Totally incorrect Shaun. I sell chippers to home owners all the time because it is cost effective. If one has a good chipper guy in the neighborhood who is cheap and fast then thats another matter but that generally isn't the case. Not only that but if you'r the guy in the neighborhood with the chipper then you have a valuable commodity to trade or even hire out. This is provided the homeowner is mechanically inclined and hard working.
To the o-p: You should be looking for a chuck and duck, 12" drum chipper with a 300 ci Ford engine, mid 90's. You can usually find one for $3000 to $7000 depending on condition and just who is selling it. I have one in my yard I would sell for $1500 but you would need fix a head gasket at least. When I have good ones that I have fully serviced, I sell them for around $6,000 and they are good machines that you won't need to do anything to for awhile.
I guess we've got completely different opinions there mate. If I had to chip up the brush generated for my firewood each year I'd have a hard time justifying $3,000 to $7,000 plus fuel, blades, maintenance and whatever gets damaged. I also can't think of any machine I'd be less inclined to let a home owner run than a chuck n duck. Hiring it out to your neighbours is utter lunacy. Even if they weren't illegal here in australia, I wouldn't let any of my crew run one. With no guards, no control of the intake and no second chance, one slip up = a quick and messy death. Some guys say they're not all that dangerous to run, but even guys who use them every day will admit that material needs to be cut carefully to length, fed in a certain way, and that there really are no second chances. Everyone who runs one will admit to close calls, injuries, getting whipped and beaten by the machine, and having skin/chunks of flesh ripped off them in an effort to avoid being killed.
I also think renting a machine isn't the great deal it seems. $400 for a weekend sounds alright, but then you've gotta pick it up, drop it off, fuel it, and run and feed it yourself which is going to be a weekends work alone (and dangerous to chip alone also!) or you're going to have to get a buddy or two to help which equals beer. You're then left with the prospect of getting rid of the mulch yourself too, if you don't want to keep it. For much the same money you can take the weekend off, or go work somewhere... and have someone drive out and chip it for you and take the mulch away. Or keep it if you want to keep it.
Just my opinion. I've got a 250xp, and I still don't like to let my crew run it without me there. It's not that they're careless, but chipper accidents are just so common. My buddy had one of his workers go into a BC1000XL last year, lost both legs up to the knee. He'll be in court over that for a long time. Another mate had 2 workers off work for months with broken ribs, broken fingers, concussions and rope burn, another mate had his finger crushed, broken and ripped open by a log slamming down, another worker from another company fractured shin after a log chunk spat back out at him, another mate with a broken finger etc etc... These are careful guys with years of industry experience running modern machines with all the safety features, wearing full PPE. I've never had a chipper accident on my crew, and I hope I never do.
Chuck n duck chippers - illegal in many countries for a reason
[video=youtube;dQoL4F2A3gc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQoL4F2A3gc[/video]
