Back yard chippers

[03treegrunt11]

I'm looking for a self propelled back yard chipper that can be trailered on a 7000# GVWR trailer. I've seen them with Asplundh about 10 yrs ago, but I haven't been able to find one. Anyone know if they still are available to purchase?

 

[M.D. Vaden]

The niche would be limited.

I haven't ever seen one.

 

[John464]

what do you chip into? surely you need something that will hold the chips as well and in that case you need atleast an F450 chip box dump and if the dump fits in that backyard normally a regular chipper will too.

id love to see a chipper that would go right through backyard gates so you dont need to drag, however I dont see it being possible, because you can not compact chips, they are already compacted and take up a good bit of space

 

[DDM]

Vermeer used to make a tracked 625.I'm sure you can find a used one somewhere.

 

[treeman82]

Why not just use a 625 Vermeer and tow it around with a quad? That should be able to get in just about anywhere with little to no foot print.

 

[woodchux]

chippers with tracks are popular over in Europe

 

[03treegrunt11]

John464, right now I have a Bri-Mar 6'x10' dump trailer that I stack the brush & wood on....I pull it w/ a Ram 2500. I would just use the dump trailer to haul the chipper and chip into it too.

treeman82 & DDM, I'll look into that...thanks!

M.D. Vaden, I know they USED to exist, I had one on my crew for a while when I worked with Asplundh. I don't think they held up so good for commercial use, but I think it'd do just fine for me....I'm small-time and have limited storage space/money for now.

 

[John464]

chippers with tracks are popular over in Europe

we have them here too, but they are not turf freindly and are meant for land clearing. definitely not a backyard residential machine as 03treegrunt is looking for

 

[John464]

John464, right now I have a Bri-Mar 6'x10' dump trailer that I stack the brush & wood on....I pull it w/ a Ram 2500. I would just use the dump trailer to haul the chipper and chip into it too.

so you are going to have a trailer without a truck pull a chipper into a backyard? interesting...

The width of the trailer alone is nearly the same width as a small 1 ton chip dump truck. and the width of your trailer is similar to most smaller chippers out there.

 

[04superduty]

so you are going to have a trailer without a truck pull a chipper into a backyard? interesting...

The width of the trailer alone is nearly the same width as a small 1 ton chip dump truck. and the width of your trailer is similar to most smaller chippers out there.

i think he means he will put the chipper in the trailer to haul it to the job. then he will take the chipper out and chip the branches into the now empty dump.

 

[CoreyTMorine]

Or drive the self propelled chipper into the back yard and blow the chips into the woods behind the house. Very smart, good economy inherent in such a plan..

 

[03treegrunt11]

04superduty & CoreyTMorine, EXACTLY!.....I'll use my truck & trailer to take the chipper to the job, take it off the trailer....if the chips must go, I'll chip into the trailer...if not, I can chip into the yard or woods.

My problem is, I can't find one....maybe I could contact Asplundh, see if they have any info.....like I said, I haven't seen one in years, but they did exist about 10 years ago....saw 'em with my own eyes ....and worked with one.

 

[CoreyTMorine]

I’ve always had plans on the back burner to use hydraulic motors, same as on the feed wheels, to propel the chipper. It wouldn’t take to much fabrication; replace the existing chipper axle with an old front end ¾ ton axle that is equipped with locking hubs and a manual locking differential, ad a hydraulic motor suitably mounted to the underside of the chipper and connected to the drive shaft. Then all you need is steering, a big wheel in place of the jack with a bar for turning leverage. Viola, a self propelled chipper. I bet you could do that for well under 5k USD including the inevitable re-engineering.

PM Treemachine, he does all kinds of very cool fabrication.

 

[TimberMcPherson]

I was just working out the logistics to making a backyard chipper, something that was modular so it could be taken down the VERY differcult access areas we have around here. (I know of jobs where the chipper has had to be helecoptered in). At the moment it looks to intense for me to do, and to expensive for me to do the trial and error thing, but my mind wont let it go.

I was thinking of using a motorcycle motor (over 100hp and very light) to power it, and possibly go for a drum to best utilize the power and make the chipper simple. There was a website or video a while back with some dutch guys with a yellow backyard chipper than seemed to kick butt and was very portable but I cant find it.

 

[CoreyTMorine]

Timber, maybe you could start with a self propelled stumper. It already has the mobility and power plant, all you would have to do is figure out how to make the grinding head a modular unit that is swappable with a chipper head. A chuck and duck drum mounted at the crankshaft and a feed chute sticking out to where the grinder head was. Contact Vermeer or Rayco, they might be inclined to help you out in the interest of building and testing a prototype.

It is a great idea, and would probably be able to make back the R and D. They could have other attachments to; I’ve always wanted a multi speed, dual or triple drum winch so that I could set up a mini-yarder in real steep or rough terrain.

 

[03treegrunt11]

CHECK IT OUT!!!! FOUND A BACK YARD CHIPPER!!!

It's not the exact one I worked with at Asplundh, but it's the same concept....

 

[treecycle]

track chipper

Check out on my website ( treecycleseattle.com ) what we did to a stock bc1000. In the equipment pics, you can see the excavator undercarriage we mated to the chipper. Hydraulics run both the blade and the tracks. It climbs and chips sweet, plus we leave the chips for mulch.

 

[TimberMcPherson]

Timber, maybe you could start with a self propelled stumper. It already has the mobility and power plant, all you would have to do is figure out how to make the grinding head a modular unit that is swappable with a chipper head. A chuck and duck drum mounted at the crankshaft and a feed chute sticking out to where the grinder head was. Contact Vermeer or Rayco, they might be inclined to help you out in the interest of building and testing a prototype.

It is a great idea, and would probably be able to make back the R and D. They could have other attachments to; I’ve always wanted a multi speed, dual or triple drum winch so that I could set up a mini-yarder in real steep or rough terrain.

Thats a good idea, although self powered grinders are worth over 10k here second hand, But your right with all the setup it already has. It would mean that the chipper unit itself would be cheaper as its powertrain etc would already be something most services own.
There are a couple of great chipper manufacturers here in NZ that might have some ideas, one used to make drum chippers a while back as well as smaller units now. Although I think the drum chippers would be a little more dangerous, I think it would cut down on complexity of build and weight in the long term.
Its one of those crazy ideas in the list of crazy ideas that I presently have, but I think there would be a market for it, even it it was just for smaller companies who dont need to buy a full size chipper but need something that could go on the back of a pickup.

My thought on using a modern motorcycle engine was that we could compensate the lack of weight of the flywheel or drum with pure horsepower. Its been easy to get 150hp out of a standard bike motor for a while now and they are are light. So perhaps it would still be possible to give it a decent capacity. Perhaps the flywheel or drum could have weights that you add to it during assembly on the job. or fill the drum with lead shot or water? Dont know!

 

[CoreyTMorine]

Tree work and crazy ideas go well together

 

[CoreyTMorine]

Check out on my website ( treecycleseattle.com ) what we did to a stock bc1000. In the equipment pics, you can see the excavator undercarriage we mated to the chipper. Hydraulics run both the blade and the tracks. It climbs and chips sweet, plus we leave the chips for mulch.

Welcome to AS Treecycle! Neat web site.