Chipper

[Lumberjack]

If money wasn't a problem, what chipper would yall get to chip brush say in the 12" or maybe 18" and why. Also what is the approx. cost of the unit you are recommending?

 

[rbtree]

A similar unit to my Bandit 250XP--12 inch, winch option a must have, and feed wheel lift for easy big wood handling.

But we only chip big wood if it is junky like cottonwood. It fills the truck too quickly.

18 inch chippers and many other 12 inch models, like the Morbark, outweigh mine by close to one ton. Not good if you don't have a big block or diesel truck. But Morbark and Woodsman chippers are very high quality units. The new Vermeer drums also.


Also, consider a drum chipper over disc. The 14 inch Bandit Intimidator looks like a great unit.....as well as the new Conehead drums. A friend has one and says it chips great, but does need frequent knife changes.

Many good 3-6 yr old chippers like mine can be had for 12-20k, versus 28-35k new.

http://www.treetrader.com

 

[kurtztree]

Vermeer BC2000 with grapple . Over $50,000. I will keep dreaming. my christmas wish

 

[treeman82]

For a good, heavy duty chipper for multiple applications I would suggest the 2400 Hurricane w/o loader w/ winch & big engine. Going to run you >$40,000 before tax.

I think the BC2000 with the loader is in the 70's

 

[UNBforester]

My company just priced a new BC 2000 w/ grapple at $110, 000(CAN) or in the 70's (US). That figure has been changing alot lately with the dollar going up and down like a cheap yo-yo.

I was a Bandit 250 fan for years until I ran a Morbark model 13 for a few months. Gotta love the drum.

Dave

 

[treeman82]

Those Morbarks, they just don't know the meaning of the word die. I was just working with a friend the past couple days. He has an old Morbark, not sure on the model, but it is safely 10 - 15 years old. Still runs just fine, and destroys all wood and brush that crosses its path. Have yet to meet a Bandit that old which even runs period.

 

[Wolf66]

I can not say enouph about the new Woodsman chippers. I am getting the 15X in the spring. I had one demo'ed and it was amazing. Lots of user friendly options,heavy duty, powdercoated, full lengh 37" knives a great unit. They also have a 12X (to small for me) and my dream is the 18X, but a little heavy for my F superduty(450) but my truck pulls the 15X with a full load of chips,
5 yard box and 7.3 diesel with no problem. I am unhappy with my Wood chuck W/C 17, and am taking 7500 on trade towards the 15X

 

[Newfie]

Fellow American company??

"I am unhappy with my Wood chuck W/C 17"


Hey wolfy, careful about talking bad about a fellow American company. They employ hard working Americans just like Zenith.

I'm mighty impressed with Morbarks. Seems to be what everyone is running in these parts, well except for Asplundh.

 

[Yellowdog]

I have a new BC2000 with grapple. It is awesome. We chip some really big stuff all the way up to almost 24" The loader is incredible though it could be a little stronger on the pulling. The lift is 3000 lbs. near the loader and just over 700lbs. 20' out. The extra reach of the loader makes a big difference in dragging heavy brush. I operate the loader by myself and use it to chip whole trees. The reverse bar on the hydraulic feed wheels is easy to use from the loader station and the machine's vitals are easy to see from the a couple of steps from the loader station.
The 200 hp has never stalled even on the biggest trees. The only thing is the price tag... $70,000 new plus taxes.
For the h.p. you can't beat the fuel consumption.
We looked at the bandit chipper with loader but Vermeer was a few thousand cheaper (though 50 hp less) but the loader was stronger and the whole machine was lighter, more streamlined and all the hydraulic hoses were routed in a manner that makes them easy to get to. The bandit seemed to have hoses all over the place.

I thought I would miss the extra hp but I don't see how I could need it.

 

[Koa Man]

I have the Woodsman 18X, 200 hp Cummins w/winch and it is an awesome machine. I can pull it easily with my '96 Dodge 1 ton also with a Cummins diesel. But my Dodge has been modified with different injectors, exhaust, turbo and pump work. Tranny is also aftermarket with triple disc TC, valve body and kevlar linings. If you live on fairly level ground it a stock 1 ton will pull it easily. A guy I know in Ohio uses a Ford F350 chip truck with the 2118 Woodsman....same weight, 8000 lbs. If any of you are interested in a Woodsman, let me know....I can probably get you a better price.....Bob Engler, the president of Woodsman is a good friend of mine.

 

[Wolf66]

Newfi, you are right I dont like to bad talk any Americen Companys, and I am not saying that they are bad chippers, only I am not happy with my unit. If I would take my own advice and got a diesel instead of gas I might be a lot more happy with it . It has a Ford industrial gas motor (all my trucks are Ford, and I love Ford's) however it is lacking in torque and I have several other problims with it. But I purchased a suposedly demo unit wich I think was demoed for a little to long. I got a great price though. The chipper has made a lot of money for me, I put around 11K on it and on the way I rebuilt it. So dont confuse my words "I am not happy with my W/C 17" with the asumption that I do not think that they are any good. In my opinion comparing a disk chippers by major name brand like Wood Chuck, or Morbark, or Brush Bandit. They are all great machines and I would not dog any of them out but I think its a matter of opinion wich one you think is best. I have had customer relations problems with Wood Chuck, but I will not go into that for it was a dealer and myself disagreements, and I don't wan't to bring Wood Chuck into that one. But one thing I will say is that Wood Chuck changes a lot of little things on there units wich make it dificult to get the proper parts for repairs on slightly older models like mine. But your right I should not mislead people that mine is compadable to a 2004 model either.

 

[Yellowdog]

If you guys don't mind me asking, what do you charge for chipping? I don't think I do a good job pricing chipping. Some of the guys around here get $150/hr with a 12" chipper and 3 or 4 guys. That seems awfully high to me but I could be wrong. I charge about $100 per hour for whole tree chipping because it is a specialty service. Any thoughts?

 

[Koa Man]

Yellowdog,
I charge $150 an hour for chipping with 2 men, 1 hour min. If I have to haul the chips away in my chip truck, that time is added. I usually just add another $50 to the bill for hauling away the chips, unless I need to return for another load, then hourly rate applies. I can dump chips for free. This is using the Woodsman 18X.

 

[Yellowdog]

Koa,

I noticed you are in Hawaii. Do you chip palm too? I have heard stories of that stuff stalling tub grinders! How's the weather?

 

[Yellowdog]

I want to see what some of you other guys charge. I mostly do land clearing but on occasion chip for tree companies. I have saved them a lot of work by having the loader on my chipper. They often cut down whole, dead trees or drop very large limbs and I can chip them whole (usually). I mostly work outside the city on ranches, rural properties, and 1 -2 acre lots where the customers want the chips.

 

[treeman82]

YellowDog, I think that for you, with that machine, and one other guy to run a chain saw, you should be getting AT LEAST $200 / hr. Having a machine with that capacity, with that big loader will save a LOT of time over the guys with the smaller chippers, or even just chippers which lack loaders. Depending on how productive you are with that setup I wouldn't rule out $300 - $400 per hour.

 

[Koa Man]

Yes I chip a lot of palms since just about all tree companies here will have to do coconut palms. If we are doing all or almost all coconut or other palms in the course of the day I will use my Gravely chipper, which chips the fronds extremely fine and packs a good load. I can get 50% more palms in my truck with my Gravely than I could with my old Morbark M17 or my current Woodsman 18X. I use the Gravely strictly as a palm chipper. I also use my Woodsman to chip palms but the fronds come out a bit stringy.

 

[Stumper]

Yellowdog, 82's minimum might be a tad pricey for central Texas(remember , he's in New York) but I don't think he's off by much. I get $65 per hour for myself and a small chipper-what takes me 3 hours you would do in a half hour. At $100 per hour I think that you are low for that machine. Of course the limiting factor is "what the market will bear".

 

[Wolf66]

When ever I am working on a "rent my machine and guy's" I like to be aware of what it would cost the customer to go out and rent a compadable machine and pick up some day laborers with tree experience. Taking all aspects into consideration such as delivery, fuel, etc. With that said I always give the best prices to comercial accounts cause they will use you over and over.Now this has come back to bite me in the but when I bid a tree for $1500. + $300. for the stump, and another company (who I grind stumps for at cheap rates) bids $1400. + $200. on the stump. This hapened to me 2 weeks ago, he got the job and I only got the stump (grind only for $150.) However its uncoman and this company gives me over 10 grand a year in stump grinding, so I can't complain. I only gring them and he cleans them up, its a good deal for both of us. If anyone needs a sub contractor for stumps in NY, I'm your man. I do 10 other tree guy's stumps and a few landscapers at reasonable rates.

 

[treeman82]

Wolf, where in NY are you located, and what kind of grinder do you run?