reputation I'm after I need something that looks really nice, most the 6" looks really nice and I like how they are quiet. I read something about how you could make them faster by modding the feed control?

 

[TC262]

Just because it's a chuck and duck doesn't mean it has to be an ugly s#it box. Here's one of mine.

 

[Aldegar]

Good point, that one looks really good. Seems like the used ones I come across look beat down unless they are asking a lot, if I had more money I would probably get a 9" bandit.

 

[Pelorus]

I went from a (used, unreliable, gas, beastly) chuck 'n duck to a (new, 30hp diesel) 6" Bandit.
If your potential c&ad has a belt-driven oil-filled governor, you might want to check out the price of that little $ucker if it blows a flyweight through the casting, lol.
I vaguely remember that changing and adjusting the 4 knives on my Woodchuck c&d was a complete PITA, whereas the Bandit is a breeze.

 

[TC262]

Yeah those little governers are pretty pricey but a cruise control unit could be used in place of a inop one.

 

[TC262]

Your 30hp diesel is probably much quicker than the 20hp rental yard units I've used. Those were a pita to me. How much did that set ya back if you don't mind saying?

 

[TaoTreeClimber]

I have used the chuck and ducks and those little 6 inch rental units in the past and I have to say that given the choice I would opt for the C&D. The small throat on the 6 inchers makes it really difficult to feed any thing other than straight branches that have been trimmed up nice and neat. They are handy if you do mainly small pruning jobs and are pulling it with a small 3/4 ton truck. On the other hand the C&D chippers can handle the bigger more wirey and crooked brush. Ya just gotta be mindful of what your doing. One major draw back that I have found with the C&D chippers is that if your running stringy material like willow or elm suckers through it they dont really chip up the stringy stuff, it just shreds the material and you wind up having long strips of twigs clogging up the chute. Ya just gotta make sure your knives are sharp and your anvil gap is set slightly narrower than is suggested.

Oh and by the way TC, that paint job looks pretty sweet!

 

[Pelorus]

Your c&d looks immaculate. Mine had had a long and exciting life well before I bought it.
The driveshaft for the drum (2-7/8" dia?) had failed catastropically, and that episode plus the cost of repairs resulted in previous owner selling it to me, and he bought a largish Vermeer thing. He also had to replace said governor once, and provided the old one for parts......which came in handy.
I think I spent around $17,000 (Canadian) for the Bandit back in 2004. Same model with gas engine was ~ $13G.
Will edit this post if I can find the paperwork.
The Ontario dealer (Clark Kavanagh) who sold me the chipper was excellent. The current Bandit dealer (Nortrax) not impressed with.

 

[TC262]

Thanks, its far from perfect but it shows well and is reliable. Thats the two biggest things on my list for a chipper.

 

[mike515]

I'm going to vote for the C&D too. I actually prefer them. A few things to think about though.....some people talk about getting whipped with those. When it happens, you'll know. Cut the brush so it feeds easy. By that, I mean don't try forcing in super wide stuff. Cut it so you can toss it in from the side of the feed table and kind of move past the feed table as you let go of the branch. That way it isn't flying past your body once you let it go. And...remember to let go! Do not hang on to the branch or hold it in any way that will cause it to grab your hand or glove after you let it go. It's highly unlikely that it would pull you in but it's more likely that you will have your arm slammed down on the side of the feed table and that hurts a lot. One more thing....always use a "push stick" when you have a bunch of small stuff that the drum isn't grabbing. Do not use a rake, cone, arm or leg or anything else that has no business being chipped. It takes two seconds to cut a push stick. You can have as many of them as you want.

The chipper in the pic above looks pretty sweet! I wish I had one that nice but we spend most of our time on gravel roads so that tears up a paint job pretty fast.

 

[BuckmasterStumpGrinding]

The 6x6 throat sucks. If you have a wider 6x9 the 6 inch is alright. My advice is to rent a few before you buy anything. You are probably going to be better off financing a new unit because you will be able to deduct it from taxes as it is paid off. If you pay cash for a cheap model you will lose the cash but only depreciate a portion of it on taxes. The rest of the deductions will come over the next few years as the chipper is depreciated.

 

[TC262]

You are probably going to be better off financing a new unit because you will be able to deduct it from taxes as it is paid off. If you pay cash for a cheap model you will lose the cash but only depreciate a portion of it on taxes. The rest of the deductions will come over the next few years as the chipper is depreciated.

I completely disagree with your buisness philosophy. A small start up should not start out in debt if they don't have to. Most guys starting on their own will run into dry spells with only a little bit of work until they get their name out there and start to build a solid reputation. Those tough times usually cause guys to go into a panic to try and make some cash to make their payments. Build up a solid customer base first and know you'll have the work to make those monthly payments before drowning yourself in debt.
He'll have plenty of other stuff to write off.

 

[Aldegar]

I would like to remain debt free always, that's just how I like to live. Reputation is huge for me and having nice looking gear goes a long way in making the right impression. Most the c&d that I come across are haggard looking and if they are indeed nice looking they want way too much. I know the 6" would be slow but can it get the job done? Firewood always stays on site either for the customer or the firewood guys and we are a two man operation so the brush is not going to accumulate extremely fast. Most all our trees have relatively straight branches, the most common being fir and cedar followed by alder and the occasional maple. If it was between a nice c&d or a 9" machine, which would be preferred since it seems like that would be the next price point up if I choose to rent a machine for a while and save a bit more cash. Business plan wise, I won't go at this full time until the phone is ringing off the hook and I have a lot of work coming in and even then I plan on freelancing for a few different companies if things get slow.

 

[TC262]

If you want to drive to Wisconsin I'll sell ya this one for $3400

 

[Aldegar]

Looks pretty nice, how does it run?

 

[TC262]

Runs great, the drum bearings only have 56 hours on them and I just put a new alternator and voltage regulator on it. It's a little ruff around the edges but more presentable looking than most chuck and ducks that are out there. I plan on picking up a new to me 12" or 18" and I'm running out of room to store equipment.