Chipper (good or not)

[FFwingnut]

I found a Vermeer BC1230a it has 1756 hours on it and it looks like it is in good shape. It was made in 2000. It is a self feeding, 12inch logs, and has a perkins 3 cyl deisel engin on it. Does Vermeer make a good chipper? Is maintenece hard to do your self on this brand and are parts easy to get from dealers. How often to you have to sharpen blades for normal use, and any more info that I might need to know about.

Thanks
-Brian

 

[FFwingnut]

forgot the price

he is asking 9500, is that to much?

 

[ropensaddle]

he is asking 9500, is that to much?

If it is in good shape it would have to be a great machine the 1250s
were much more durable! I would shop some before laying down my money
but it is my opinion most like brush bandits! I still use a whisper and love
it, they are the most durable machine made in my opinion.

 

[custom8726]

I guess it depends on what you are looking to do with it. If its a part time buisness or a smaller operation a 1230 would be fine but I would be looking more at the brush bandit 250xp's much better machine for a little more money. The 90xp would actually give the 1230 a good run for its money for even less money.

 

[tomtrees58]

10.000 good i have one not to bad to work on blades ???do you chip dirt blades can last 1 hr or 2 months it depends on the men we have a chipper blade sharpener but not cheep 4500.00 good luck tom trees

 

[mattfr12]

like others said you can find 1250's everywhere and thier alot more durable i got mine for 5000.00 in the equipment trader and its one of the most reliable machines i own starts everytime just grease it up and change the oil. its like a 95-98 and still running all original parts except blades with 2k on the clock its a great chipper. but also like others said Brush Bandits straight eat trees thier the fastest chippers ive ever seen a 250xp is my favorite and what we use the most if you can find one for a good price thier top notch. nothing packs a truck as tight as a bandit.

 

[ropensaddle]

like others said you can find 1250's everywhere and thier alot more durable i got mine for 5000.00 in the equipment trader and its one of the most reliable machines i own starts everytime just grease it up and change the oil. its like a 95-98 and still running all original parts except blades with 2k on the clock its a great chipper. but also like others said Brush Bandits straight eat trees thier the fastest chippers ive ever seen a 250xp is my favorite and what we use the most if you can find one for a good price thier top notch. nothing packs a truck as tight as a bandit.

Well I was in agreement until the last statement my whisper will pack
a truck much heavier than any slow feed out there makes fine chips.
Of course I am not chipping firewood 8" Is about as big as I
chip everything else is burnt.

 

[ClimbinArbor]

vermeer makes good chippers, but the price on that one is a little steep. i would shop around for a while.....

 

[arbor pro]

If you're chipping mostly hardwoods and want to handle up to 10" material, I would suggest a disk feed vs drum. I've owned both a whisper drum chipper that took up to 8" dia and a vermeer 1230a disk which handled up to 12" material and each had its good points. I've also owned a vermeer 1800 (18") disk chipper.

The drum style (whisper chipper or the like) is the easiest to maintain and works great for smaller material and straight branches such as poplar with few laterals but the disk feed are safer and better for handling larger and more tangly material such as locust and ash branches can sometimes be.

I like the vermeer chippers and have had little problem with them. I actually like the dual feed system better than the feed systems of the Bandits. It's just a personal preference thing - the Bandits are very very good machines too.

When buying used, you have to either be a chipper mechanic or take one with you or take the chipper to a dealership that services them for an inspection so you know what you're getting. There are a lot of wear points on these machines and you don't want to end up with a piece of junk that needs thousands of dollars in repairs (unless you get it really cheap and plan to put money into it).

If you go with the 1230a, I would suggest finding one with the larger john deere diesel (115hp I believe) vs the 80hp perkins. JMO.

 

[pdqdl]

Yep. What he said.

The disk chippers tend to make more consistent chips than the drum chippers because the feed rate is slower, and the knives are usually not adjustable.

Drum chippers have a much greater tendency to send "stringers" out the chute, which have a greater tendency to plug up the chute if the velocity of the drum drops too much. Drum chippers can be well set up with tight tolerances to give very fine chips, also. Most folks don't work at it enough to make the drum chippers perform well; they just want the brush loaded into the truck.

 

[ropensaddle]

Yep. What he said.

The disk chippers tend to make more consistent chips than the drum chippers because the feed rate is slower, and the knives are usually not adjustable.

Drum chippers have a much greater tendency to send "stringers" out the chute, which have a greater tendency to plug up the chute if the velocity of the drum drops too much. Drum chippers can be well set up with tight tolerances to give very fine chips, also. Most folks don't work at it enough to make the drum chippers perform well; they just want the brush loaded into the truck.

Mine does not throw stringers pard but it is set right. The guy above
mentioned safety and there was a post back a few months that said
the slow feeds have caused the more serious injuries. It was said it is
because of operators using feet to push brush in to the feeders. I don't
like those kind because if they are not just right they work you to death
trying to get the rolls to take it through. I also don't like them because
if there is multiple ground men someone is always standing in line.
The whisper no waiting just eummmmmmp gone

 

[pdqdl]

I know! You like them, I hate them.

But then, I don't have a really cool grapple truck like you do.

 

[custom8726]

I know! You like them, I hate them.But then, I don't have a really cool grapple truck like you do.

X2!! but I have a grapple also.

 

[pdqdl]

Well, ok.

I have a grapple too, it's just on my A300 bobcat. Goes more places, just not nearly as quickly. That really isn't as practical most of the time as a grapple truck.

 

[custom8726]

Well, ok.

I have a grapple too, it's just on my A300 bobcat. Goes more places, just not nearly as quickly. That really isn't as practical most of the time as a grapple truck.

Same here as far as a grapple for the bobcat also got one for the tractor and a IMT knuckle boom truck. Back on topic I could never go back to using a whisper chipper, been there done that but never again.

 

[pdqdl]

We seem to think alike. I took an old railroad truck with an IMT crane on it, and turned it into my chipper truck.

 

[custom8726]

We seem to think alike. I took an old railroad truck with an IMT crane on it, and turned it into my chipper truck.

We built our knuckle boom truck over this past winter, bought the IMT knuckle, truck, and dump body all seperatly from different places and put it all together. Saved about 8-10k doing it this way. We also built a removable top that fits the log truck and the 1 ton so on occasion we will throw the chip top on the log truck because it holds twice the amount of chips as the bucket truck and 3 times the amount of the 1 ton. It works out good just lift it off and put it on with the knuckle in about 5 minutes.

 

[ropensaddle]

Same here as far as a grapple for the bobcat also got one for the tractor and a IMT knuckle boom truck. Back on topic I could never go back to using a whisper chipper, been there done that but never again.

Lol it will grow hair on yer chest I have used one so long
that I don't like it any other way I would like a tub
grinder though:monkey: Or a tracked grapple chipper now
that would kick!

 

[custom8726]

Lol it will grow hair on yer chest I have used one so long
that I don't like it any other way I would like a tub
grinder though:monkey: Or a tracked grapple chipper now
that would kick!

A whisper chiper is great for saving the firewood I will give it that. If it works for you more power to ya.

 

[pdqdl]

We built our knuckle boom truck over this past winter, bought the IMT knuckle, truck, and dump body all seperatly from different places and put it all together. Saved about 8-10k doing it this way. We also built a removable top that fits the log truck and the 1 ton so on occasion we will throw the chip top on the log truck because it holds twice the amount of chips as the bucket truck and 3 times the amount of the 1 ton. It works out good just lift it off and put it on with the knuckle in about 5 minutes.

Yes ! That's almost exactly what we do: we take the "lid" off our chipper truck and it becomes the log truck.

Only I bought the whole truck with the crane mounted, a "man-cab" in front of the crane, and a 12' dump bed behind the crane: $7500 for a pretty solid old truck (1987)

All we had to do was build the cover for the dump bed.