Buying Used Vermeer 1250 -- need advice

[NoTalent]

Need your help guys. I'm not an arborist, just a homeowner who lives on 4 wooded acres and has 200 acres of woods that he uses a lot. Lots of trees. Lots of limbs. Clearing. Etc.

The family CFO (wife) says I have $10,000 and not a penny more to buy a brush chipper. Could go little (6" Vermeer) but want to, instead, buy a 1230 or 1250 that has seen a few trees already and just wants to be put out to pasture to chew a few limbs for the rest of its life. They have a Vermeer 1250 with 1100 hours on it. I need to know what to look for. The Perkins diesel looks to be in good shape. I don't expect much trouble from it. What should I be looking for and what am I going to be spending my money on once I buy this baby (if I buy this one).

By the way, Vermeer because I have a great dealer right near me. Morbark and Brush Bandit dealers are a long way away and have not dealt with them before.

Thanks for your help. Feel free to knock me back to reality if this is a nonsensical train of thought. You guys know the chippers, all I've ever done is rent them (which is an option, but is such a nuisance and all they rent around here is 6" chippers).

Thanks for your help,

NoTalent

 

[Treeman14]

Seems like a waste of money for something you won't use very often. Why not just pile up the limbs and hire someone to come in and chip 3 or 4 times a year. Just my opinion. Anyway, if you decide to buy one, here are some things to look for and some problem areas. I've never used a Vermeer, but I've got Brush Bandits and a Morbark. OK, check the bearings first. They should be tight with absolutely no play in them. Check both feed wheel and disc or drum bearings. Check the belts for wear. Check the clutch and throwout bearing. Check the knives and especially check the cutter bar. This often gets neglected. Look for deformed sheet metal on the infeed and discharge chute. This would indicate a lot of large material has been chipped. Look for weld repairs or repainted areas. Check the condition of the motor oil and filter to see if its been changed recently. Check the air and fuel filters. Look for dents, scratches, etc. This will give you an idea of how careful the users were. Hope this helps a little.

 

[sonny]

200 acres, my question is why not use the wood & burn the brush.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Escrow the $10k, have someone come in with a knuckle truck to haul.

Use the bruch pile for animal habitat to attract hawks and owls, alows so you can hunt more rabbit.

 

[NoTalent]

Appreciate your help

Appreciate the answers, guys.

Got lots of hawks and owls. They really are cool hunters. We have enough rabbits (despite one absolutely huge, totally silent killer owl).

Believe me, the money will be well spent in stress relief as it will allow me to go chip whenever I want rather than at the arbitrary whim of the local tree guys. They show up on their time when and wherever they want. Hiring them to do this stuff is ALWAYS a major hassle and incredibly expensive relative to the amount of work done (no offense, I know you guys have lots of skill and expensive equipment). I currently hire out only the stump grinding and rent chippers (another incredible hassle) every now and then.

The thing will pay for itself just in my peace of mind easily over the next decade. Besides, I like to work out there with the old Stihl and I like the fires in the winter, and I like to chip and I like keeping and spreading the resulting mulch with my skidsteer and I like hauling the logs with the fork on my ag tractor. Very therapeutic work when compared with my day job. Why should you pros have all the fun?

Anyway, I appreciate the specific recommendations given below. Now if I can just find someone to tell me why my 40 foot white pines die all of the sudden. Absolutely breaks my heart.

NoTalent

 

[rbtree]

No talent,

Sounds like you've listened to all the advice and still want your own chipper.

My advice is to take your time, and look for a smaller chipper. A 9 inch Bandit or Morbark would be a good choice. The 9 inch Vermeer is fine, it is just harder to feed bulky material through it. Lighter units are easier to tow and manuever. However, from experience, I trhink there are less of those on the market.

Also, there is absolutely nothing wrong with an older hand fed drum chipper. Vermeer, Wayne, Asplundh, Mitts/ Merrill- all proven units. Lots of them around. Little to go wrong on an old unit except bearings. They will chip circles around a 6" self feeder, expecially that toy vermeer.

Several sources for finding a used chipper, ask us if you are interested.

$10000 is way low for a 1250 with only 1100 hours on it, unless it is very old. Maybe you should spring for it.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Those wisper types are wido makers! The scare the stuffin out of me!

T&L Trader has stuff in the range he is looking for.

 

[D]

I would go the used chipper also. Chuck and ducks are definitely ones to keep away from. Self feed like the one you are looking for are excellent.

 

[rbtree]

True guys, except for the mitts. Far and away the best hand fed chipper ever made. Nice, safe and slower feed, better chips than most 12" discs, simple unit. Used mine for 10 years and sold it for 1500 less than I paid. Still going strong, a 75 model. Hated to see it go, but no regrets. Only bad thing about the Bandit 250XP is the weight.