Chipper up grade,,, Finance or wait?

[ROPECLIMBER]

I have been wanting to upgrade to a newer chipper with diesel and hydraulic feed and just seem to always bee a few thousand short
just for grins I filled out the credit app at Vermeer Midwest and they aproved me for a 17,900 07 BC 1000XL with 4000 down will be just under 450 a month for 3 years any advice, I currently have a 87 Vermeer 1600 chunk and duck, and am so sick of throwing brush at it, I think the nicer chipper will get me motivated and eagar to go to work and be worth the investment, I need to stay around the 4500-5000 lbs as I pull the 1600 with a fuso 4cyl diesel, Here is the chipper for sale
Vermeer - BC1000xl - Brush Chippers - Vermeer Midwest
The said they did a complete check out on every thing, I keep thinking I should wait till the work pays for a newer one cash but the happy day has not come, the intrest rate is 9.99% so kinda high, but only about 1300 over 3 years,
any thoughts, I found a nicer chipper with 222hrs for same price from original owner but its a cash deal,
Anyway Finance? or wait and save? every time I get close somthing happens and I have to start over,
Paul

 

[imagineero]

Tough call...
450 a month is nothing at all. I charge minimum 250/hr for a bc100xl, for a bandit 18" its more like $350/hr. At those rates, $450 a month is half an hour a week of chipping. If you're not doing half an hour of chipping a week, you don't need a chipper.

The BC100XL is a great chipper, but it has its limitations. No lift or crush. The 12" limit is real, so expect to do a lot of ripping if you need to feed logs through it. No lift means you need to feed a smaller branch through before feeding a log, or the roller wont grab the log. Another option is to cut your logs on the angle. Be careful about how you feed them in. The overhead bar has 3 positions - forward, reverse and stop. You need to be on that bar when feeding logs or you will stall the machine.

I ran one for 6 months and I think its a good machine. Great for small to medium tree removal, excellent machine for pruning work. Downside is that the chute is a pain to disassemble if you clog it up with palm etc, and if you jamb the drum up you need to use the jockey wheel jack thing to lift the chute up to clear it (again, no lift) which is slow. The safety features are good. Fuel use is moderate bordering on heavy.

Shaun

 

[ROPECLIMBER]

Thanks Imagineero,
I have gotton used to cutting any thing over 5" into firewood and the chunk and duck, has no feed control you really have to know what will stall it cause it eats till it dies, then 45-1 hr to get drum freed, only done it twice in the 7 years I have had it.
Also got used to cutting the ends at an angle for it on the few 4-6" shorts I do feed it.
I am just not used to a payment, so will have to sell the old one and keep it in a seperate savings to pay payment if things get bad like they did in winter of 08-09,
How did it tow, my fuso strugles with a good load and the 1600 drum which is a little over 4000lbs,
I will have to let them know, i avoided the salesmans call today so I could think on it, 16hrs each way drive to pick it up too,
Paul

 

[TRISTATEFORESTRYEQUIPMENT]

the bc1000 is JUNK. keep your chuck n duck if your going to buy another vermeer, there newer machines are trash, bairly worth the scrap metal there mad out of as is cheap trash metal that will crack, good luck

 

[imagineero]

From the sounds of your chuck and duck, the bc1000 will be a big step up.

We were towing ours behind a hino 300. It was a new truck but had a small diesel in it and was pretty underpowered. The truck had a 13cubic yard bin on the back,empty you could start it in second, but full of chip it was a real struggle to tow that chipper up hill sometimes... It was used only around the city, no highway driving. We often left the chipper behind at site and went to dump with the truck only for that reason.

The drawbar is a little short which is nice for getting it into tight spaces, but makes reversing it a bit of a challenge if your chip bin is both tall and wide. On our truck, you couldn't see the chipper until it had pretty much jackknifed. If I was to buy one of my own then I'd probably extend the drawbar. A couple feet makes all the difference.

The BC1000XL's certainly do seem to hold their value well here in australia. We don't see many of the 12" bandits around. A 12" bandit drum with lift and crush would be a great machine. I'm not a big fan of disk chippers.

Shaun

 

[ROPECLIMBER]

Yea I have to limp back roads back to the lot, leave chipper then bobtail to the dump with a full load got used to this, it makes it easier at the dump and saves fuel as the recycling (Gardenville) is 23miles from yard, but they take the chips free, so worth the drive.
After watching the you tube videos the bandit 12" looks to be a better chipper less vibrations, has 4 knives rather than 2 and has the lift cyl. but never see them used, that might tell me somthing, lots of used bc 1000 xl's
I told the sales person I was going to think about it till after Memorial Day,
Happy Memorial Day every one,
Paul

 

[Mowingman]

I would probably go ahead and buy now while there are good deals to be found.
HOWEVER, that finance rate is a ripoff. That sounds like a rate they charge down at the corner finance company. You know the ones, usually next to the neighborhood 7-11 store.
Go check with your local banker where you have your accounts. I just financed about one and a half times that much, for 7 years, and got a rate of 5.5% from my bank.
Buy, YES. Finance with that ripoff company, NO.
Jeff

 

[ROPECLIMBER]

Actually on the quote he sent me was 8.5 % thier rate calculations are wrong on the ad, may check my bank tue after holiday,
Paul

 

[Mikecutstrees]

My Fuso tows my BC1000 pretty well. It is a 6 speed standard though which helps. My vermeer has been very good to me. No problem with pulling in logs. I have put about 1200 hours on it with no major problems. I agree on the finance rate. Look for something lower. Bandits are heavier too. Good Luck,

Mike

 

[ROPECLIMBER]

Thanks Mike, nice looking website very impressive education, and work history and nice looking equipment, my 93 Fuso is a 5 spd. low gears only does 60-65 empty bobtailing back from dump,but pulls the 4000lbs 1600 to the yard with load 50-55 mph plus I have a winch/crane on the toung that probably wieghs 300lbs, so I think the bc 1000xl is about the heaviest chipper I could get with out up grading to a 2ton, and I like the fuel economy of the fuso plus I love the turning radius can turn around in a residential intersection, and with the dual caliper front brakes and 4 line master cylinder it stops with a load and the chipper(with no trailer brakes) fine.
I will check with my bank tue morning tho, I found a 08 with 225hrs for the same price from an induvidual, still just as far, so could get a better deal with out going through Vermeer, just being self employed haven't had much credit, so was surprised when they approved me, I know the Vermeer midwest sales person will call tue before 8am like he did fri, so will have to stall him, the loan app said quote good for 30 days so will chance they sale that one, it did have surge brakes wich I dont like for backing up hill and over curbs, I will up date desicion on tue night,
Paul

P.S. I think with your biology back ground and 10 years you should do well on the ISA CA exam,