chippers-what do you like best?

[treeman82]

I had gone to Vermeer the other day, the new guy who works there said that when you go to turn off a chipper... turn the throtttle all the way down but don't disengage the clutch. Turn the key, and then disengage the clutch once the drum or disk has stopped.

 

[Rager]

Conventional Drum

If I was going to buy a chipper I would go with that!
Less clogging,less maintenance,less expensive!
It isn't as save as the self feeding chippers but alot less hassle,in my opinion,but who am I?
I'dd get a used one for 3 or 4 thousand$$$$$ and beat the *&%#@ out of it! oops can we say that here?

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

That is a new one on me Matt, I'll have to call them and ask. I've always been told to let the drum disk stop on its own after the thing has been turned off.

I've also heard that you should give them a cool down period before disenguaging the clutch, so that the can will move air through the system.

 

[treeman82]

John, the way I was taught was turn down the throttle all the way, then disengage the clutch once the drum or disk has slowed down a little bit. Then shut off the engine, let the blades stop on their own. The guy at Vermeer though said no damage

 

[r/ctree]

I have seen vermeer chipper overheat and shut down if you don;t disengage the clutch you will have anti-freeze all over the place. I don't think the sudden stopping of moving parts can be good If could cause the push rods to bend or crank to break . "For ever reaction their is always an opposite and equal reaction" If you suddenly stop something the force is transfered to something else. Sounds like a rookie sales rep.By the way stay away from 1250 or 1230 chipper they suck !!

 

[treeman82]

The guy who told me this claims to have many years of experience as a service mechanic. Worked on chippers, backhoes, and everything up to D-8's was the biggest he went. He said this works good for them, because if they are testing the blades, and then they have to move the machine... doing it this way cuts down on the time that they cannot move it for. If that makes any sense...?

 

[Matt Follett]

I'll go the other way

I bought a Bandit 65, (disc style) yep it's small, but runs very well, and for what I paid new, I could buy two for the price of one big one.

Now on big removals it is slow, but will chip up to 4-5" without slowing down (6-7" with some work on the feed bar). (the rest is firewood if you have the space and clients, and the down time to split it, knowing you're not likely to 'make' money on it but certainlly not lose it)

I guess it's Bandits equivalent to that tiny Vermeer 625, but it WAY outperforms that unit. The Bandit roller, chute opening is 7" by 10 inches so wide crotches will flatten out and generally hit the disc and get cut up.

We normally work with one to two grounds and with any drag time it will keep up, with three you get static time.

Small machines aren't for everyone, but I love it and the maintenance at this time (200+ hrs) has been oil changes, blade sharpening and greaseing

And put it behind a single wheel pick-up with a dump-box, and you can get into real tight places

I will vote for Bandits' larger machines too, I like their weld /steel quality, and I figure they should hold up for a long time

Just my thoughts

 

[ORclimber]

I like the asplundh(now altec) drums. they've been around for decades and are still basically the same design. The gas straight six is practically bullet proof and about 100 hp. I've worked with a lot of them and the only problems I've seen have been bad starters, bad grounds, and 1 blow bearings(after some serious abuse). they'll eat anything up to 6". they're half the cost of disks and 1/10 of the problems in my opinion.

I worked for a company that had a vermeer 1250 with two feed rollers and a brush bandit 200 with two feed rollers, they both sucked. I don't know if the company mechanics didn't know how to fix them or what the problem was but whenever it rained(halloween to the 4th of July here), the rollers wood just spin on the limbs. Also anything viney like weeping willow would spin around the rollers and come right back at the operator. This same company had three morbarks with single feed rollers and they kicked ass, but anything that sells for $25k should.

 

[r/ctree]

how many of you would over rev your truck motors all the time. And risk large repair bills. What you can get away with and what is recomended are two very different things. the sudden stopping of an engine is not a good thing. what is wrong with just taking the time to let the disk slow down on it's own. 3or 4 min is not that long.

 

[YUKON 659]

Hey Matt check your private messages, I have a few questions about you model 65 I was hoping you could answer. Does anybody else have any opinions about the Bandit 65? I'm looking to purchase a chipper and can't seem to decide between the 65 or the 90. I'll prolly be chipping a max. of 6" dia. Is the extra cost of the 90 worth the time savings over a 65 if i'm only chipping up to 6"?

Thanks, Jeff

 

[rbtree]

I have two friends with Bandit 65's. It is a great unit, I find it more than adequate, especially for pruning or small removals.

You will need flags as it is hard to see when backing it up.

For some rare tough access jobs, I'll hire Mike, as my full size truck and Bandit 250 are unwieldy.

 

[YUKON 659]

rb, just curious, what engines did the Bandit 65's have on them? I was looking at one that has a 25 h.p. Kohler...wasn't sure if this was enough power. What do you think?


Jeff

 

[Keener]

Yukon, I have been using 25hp Kohlers for the last 3 yrs and have been happy with them.
As far as power if you stay under 3.5 inch wood and keep the knives sharp it will do the job.
We do a lot of removals on softwoods Doug fir and Cedar and we buck a lot of wood out.
A larger machine would be nice but I refuse to borrow money for one so for now we make firewood.
There is a big advantage in manouverability with my little Promark and I like the fact that the chute can be swivelled 360 degrees.
Also with 3 men you can unhook it and just about put it anywhere.(careful of the steep downhill driveways)

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I worked for a company with 2 bandit 65's with Wisconsin 2 banges. We were getting new springs on the trailers every 5 months it seamed. Infeed gate latches did not hold up, metal fatigue cracks in the discharge shoot. The chipped well, but I was very unhappy with the rest. Not to mention Bandit's lack of concern with our problems. I think they are more designed for instatutional use then highway.

 

[Matt Follett]

Yukon:

Sent you a message...

after re-reading one of your questions, I will elaborate...

What size is your crew? this is probably one of the key factors in choosing between the 90 and the 65. The 65 will easily keep up to pruning work with two climbers and one ground even more. When we do big removals with two on the ground and one in the tree, we drag to the chipper and stack, 'cause it has no problem keeping up with two on the ground in that case, wait till theres a big pile and then fire it up. If we have four on site and the drag distance is short (ie we've got the chipper in the back yard) it runs constanly to keep up with the crew, and they might get a chance to catch their breath waiting for someone to feed an unweildy(sp) branch.

If your doing clear drop type jobs, or land clearing this is not the unit,... unless you are a crew of two, you will be waiting for the next person to finish feeding.

As of yet... I have had no mechanical problems, as I said in your p message, it has the 4 banger wisconson, which doesn't really like to idle on sart-up but hey, who can get going with-out a little coffee in the morning You must keep the blades sharp to achive good feeding characteristics, I find I can 20 hours out of a side if we are cautious on the clean up and throw the junky rakings right in the back of the truck. then I can touch them up once or twice with the angle grinder before sending them out... I carry an extra set all the time.

As for Johns comment about the springs... my dealer told me they had delt with that problem ( I bought mine new in 2001) by changing the spring weight, so you might want to check what springs are on the one you are looking at (manufactur date but I don't know when the change over was), We aren't easy on ours and no problem yet. No weld cracks on the chute yet, but it is a little difficult to turn, even well greased.

There that's it, and no I don't work for Bandit, nor receive compenstation I just like my little chipper.

Oh yeah, Johns right about the latches, they tend to get bent, but as long as you treat then with care, they're okay, and a little felling bar hammer work generally puts them back in line

 

[YUKON 659]

Matt, thanks for the information. Right now I'm a crew of "1"...I'm looking to expand my "side" job into a "small" business. My son is interestesd in climbing and is looking into the Arbormaster climbing classes....we'll see what happens. I'll be looking at hiring a freelance climber until he gets enough experience. Anyhow this is going to be my first chipper and I appreciate your help. Sounds like the 65 might work...like I said I wouldn't be chipping much over 6" anyhow...I'd use anything larger for firewood (unless it was softwood)

Jeff

 

[Toddppm]

Yukon, heres a drum chipper near you. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10368&item=2400021382

 

[YUKON 659]

Just wanted to let you guys know that I picked up a used Bandit 65 with a 35 h.p. Wisconsin engine and auto feed. It's a 2000 with about 400 hrs. on it....runs excellent but its got a few dings and scratches....I guess its just normal wear. I paid $7000....do you think that was a fair price? I priced a new one and it was about $13,000...$7000 was more in my price range

Jeff

 

[Menchhofer]

I started out with a Bandit 65. Worked out well for many years even though it only chipped smaller material. I also added a larger muffler system to cut down on the nosie from the smaller mufflers. If it is still a Wisconsin engine, be sure to maintain regular oil changes.

I believe I bought one about 2 years old and paid 5500.00 for it. When I sold it 4 years later.. got $4500.00. This was over 10 years ago, so you probably did alright.

Some advice...keep the knives extremely sharp, the knife-anvil clearance correct and it will do fine. Was told easy way to adjust the knife-anvil clearance is to sight down through the hood and adjust the anvil to where you can just barely see light between them and the knives.

Does your machine have 1 or two knives? Mine came with one but I added another for better chipping ablilty.

 

[NeTree]

2 Vermeer 1250's 6cyl Ford Gas, Autofeed
1 Brush Bandit 250+XP, Diesel, autofeed
1 Altec Whisper-Chipper, 6 cyl ford gas


I like the Vermeer's best.