any what the biggest log size a bc1500 can take?

[senechal]

No competitions or feats of strength necessary. The name calling comment I don't exactly grasp. I am a firm believer in letting the equipment do the work to have the least impact on the body. We take every step to avoid our groundies busting their nuts because it means they are going to be in this industry for longer for reasons physical or mental. This job is hard enough and I've logged plenty of hours the old fashioned way, but I would have to be pretty abusive to myself and my coworkers to ignore the machines designed to take out a large part of the grunt factor.

I've got hours logged on 1500's and they are a great piece of equipment. Pretty to look at and proven. Bandits are a beautiful thing for durability and serviceability and all 5 of our (bandit) chippers go nonstop through everything up to capacity hardwood or soft. What burns never returns.

 

[teamtree]

First of all, you brought up the accountant thing as if there is no way in hell I could do tree work...I brought it up to back up my initial claim and that it was not an opinion...it is something I have looked at in my business...to prove the same point to my brother as I am proving to you...so there it is

you are correct about the logs being the cleanest wood that the chipper will see. that is a good point and well taken

Do you have a bc1500? That is what we are talking about and the only we are talking about. I am not arguing as a whole, that a tree service will be able save money or time by chipping vs. loading wood. It is a no brainer that chipping (overall) is the best way to go. I would rather work with a handsaw before I give up my chipper.

But in this specific instance with the bc1500 I have found it is quicker to throw a particular size log into the chip box or trailer as opposed to loading the wood.

Why is that such a hard concept to grasp? We are not talking this chipper vs. another or 15" vs. 18" .... we are talking about the bc1500...not best practices....

My point of posting my original comment in response to the guys question about the bc1500 is that if you want to chip 10"-15" hardwood like white oak wood on a regular basis, the bc1500 is probably not the machine for you as it is quicker to load it than chip it.

I am sorry I offended you on the capabilities of the bc1500 or on how you do things. The knives are a consideration but probably the vibration resulting in chipping this larger wood (10" - 15") will cause more problems...the knives are secondary and I apologize for making it seem like a big deal...it is rather minor.

 

[teamtree]

senchal...you make very good points about using equipment to capacity. In fact, I would set those logs aside and load them with my loader along with the trunk and be done with it. I don't want someone loading something that will get them hurt.

I am small potatoes and I only have one machine but have worked with many others. I have spent some time with the bc1500 and really like the machine and I have maxed it out many of times to maximize the chips produced and reduce amount of wood hauled off, especially when i was hauling the logs homes and the chips got dumped close to the work site.

Bottom line is this...there is no perfect set up (equipment combination) for tree work and most tree people work with what they have. Some are lucking enough to have a large fleet of equipment in which they can match up the equipment to the job. There is really no arguement from me as to whether overall chipping is the best thing or not. It is.

Why is it so hard for you to agree with the statement and not read into it what you want to hear:

"With the bc1500, it is faster (as in time) to throw a certain size piece of wood on the back of a truck/trailer than it is to chip it."

It may not be the best ergonomically...
It may not max out the chips you produce....
It may not max out the machine...
It may not even bother the machine....

While the bc1500 will have little problem chipping to the max...which is not the question...it is faster to throw it on the truck...and in our experience with our set up....it is more efficient for us to do it this way.

I love my bc1500 and will buy another one....it is the perfect size for me and my operation

If i did removals everyday...i would go bigger

If i did pruning everyday...i would go smaller

I am a 50/50 guy so this works out for me.

As far as this thread goes, focus on the bc1500....we are not talking or debating best practices for the tree industry and I merely pointed out one disadvantage of the bc1500 which probably does not make a difference to many of you that are so quick to point it out

 

[teamtree]

I would say that is a good book for most of us to read...especially those that like to be right all the time and hate to give someone credit for their experiences and/or thoughts.

 

[gr8scott72]

If you really want to save money, why have a chipper at all?

I've only know of one tree company here locally that has a chipper and it's just a smaller Vermeer.

Oh, because you saw that all the real tree guys have them. If your method is that much better, hell I would just start stacking the whole tree in the fleet of trucks you have and dump everything as is.

Does that mean that there is only one REAL tree company here? lol

You could save on chipper fuel and maintainence, excise taxes, insurance and registration and a host of other miscellaneous expenses. You could charge your dumping location for even more loads of wood as well. Seems like common sense to me.

Nobody wants firewood around here so all the wood goes to the same place as the brush, the dump. (Well, I sell a little each year.) It's easier, quicker, and cheaper to just haul the whole tree off to the dump in a dump truck or knuckle truck. At least that's what all the tree guys around here say.

 

[serial killer]

I use a BC1500 all the time. It will take 15 inches all day long without complaining. I have no idea what anybody else is talking about, and I doubt that they do either.

 

[teamtree]

No one is arguing what the bc1500 will do....you are correct it will take it all day long...

but if you are talking about time, it is quicker to chuck it on back as it is to chip....period...no wonder this industry gets little respect...have to deal with knuckle heads all day

if you want to talk about another subject start a new thread

 

[Mikecutstrees]

I specifically talked to the mechanics at vermeer about this about 3 months ago. They said chipping large diameter hardwoods will most definately lead to many more maintainence problems over the (shortened) life of the chipper. But in the end it's your chipper, if anyone wants to chip 15" dead locust all day with their BC1500 go ahead. Just don't use my chipper..... Mike

 

[teamtree]

Good point Mike...finally someone who can add somethign of value

 

[treecycle]

jam that chipper

And if you want to max out the available volume in your chip rig, an unchipped log takes up less volume than a chipped one, so if we do not care about the purity of the load, I find we can fit a heck of alot more in with less chipping, (go figure)

www.treecycleseattle.com

 

[treevet]

Yeah, if we had a place that would take garbage wood then a lot more would go unchipped. We have a couple of places that will take loads that have no wood but may have a little rakings in there. One place is an industrial plant that runs entirely on mulch. They re grind the chips.

Like has been said, when you start grinding the logs you fill your box a lot quicker. With me the fastest way to get logs of a job is the crane or dingo into a truck or dump trailer. But if it is Ailanthus or some other undesirable it is getting chipped now since I have the 20 inch chipper. In this scenario chipping the logs is the time and money saver as I have to pay to dump garbage wood and big craned honkers.

 

[serial killer]

No one is arguing what the bc1500 will do....you are correct it will take it all day long...

but if you are talking about time, it is quicker to chuck it on back as it is to chip....period...no wonder this industry gets little respect...have to deal with knuckle heads all day

I would suggest that hiring a knucklehead with a strong back and a weak brain to run a machine like a BC1500 is a very profitable plan. I don't care if there is a smarter thing to do, I know that the meathead running the chipper is making me money, nonstop, as long as that machine is running.

 

[senechal]

This industry gets little respect because owners insist "the industry" is behind them when they feel the need to make statements to the general public.

...no wonder this industry gets little respect...

 

[teamtree]

I would suggest that hiring a knucklehead with a strong back and a weak brain to run a machine like a BC1500 is a very profitable plan. I don't care if there is a smarter thing to do, I know that the meathead running the chipper is making me money, nonstop, as long as that machine is running.

Why take the comment out of context....it is what is...time is time and that is all that the comment was meant for...

and please tell how getting the wood to the chipper is not back braking? You have to move the material to the chipper. I suppose next you probably winch Every Single limb to the chipper to save your back. Well, then I know without a doubt you are being inefficient. Sometimes hardwork pays off. Then, especially with the bc1500, you have to take 3-5 attempts to get the thing to go....if you don't start your bigger pieces on the upper part of the infeed rollers...it will not take it...therefore wasting more time.

if you want to start a thread on best practices go right ahead...

i agree my chipper makes me money every time I use it...

 

[teamtree]

This industry gets little respect because owners insist "the industry" is behind them when they feel the need to make statements to the general public.

I have to disagree....I am way behind the industry. There are far better arborists out there than myself.

General public? When was a statement made to the general public? Is this a general public website or forum? I thought is was for arborists.

Well here is my take on it, I made a post about a specific topic and gave my opinion and some information to back it up. In return, a few posters began to ridicule and belittle my abilities, my crews abilities, my equipment and how being accountant says everything there is to say about me.

Please tell me specifically where I was wrong.

If you want a general statement, anyone who takes there machines and equipment to the max 24/7 is pretty much reducing the useful life of their machine, therefore they must not be the brightest guys in the bunch if they say that they do. This is a whole different subject than what this thread is about. This thread is about the bc1500 and its abilities and limitations.