are the manufacturers killing us?

[frashdog]

If you can make a chipper (whatever size) make money for you most effeciently, I guess that's you're chipper.

My bandit 90xp is perfect for me. Me and another person can't feed it fast enough most of the time. And due to it's size and weight, I can still get it in some tight spots. Everyone around wants wood to burn, even pine and other "junk" fire wood for their out house wood boilers. Many people just let us blow chips right on their property and have us pile the "fire wood" for a neighbor or friend.

I've worked with the 18" machines before. A crew of 6 used to see how quick we could fill a chip truck, "battering ram style" feeding trees into it, no slowing it down. Really needed a skid steer, grapple or crane to feed it fast enough for me to want one that big.

 

[jonseredbred]

don't get me wrong, I actually own a 12" machine, my point started off as more of a saftey issue regarding the big monsters, but you guys brought up alot of good points.

As far as fuel economy, listen to this.....my mitts and merrill with a 6 cylinder ford gas motor will load my 14CY chip truck 6 times (constant feeding on clearing work) on a 22 gallon tank. my bc1000takes 37 gallons to do the same(on the same clearing job) and the loads between the 2 chippers, chipping the same material were within 20 pounds of each other. The Vermeer dealer had to buy lunch for 8 guys that day.

Wood? we are set up for wood, we do alot of municipal work, trees in parkways alot of the time we rope into or just let the wood fly 40 to 50' into the back of a couple trucks we have with large, heavy body's on them. If the wood touches the ground, your losing money.

 

[jonseredbred]

My mitts is 25 years old, 1 tune up every year @$60.00, new side bearings every 5 years @ $350.00, and it has had 2 motor rebuilds @ $1,400.00. Did I mention it was under $4,500.00 new?

my $24,000 BC1000? Its only a few months old.

I had some Morbark 290's, 8 years, worn out, kaput, not worth fixing. I hope to get 10 yrs from the BC1000, But I know I wont get nearly the life I do from the old drums.

 

[jazak]

don't get me wrong, I actually own a 12" machine, my point started off as more of a saftey issue regarding the big monsters, but you guys brought up alot of good points.

As far as fuel economy, listen to this.....my mitts and merrill with a 6 cylinder ford gas motor will load my 14CY chip truck 6 times (constant feeding on clearing work) on a 22 gallon tank. my bc1000takes 37 gallons to do the same(on the same clearing job) and the loads between the 2 chippers, chipping the same material were within 20 pounds of each other. The Vermeer dealer had to buy lunch for 8 guys that day.

Wood? we are set up for wood, we do alot of municipal work, trees in parkways alot of the time we rope into or just let the wood fly 40 to 50' into the back of a couple trucks we have with large, heavy body's on them. If the wood touches the ground, your losing money.[/QUOT

opcorn: Like I said I've run a 22" capacity 05 Discone chipper paired with a 05 International 4300 14' chip truck; 3 guys easily fed the chipper without it EVER not feeding. Can you please define to me feed speed?

 

[John464]

As far as fuel economy, listen to this.....my mitts and merrill with a 6 cylinder ford gas motor will load my 14CY chip truck 6 times (constant feeding on clearing work) on a 22 gallon tank. my bc1000takes 37 gallons to do the same(on the same clearing job) and the loads between the 2 chippers, chipping the same material were within 20 pounds of each other. The Vermeer dealer had to buy lunch for 8 guys that day.

interesting. But how much slower does it fill that truck? I would have thought that a gas motor chipper would not compare to any diesel motor chipper in fuel economy, given the same size capacity. There was a recent article that discussed in the TCIA Mag that manufacturers hardly have gas motors available for a few reasons one of them being they are normally terrible on fuel. The Vermeer BC1000 was diesel and equipped with the idle down rev feature option?

 

[jonseredbred]

ask anyone ever brutalized by a drum chipper, on 6-8 softwood (as the clearing job was poplar) the drum chipper has an incredibly faster feed rate.

they will eat a 6" diameter 20' long piece of brush in less than 2 seconds. In and gone.

 

[B-Edwards]

I have 2 drum chippers, both Asplundh. One has a 4 cyl one is a 300-6cyl both Fords. These are great machines . I also have a BC2000 with grapple it's an awsome machine too. The large machine doesnt get used here much, so little infact that if that doesnt change i will be getting rid of it. 1998 model 1400 hours. For those of you who havent seen one of these operate you realy should, it's unreal. Ive used several different makes and models of disk chippers all great btw. Mitts&Merril machine is a great machine also. Some people are lucky, they have a market that lets them work easier and make more money, some are not. They work where the customers dont have the money to support such operations. Around here people are circling like buzzards for free firewood so its a conflict to chipping it all up. They tell the customer I'll get that wood and save you from the Tree co charges for hauling it off. You can walk across country or you can fly, both work, just depends on your situation.