bc2000xl grapple chipper

[epicus]

I'm thinking of buying a bc2000xl with a grapple, I currently use my
dingo 220 with a grapple to feed my chipper. I think it would faster
if you have one guy bring the brush to the chipper and then the
second guy take it from there with the chipper grapple...

I've seen a couple around and here mixed reviews, I currently
have a brush bandit and a morbark, but have not tried a vermeer.

what can anyone tell me who has one of these, as far as
1-what to look for mechanically 2-service 3-performance.

:monkey:

 

[ASD]

get a bandit 1890 with a loader you will be Happy Vermeer has NO costumer service !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[epicus]

bc2000xl

Thank's ASD for your reply, I've herd that about vermeer customer service.
I haven't seen any bandits in my area with grapples just what I,ve seen
in brochures and propaganda, they look massive..

I think it would be total humor to pull up to a front yard removal with
my aerial lift of conn- and blast the tree out with my hydro saw while
listening to heavy metal and juiced on caffine, laughing insanely.
Then come down pull up and grab the tree with the grapple blow it
in the truck, (all the while as peepers and on lookers watch thinking
"GOOD GOD MAN THAT'S JUST CRAZY") as they watch me drive off.

When I do this useing my dingo or bobcat I like to give them a good
show, they paid for it so well whatever... It would be the ultimate
tree battle cruiser, or as I like to call it (the dr.seuss tree machine)
if you remember those old book's...

Well I rambled on long enough it's just when I mix caffine,heavy meatal
and machines I get a little goofy...


BE SAFE OUT THERE AND REMEMBER, DON'T CUT ANY FINGERS JUST LIMBS:greenchainsaw:

 

[B-Edwards]

Service in Greensboro NC seems to be as good if not better than other companies I have dealt with. The parts guy and mechanics have been great to me ,offering advice and specs when asked. I am a hands on guy ,so most if any repairs I have , I do. I have only used a Bandit 200 so I have nothing to compare to my BC2000 .But I will say that this thing is a (Beast) not to be compared to Brush Bandits Beast. I don't use mine much because of the area I am in but when people see this thing in operation the first time they are in awe. I was using it last week and had 5 or 6 heavy earth mover guys standing around and the look on their faces when this thing would eat a 40 foot oak that was larger than 20 inches in some places being eaten was priceless. Normally guys around here take wood that big but this job was different in that the developers don't have time to wait on people to come in and get their free firewood. The material we are currently working with is covered in vines, its such a great feeling watching hundreds of feet of vines being pulled into this thing . Short answer is its a great machine, I just cant do a comparison because of not using other machines. There is also a guy from Texas on here that uses a BC2000 I spoke to him before purchasing mine . Seems his machine is the center point of his business. I wanted to note the 40 foot oak I am referring to is a dead tree that has been laying for awhile ,most of these trees came down during Hugo. Funny they are still sounds as a rock.

 

[Panama]

I don't have any complaints about the BC2000 either. It does make short work of 20" dia. or less trees, like the ones you drop across a road. I do my own maintenance so can't report on dealer service. Keep in mind though: they are heavy, and two axles tear grass if turned sharp. You need a huge chip truck to match it's chipping capabilities. It is over 10k lbs so if pulled with a class B truck, you will need a class A CDL. Lastly, my insurance went up from $900 to $1700 per year when I added the BC2000. It's one of those... "be careful what you ask for" items.
I have found I use the chipper grapple much less since I put a grapple from "Top Notch Tree" on the articulated mini-loader. Why put it down and pick it back up again, when you can just feed the chipper. Just food for thought.

 

[Panama]

I guess I should have read my post better before posting. My insurance increased from $900 to $2600, so it went up $1700 per year.

 

[Yellowdog]

I've run a bc2000 with loader since 2002. It has been a great machine. I have had some issues with Vermeer service and feel I wasn't treated with enough respect but nobody has ever tried to make it right other than refunding money and putting annoying stipulations on my account. Other than being made to feel like a 2nd class citizen, I'm happy with the machine.
I do most light maintenance myself and it's fairly straightforward.
The new power options should only make the machine that more productive as it is a bit weak when pulling in large tree, lifting, and chipping at the same time but still outproduces anything for the same money. It will chew a 20" softwood fast and clean. Will do hardwoods too but much slower.
I mostly use the machine after I have sheared and stacked large cedar trees and rarely hand feed anything. If you are looking to use the loader to feed crooked, cut branches of all sizes and lengths, you will be disappointed. It excels at chipping crotchy limbs and trees but needs to 'grab' it first. Stuffing a grapple full of cuttings will just clog the infeed in my experience so use a brush mower to reduce that type of debris.
It will make a whole lot of chips in a hurry and it is heavy at 12,600. The new XL's at 14,500lbs. +/- will be that much heavier and you will feel it especially if hauling off road or in the woods.

The grapple is very easy to control. Takes some time to get proficient if you aren't used to joysticks but it has excellent control and you will be able to use it for a lot of things including loading logs that are too big to chip onto a nearby trailer.
I like the machine and I am paying it off this month. I thought about upgrading to a bigger machine but think I will stay with this machine and just pay for maintenance as it comes (which gets expensive). This is the 2nd Vermeer I have owned and though I still wish someone would have talked to me about my complaints and explained my concerns on an issue with service a couple of years ago, I really do like the machine and will keep it. The sales rep has been excellent and available when I had a question and seems to be knowledgeable about the products.

I would suggest demoing a machine before you buy, however. Check out Bandit, Morbark, too. Tell us what you find.

visit http://www.brushchipping.com and see a cheesy video I made of some of the chipper's abilities.

 

[epicus]

Hey panama and yellowdog,
Thank's for the input, I didn't think of the insurance aspect of getting
a machine that large.(I'll look into that) I also have a branch manager
grapple, it work well for feeding a chipper(as long as the guy you have
useing it knows what he's doing) I also think it would be good to use it for loading logs your not going to chip.

I guess for the service part of it, I do most of my own repairs anyway so what's one more thing to work on. that's how you learn and acquire more tool's. So when the ????? breaks on the job as they do you some idea of
what went wrong.

Another thing I thought of useing it for is, it could be at my yard and my two
12" chippers, dingo and bobcat could go out on job's and bring in the stuff
then I could take what I want for firewood and chip the rest for clean mulch.


" I just love playing with this stuff...! "

 

[Yellowdog]

like I said, the BC2000 will do a lot of work but I have had a few issues with service and corporate losing paperwork and treating me like a 2nd class citizen. Again, though I voiced my complaints, nobody from product support contacted me or wanted to hear my side of the story so I won't buy another machine until they make me feel better. I have spent a lot of money with Vermeer and have owned 2 chippers.
When I have a problem with Bobcat they make it right so I continue to buy from them. CAT has been good to me too. Vermeer isn't unfriendly locally but I just have a bad taste in my mouth from a misunderstanding and I have never felt as if I was treated fair. I am thinking of making a major purchase soon and even though I like the BC2000, until I get some more respect, I may shop elsewhere. Guess that doesn't have much to do with the machine itself but support is very important to me. Even a mediocre quality machine with good support is better than an excellent machine with lousy support (in my mind).

And yes, the BC2000 is fairly easy to service at least the cummins motor version. Not sure on the XL's but I think the new clutch is better and more reliable. Blade changes are a snap, too. I like those features and it will chip very large trunks of hard or soft woods but chipper chute can and does clog. I think it is too narrow for the amount of wood it discharges.

YD

 

[jonseredbred]

If you have men that are big & strong enough to drag the size of brush that chipper will eat, you don't need a loader on it.

 

[priest]

large chippers w/grapple

Thought I'd rekindle this thread because I'm getting into some right-of-way clearance work, and only having two BC1000's is really slowing down the chipping process.
The great thing about this work is that all chips can be scattered in the right-of-way (no need for a huge chip truck to keep up with a larger chipper on these jobs). So, if I get some bigger contracts, I'm going to trade one BC1000 for a larger chipper.
The way we work is to have a man dropping trees (Cedars, Post Oaks, etc.) and making brush piles of limbs 8-12 ft long. Then I come through with the ASV RC-60 with the grapple bucket, compress the tree/limb pile, and deliver to behind chipper. Currently two very strong, hardworking guys are manhandling the brush into the BC1000. This obviously requires a lot of cutting of crotches and stripping even medium Cedars of limbs to get the chipper to feed.
The good thing about this method is that the guys can get any rocks out of the piles before they enter the chipper.
So I definitely need a bigger chipper, but I don't know if I want a chipper with a grapple or not. My concerns: will it be faster than having two men loading, and what if the piles have some small rocks in them?
Will a chipper like the BC2000 with grapple take a pretty dense pile packed with the skid loader bucket (often containing vines) and load it, or will it have to be separated? I think it would be great for small/medium whole Cedars, but I'm not sure about the crooked Post Oak limbs.
It would be great if I could load a chipper directly with the ASV, but that seems tough with the bucket, and there's the rock issue again.
I've also thought about getting a big chipper and a Boxer. Then I could deliver the piles with the ASV, load the chipper with the Boxer with Branch Manager, and sort out rocks fairly well as we go. Of course, that's a heck of a lot of money to buy both machines, but it would free up one man for cutting.
If any of you have been in a similar situation and have found the best solution, I would greatly appreciate your insight. Thanks.

 

[ASD]

Get a bandit 1890 on tracks and feed it with a bobcat or a small excavator! if you are doing allot of ROW a chipper with a loader is real heavy and is a pain in the a$$ to keep moving all the time and with a track unit all of the chippers function's are remote controlled so 1 man can run the ex and the chipper. I would also get a rock hound mower for the bobcat to clean up the small debris as you move down the row.

 

[priest]

Thanks for the input, ASD.
Can you feed the 1890 with a grapple bucket on your Bobcat, or do you need an attachment like the Branch Manager? Also, how do you avoid getting rocks fed into the chipper? There's a lot of sandstone around here, and its hard to keep it out of the piles sometimes. Luckily, it's not the hardest of rocks.
Have you (like me) considered getting something like a Fecon brush cutting head on your skid to eliminate all the smaller trees quickly? My problem with them is that they're expensive, high-maintenane, and require high-flow hydraulics (my RC-60 does not have high-flow).
I've also considered getting a tree shear for my RC-60, as we cut a lot of Cedars on these projects. But I don't want to be constantly changing attachments. The grapple bucket is so versatile: I can use it to move brush piles and logs, do dirt work to improve my path as I go, and even build mulch roads across swampy ground and small creeks. But I don't know about feeding an 1890 sideways-like.
Also, how does the tracked 1890 do on rough and steep terrain?

Thanks

 

[oldirty]

woodsman 18xx grapple chipper.

 

[dshackle3]

Vermeer dealer here is great. No problems at all. I'm am impressed with the service i get from them.

 

[JohnH]

Get a bandit 1890 on tracks and feed it with a bobcat or a small excavator! if you are doing allot of ROW a chipper with a loader is real heavy and is a pain in the a$$ to keep moving all the time and with a track unit all of the chippers function's are remote controlled so 1 man can run the ex and the chipper. I would also get a rock hound mower for the bobcat to clean up the small debris as you move down the row.

I agree with ASD, this is a great way to go. I would only go with a Bandit or Morbark. When it comes to bigger chippers they have it figured out. I would shy away from woodsman and vermeer the dont hold up that well.

 

[ASD]

Thanks for the input, ASD.
Can you feed the 1890 with a grapple bucket on your Bobcat, or do you need an attachment like the Branch Manager? Also, how do you avoid getting rocks fed into the chipper? There's a lot of sandstone around here, and its hard to keep it out of the piles sometimes. Luckily, it's not the hardest of rocks.
Have you (like me) considered getting something like a Fecon brush cutting head on your skid to eliminate all the smaller trees quickly? My problem with them is that they're expensive, high-maintenane, and require high-flow hydraulics (my RC-60 does not have high-flow).
I've also considered getting a tree shear for my RC-60, as we cut a lot of Cedars on these projects. But I don't want to be constantly changing attachments. The grapple bucket is so versatile: I can use it to move brush piles and logs, do dirt work to improve my path as I go, and even build mulch roads across swampy ground and small creeks. But I don't know about feeding an 1890 sideways-like.
Also, how does the tracked 1890 do on rough and steep terrain?

Thanks

If you want give me a call 650-444-9226

 

[Yellowdog]

Bc2000

Thought I'd rekindle this thread because I'm getting into some right-of-way clearance work, and only having two BC1000's is really slowing down the chipping process.
The great thing about this work is that all chips can be scattered in the right-of-way (no need for a huge chip truck to keep up with a larger chipper on these jobs). So, if I get some bigger contracts, I'm going to trade one BC1000 for a larger chipper.
The way we work is to have a man dropping trees (Cedars, Post Oaks, etc.) and making brush piles of limbs 8-12 ft long. Then I come through with the ASV RC-60 with the grapple bucket, compress the tree/limb pile, and deliver to behind chipper. Currently two very strong, hardworking guys are manhandling the brush into the BC1000. This obviously requires a lot of cutting of crotches and stripping even medium Cedars of limbs to get the chipper to feed.
The good thing about this method is that the guys can get any rocks out of the piles before they enter the chipper.
So I definitely need a bigger chipper, but I don't know if I want a chipper with a grapple or not. My concerns: will it be faster than having two men loading, and what if the piles have some small rocks in them?
Will a chipper like the BC2000 with grapple take a pretty dense pile packed with the skid loader bucket (often containing vines) and load it, or will it have to be separated? I think it would be great for small/medium whole Cedars, but I'm not sure about the crooked Post Oak limbs.
It would be great if I could load a chipper directly with the ASV, but that seems tough with the bucket, and there's the rock issue again.
I've also thought about getting a big chipper and a Boxer. Then I could deliver the piles with the ASV, load the chipper with the Boxer with Branch Manager, and sort out rocks fairly well as we go. Of course, that's a heck of a lot of money to buy both machines, but it would free up one man for cutting.
If any of you have been in a similar situation and have found the best solution, I would greatly appreciate your insight. Thanks.

The grapple on the BC2000 opens wide and will pick up a bundle that's at least 7' long and stuff it into the feedwheels. Vines and bushy material are no problem as long as it is long enough to reach feed wheels. I have no tried to load with my excavator or bobcat because I like using the grapple on the chipper. If you are paying attention, rocks won't be an issue. I work in the rockiest places in the Texas hill country and I can make it through a job okay. Blades are relatively cheap at about $100 a side (double sided).

What I like about the BC2000--

Cummins power
Loader
hydraulic jack
one-man operation
low maintenance
will feed bushy, stringy, dirty material
lift capacity of loader is awesome
downriggers make it easy to level machine in rough terrain

What I dislike:

Feed wheels could use more power for crushing hardwood, branchy limbs
could be quieter
fuel consumption (about 35 gallons a day) needs auto idle but newer ones may have it?
radiator is a bit small for the 200 hp motor in summer (have to clean it out with compressor every few hours in 100 deg. weather

My dislikes are minor as you can see. Service issues have been resolved and I feel better about my treatment than I did a few years ago.
My model is an '03 with 1100 hours and it is still going strong. I only use it for the big jobs since I run a mulcher on a skidsteer but it handles the big woods like cedar and oak confidently.
i had to change the belt and an idler pulley. Investment about $250-$300 and took 1 hour of my time. The dealer charged me about $700 just to change the idler pulley one time prior. That's one of the reasons I learned to fix things myself and I felt cheated. Luckily, most wear items are fairly simple to fix but you should put some money away for repairs that you can't do yourself. So far, I have had a few small cracks on my drum but the dealer got authorization to weld on it and that seemed to work.

Feel free to pm me for more info. I work alone 90% of the time. I can cut (tree shear) a job, stack, and chip by myself with very little saw work (cutting crotches) by using this big chipper. I did by hand many years ago..never again! I can lift trees and pull them into chipper with the loader quicker than a crew of men could.

http://www.brushchipping.com/media/Chipper_Movie-1.wmv

 

[treevet]

Great service from Vermeer here as well and prompt. BC2000 is a great chipper.

 

[Yellowdog]

Great service from Vermeer here as well and prompt. BC2000 is a great chipper.

To be fair, I want to update that Vermeer has made some changes locally and I feel much more comfortable with the level of respect I have received since those changes were put in place. I still use my '03 BC2000 with loader and it is a good machine. It has been fairly low maintenance, is easy to transport, and fairly simple to use.

I would definitely buy another Vermeer machine.