bearcat chipper question

[skindaddy]

sorry not sure which forum to put this in but,
would like a 3pt chipper shredder , but cant afford such a purchase now, but i found a used bearcat model 70380 with a 8hp honda motor on it, and was wondering if they are and good? or is it a machine that will only chip twigs cause it is so small?
just dont want to waste money on something that wont work and that i cant get money back out of.
asking $700 but will try to get cheaper of course
should i keep looking

 

[blades]

Good a place as any for your question. Ok that unit is a 3", frankly it is too small great for a home owner yard and garden unit but not for any serious work. I need a better description of your intent of use. Personally I have a Bearcat 5" chipper/ shredder- 20hp ( these list in the 8k range). It will honestly devour a 5" limb green or dry. I fed it a large diet of buckthorn a couple summers back when I got it, CLfind for1/2 of list worked great but with anything on this order, manual feed, you need to trim branches down some to fit through chipping feed port. You mention a pto version, so that means you have a tractor available for power- I would hold off and save up for a pto unit in the min 6" range. At that size it will handel clean ups fine, and no extra engine to get mucked up by todays lousy fuel. On a chipper mass of the chipper knife wheel is your friend. And yes I have a little 4" 8hp unit common MTD unit -big waste of money, can't even sell it for half of what it cost. I call it the Jam -O -Matic. With the dedicated chipper units from Bearcat , if you do get jam, it is very easy to clear them. This is very important area to look at. Who wants to spend 1/2 a day tearing a unit apart to clear it. ( one bolt removal and the whole drum area folds open for clearing a jam or replacing knives)